Both vampires just starred at each other. Each waiting for the other to make the next move. Cassandra moved closer to Angel. It was then when she noted his appearance. [ He seems different somehow. Physically, he looks the same; but his expressions and the way he carries himself is different. ]
Angel spoke first. “What are you doing here?”
Cassandra put on an expression of mock sadness. “Oh Angelus, you’re not happy to see me. I’m so hurt.”
“Answer the question. What are you doing here?” Angel said calmly.
“I should ask you the same question. did you find out that the Slayer was here and you decided to come here to destroy her. “ Cassandra stopped and put her finger up as though she suddenly got an idea. “But wait, that isn’t your way. You don’t just kill people, you mess with their minds first. Is that what you are doing?”
Cassandra noticed that when she mentioned his past, a shadow crossed over Angel’s face. [ What is going on? He seems almost remorseful. I must be seeing things. Angelus would never feel one bit of remorse. It is not in his nature. ]
Angel finally spoke up. “Leave town now. I’m giving you a chance to walk away. The Slayer knows you are here. It will just be a matter of time before she comes after you.”
“Oh, I’ve already spoken to her. She’s a lovely girl. A bit trusting of the wrong people though. She actually trusts you.” Said Cassandra with disbelief evident in her voice.
“You talked to her about me?”
“Yes, I warned her about you.” Cassandra stopped and looked strait at Angel. “I have to know something Angelus. How did you get that girl to trust you? That must have taken some work.”
“You warned her about me? I don’t believe this. What are you trying to do?”
Cassandra’s demon face emerged. “Trying to save her from a horrible death.”
Angel couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You are trying to save her? I don’t believe it for a second. What game are you playing?”
Cassandra got right into Angel’s face. “I am not playing games. If I recall, it was you who liked to play games with people. I am serious Angelus! What are you doing to this girl?”
“I’m not doing anything! There is a lot that you don’t know about me!” Angel’s demon face emerged as he yelled.
Cassandra just starred at him for a minute. She was absolutely stunned. [ This is not the Angelus I knew. He’s different. I can’t explain it, but he’s different. ] Cassandra’s face became human again. She looked straight in his eyes as if she was searching for something. When she finally spoke, it was in a tone that was barley above a whisper. “Angelus, what happened to you?”
Angel’s face returned to it’s human facade. He looked away from Cassandra’s searching gaze. “I am not the person that you knew before.”
“You got that right. It is like you are a different person. Your mannerisms, the way you talk, even the way you move is different. If you didn’t look like Angelus, I wouldn’t believe it was actually you.”
Angel looked back at Cassandra. “You too. You are different as well. Last time I saw you, protecting Slayers was not something that you did. Killing them, yes, but not protecting them.”
The all familiar pang of guilt returned. It was Cassandra’s turn to look away. “Angelus, I’ve changed. I don’t do that anymore. She then looked at him again. “And, I get the distinct feeling that you don’t as well.”
“You’re right. We need to talk about this. Let’s go somewhere where we can talk.”
Angel and Cassandra decided to go to a small bar that was in the bad part of Sunnydale. Over drinks Angel told Cassandra of the gypsy curse and the return of his soul. Cassandra had a hard time believing the story, but she could not deny that there was a change in him.
“Well? I told you my story. What about you?” Said Angel.
Cassandra smiled. “I guess I’m not the only one now.”
“The only what?” Asked Angel.
“The only vampire with a soul.” Cassandra clarified. “Do you remember the last time we saw each other?”
“How could I forget. We had our fights in the past but nothing like that.” Angel stopped. “You have a soul?”
“Yeah. After our fight I left for America. There I met a witch. She actually had compassion on me. It was definitely a first for me. She didn’t see me as a horrible monster. She saw me as a victim of evil. She performed a spell that restored my soul.” Cassandra stopped for a second and smiled. “Afterward, I asked her why she did it. She could have used her magic to destroy me, but she didn’t. She told me that if she just killed me, evil still wouldn’t have been defeated. She said that the best way to defeat evil is to reclaim someone that has been lost to it. Anyway, I got my human soul back again. I still have the demon to contend with, but it is under control.”
Angel’s expression darkened. “Do you remember what happened when you didn’t have a soul?”
Cassandra’s smile faded. “Of course I do. I live with those memories every day. Just like, I assume, you do.”
“Yes. When the Romany cursed me they wanted me to remember everything the demon did. It was my punishment.”
“The memories are hard to deal with. Every time I go to sleep, my former victims come to me in my dreams. It is impossible to forget. I just try to live my life as best as I can. I can’t change what happened, and there is no way to atone for what I did. I just want to live a nice, quiet, unlife.” Cassandra stopped when she noticed Angel starring at her with a pained expression on his face. “What is it?”
“You must hate me.”
