Amara: Prologue
by Barbie Taylor
Disclaimer: I don't own buffy the vampire slayer or any characters associated with the program. I own the characters I invented,no more.
Author's Notes: It's long but trust me it's worth the read.

Teaser: A stranger from Angel's past comes back to Sunnydale to seek his help. As the story unfolds more secrets come out and Buffy is left questioning her relationship with Angel.


Romania-1463 It was the end; the girl knew it. For sure her life was over. As she lay on the ground, paralysed with fear, she was surprised to find that it wasn't the pain that she was afraid of. The werewolf approached her. It growled, baring its long yellow teeth.The girl began to wondered how it was that she had come to be there.

Only moments earlier, she had been at a party; young men and ladies everywhere. Hopeful, had she been. This had been her third ball and still she had not yet received a marriage invitation. All her friends had been married long ago and she knew her parents were growing tired of her picky nature. If it had been up to them she'd have been married to the first boy who had been unlucky enough to walk her way. She'd been dancing when she heard something outside. She'd left the huge ballroom and was standing on the large stone terrace when she had first seen it. She had been dressed exquisitely; her dress was long and a very dark green. Of course, now it was muddy and streaked with blood.

As she walked out, she had seen a lone figure standing on the lawn, only metres away from where she herself was standing. The light was very poor and she hadn't been able to make out his features, but something had called her towards him. Perhaps it had been the way he was dressed; or just his silhouette. She had walked out over the crisp, damp grass and was about to say hello when he spoke. He told her that he had watched her; that he knew of her position in life...that he wanted her. He had then slid his arm around her waist and without even realising it, she had begun to walk out across the lawn toward the thick forest that surrounded the large ballroom.

As they walked, the voices from the party grew fainter; she became scared. There were rumours that the Gypsies lived in these woods and the last thing she wanted to do was to come upon them casting one of their spells.

In the deep forest, it had happened. The young man began to change. Fur started to grow from all over his face and hands; his eyes grew pale and he began to growl. His whole body shape seemed to change in seconds. Until...finally; he emerged...a wolf. She had tried to run from him, as fast as she could, but her legs had tired quickly and before she had even had a chance to scream, it had been upon her.

She lay there now. Waiting...listening...preparing herself. And as his long yellow teeth began to rip and tear away her pale, young flesh, she didn't open her mouth once...to scream.

When she next opened her eyes, she expected to see the gates of heaven, or hell, or at least be able to see her body lying lifeless on the blood-soaked ground.

However, she saw none of these things. Instead, she couldn't see anything. She could only smell a terrible stench and feel someone moving around beside her.

The person seemed to sense that she was awake and lit a candle. A white light filled the corner of the room and with a gasp, the girl realised that she was in the hut of an old Gypsy woman. The walls were thin and she could see a small fire raging just outside the door of the hut. On a table near the young girl's bed there was some kind of altar. Garlic was strung up next to her bed and the Gypsy woman seemed, at first, hesitant to approach her.

When she finally got up the nerve to move, the woman didn't speak. She just poured a strange coloured liquid into a cup and brought it over, putting it to the young girl's lips. For the first time the girl realised that she was utterly powerless to stop the old woman. She looked down at her body and saw that it was scarred and bruised. The Gypsy woman informed her that she had been in the camp for several weeks. One of the men had found her and brought her back. At first, they had thought she was dead but soon enough she had started heaving and gasping for breath. The woman, who was a lonely widow, had taken her in to care for her

There, the girl remained for several more weeks, until the Gypsies told her that she was as well as she was ever going to be and that she could leave at anytime.

They also warned her to be wary of the full moon, but when the girl had asked them what they meant, they had only answered her with another riddle. All the same, the girl thanked them and set out for home.

As she entered her house, her mother rose from her chair. She expected her to come and embrace her still-injured body, instead the young girl was surprised when her mother slapped her to the ground and began cursing her for becoming a witch.

It seemed the whole village had heard that she had been taken in by the Gypsy clan and now they all believed her to be one of them.

Almost immediately, she was taken away and locked in a dungeon.

She was told that the next morning she would be burned at the stake for her crimes

She had begged the judge for a trial but she knew it was hopeless.

The town knew of her crimes; they had already decided upon her guilt. There was no going back now.

That night the young girl had lain in the corner of her cell and cried; screamed for help and forgiveness, but to no avail. Just as all seemed lost, she heard two voices; one belonging to a man and the other, a woman

She heard the couple fighting. The man was saying that this girl was too pathetic to become an eternal daughter to them. But the woman refused to agree and insisted that she was perfect.

For a moment, the girl was confused. She wondered if they were talking about her, but then realised that that would be impossible, after all they didn't even know her.

Her moment of self pity ended when the girl heard the steel bars of her cell being bent and broken away from the wall. She lifted her tear-stained face up to the light of the near full moon, searching the darkness for her unwelcome intruders. But all she could see was the silhouettes of the pair of strangers.

Before the girl had a chance to draw another breath, the man was at her throat. She could feel him sucking the life out of her; she could feel her heart slowing, it's rhythm growing weaker and more off beat as the seconds ticked by.

However, almost as quickly as it had started, it finished. The man was now cutting his wrist and placing it on her barely breathing lips.

At first, the blood tasted terrible in her mouth; sour, stale. But after having it trickle through her for a moment, the girl felt herself overcome with a hunger she had never known before

She drew away from the stranger's wrist and feeling a surge of incredible strength, she pulled him down until his neck was at her open mouth. She drank only for a few moments before she felt the stiffness leave his body and saw him turn to dust in her lap

She looked up at the other stranger now, a thin line of blood stained the corner of her mouth and cheek. The other woman drew back into the corner of the cell. The newly-made creature continued to look not only at the cowering woman but at her newly-made self; truly amazed to find that every scar, every sore on her body was healed. She was no longer filthy with dirt but as clean as if she had just bathed and as pale as the moon.

"What are you?" The woman in the corner asked, in a frightened, almost childlike voice.

"I'm what you and your recently departed friend have made me," replied the creature, as a smile spread across her face.




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