Cassandra looked away. “Truthfully, I don’t know how I feel about you. Part of me wants to hate you for bringing me across, but I know that it wasn’t your fault. It was the demon. I know what it is like to be controlled by evil.” Cassandra grabbed Angel’s hand from across the table to pull him closer. “Listen to me Angelus. If I blamed you, the Angelus with a soul, for what happened when the demon was in control. Then I would have to blame myself, my souled self, completely for what I did when my demon was in control.”
“You had a life.” Argued Angel. “I took it from you and brought you into this world of darkness.”
“I know, but no amount of self berating is going to change that fact. I am what I am; and you are what you are. Nothing can change that.” Cassandra stopped. “Angelus, why are you in Sunnydale?”
“I’m here to help the Slayer.”
“Why are you getting involved in this?” Asked Cassandra.
“I have to. It is a way to atone, I guess, for all of the things that I have done. Instead of causing death, I hope to help stop it.”
Both vampires were silent for almost a minute. Each one lost in their own thoughts. [ The great Angelus has a human soul. I have to say, he is the last vampire that I thought would turn good. I can’t believe he is helping the Slayer. Maybe I should help, but I just can’t bring myself to go down that road again. ] Cassandra then spoke. “Angelus, what does the Slayer know about you?”
“She knows about the curse. Other than that, she knows little about my past.”
“I can see why you are not to eager to tell her.” Cassandra then remembered something. “When I was talking to her I noticed she called you ‘Angel’. What is that all about.”
“I don’t call myself Angelus anymore. I wanted a way to separate me from my past. I’ve been calling myself ‘Angel’ every since the twenties.”
“Angel,” Cassandra said as though she was trying to see how the name sounded. “I like it.” Cassandra looked down at her watch. “Well Angel, sunrise is in a few hours. It is time for me to get to bed.”
Both vampires got up from the booth they were sitting in. “You never told me why you were in town.” Said Angel. “I own a local club. I used to live here about eight years ago. That is when I bought The Bronze. I needed to come to town to do a little business work.”
“You own The Bronze?”
Cassandra smiled, “Yes, is that really so hard to believe? Me, owning a business.”
“Actually it suits you. I’ve been to the place, it looks like it makes a lot of money.”
“Enough to live comfortably, I guess.”
After that, the two souled vampires walked for a while in relative silence. Each lost in their own thoughts. Finally Cassandra spoke up. “Angel, do you know that Spike is in town?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“Buffy mentioned him. She thinks that I am in league with him. You are going to have to explain things to her.”
“How much should I tell her? I don’t want to tell her the whole truth.”
“Tell her as much as it will take to keep her from going after me with a sharp wooden object. About Spike, do you know what he is up to?”
“I don’t know, there has to be a reason he is here.”
“Yeah, do you know if Drusilla is with him? I heard from the grapevine that she was killed in Prague about ten years ago. However, rumors could be wrong.”
“She is. I heard that she came with Spike. From what I hear, she is weak.”
“That could explain why she is here. Spike might want to draw Hellmouth energy to restore her.” Cassandra sighed loudly. “Spike and Dru are both here. It can’t be good for this town. Does Buffy know about Dru?”
“Not yet.” The two vampires then reached Cassandra’s motel room, and they both said their good-byes for the night. As soon as she entered her room she got out her journal.
Cassandra’s journal: October 2, 1997:
This has been one interesting day for me. Angelus is like me, he has a soul. I didn’t want to believe it at first but I couldn’t deny the changes that I saw in him. I knew Angelus, and this wasn’t Angelus. We talked. He told me about his experience in regaining his soul an I told him mine. He received his soul not long after I received mine back. He told me about him coming to Sunnydale and meeting the Slayer. He came to help her, it is so hard to believe. He has formed a friendship with Buffy, the Slayer. I think it is something other than that. He didn’t say it in so many words, but I can tell that he truly loves her. She knows that he was a vampire, but not the extent of it. I hope she can handle it. He told me that he was going to tell Buffy about me getting my soul back. I hope she believes him. I really don’t want to fight off a Slayer.
|
|
|
|
Rave
Barbie Girl (Becca)
biscuit07
Filmtheory (Jim)
Malice (Jess)
MebbtheScribe (MichaelB)
Reset (Allie)
Shay (Marrisa)
somnambulist29 (Shea)
Stephanie Loss
Wendyness (Wendy)
Questions?Contact Us
|
|
All stories on this site have been archived with the authors' consent. Do not copy these stories for your own uses without the express consent of the author themselves. Buffy the Vampire Slayer TM and Angel TM are © UPN, WB, Fox and its related entities. All photos on the site are © UPN, Fox, Warner Bros, and/or their respective owners. No profits are being made by use of these images.
Powered with the assitance of eFiction.
|
|
|
