April’s heart was throbbing in her chest. It pounded painfully against her rib cage. Her breath came out ragged from between her clenched teeth. Her body screamed from the exertion. A quick jab to her right side sent her sprawling to the floor. Without hesitation she leapt to her feet and faced the hissing vampire.
A low kick to the back of the knees threw him off balance, giving April her chance. Producing a pointy wooden stake, she swung with all her might at his heart. She stopped with barely a millimeter to spare. Spike’s vampire face melted away to revel his far more attractive façade.
“Better,” he remarked with a smile. April returned the grin. He was right. In the past two months she had really begun to master her skills as a slayer. Training with Spike had been her real ticket. He never held anything back, as evident from her many cuts and bruises. But April gave as good as she got.
“I’m ready for the real thing,” she said. Spike frowned and April could tell he was thinking heavily on the subject. Brushing her hair out of her face, April put on her best pouting face.
“I can do this,” she assured him. “How am I ever going to be great if you don’t give me a chance?” Spike rolled his eyes and April smiled. It had been a whirlwind of events since the night she found out she was the slayer.
Spike patted her shoulder and passed her to go out into the Magic Shop. April was sure he was going to discuss her progress with Willow and Xander who were working in the shop. Since it was just best to ignore them, April took to training on her own.
It wasn’t until she heard her name floating in from the partially open door that her curiosity twinged. Creeping to the door, she crouched beside it to listen to the people arguing outside.
“She’s too old to be a slayer,” said Spike. “She’s already 18.”
“I thought you were saying she was way too young,” replied Xander indignantly.
“It doesn’t matter how old she is,” Willow said. Her tone was firm and knowledgeable. “The point is that she’s the slayer, and she needs to be trained.”
“She is being trained,” said Spike.
“By a watcher. But with the Watcher’s Council gone I doubt she has one. She needs someone with more experience than us.”
“We could call Giles,” Xander cried excitedly. Willow looked at the floor, her heart heavy. They couldn’t bring Giles into this, not after Buffy.
She sighed as she recalled him standing over the grave. His eyes were wet with tears and his hands were trembling as he cleaned his glasses.
“I’m going back to England,” he had said in a quiet voice. “It’s too—“ Here his voice cracked and Willow’s mind filled in the blank. It was too hard, too painful, too scary to be without Buffy. They didn’t blame him, he was right to leave, but it was still difficult to watch him climb onto that plane.
“No,” Willow said with resolve after a minute of silence. “It wouldn’t be fair to Giles, we’ll just have to find someone else.”
“Well who do you propose then?” asked Spike.
“I was thinking Wes.”
Wesley Windom-Price was seated at his desk in the Wolfram and Hart office. He stared blankly at the computer screen. None of the information on it was useful to him. None of it solved the problem. Angel would not be pleased.
Wesley sighed and tipped his head back against the cushioned chair. He thought for a long time about working for the Senior Partners and what he would do if he were ever free of them. He would have remained so for an extended period of time if the phone on his desk hadn’t buzzed.
Depressing the button, Wesley asked, “What is it Harmony? I’m in the middle of very important research.”
“Willow is on the phone,” was the shaking reply.
April opened the door and stormed out just as Willow was hanging up the phone. With as much fierceness as she could muster, April placed her hands on her hips and scowled.
“What is going on?” she demanded. “You can’t send me away. I’m doing a really good job.” Willow, Xander, and Spike exchanged glances.
“We aren’t sending you away,” replied Willow. “You’re going to LA to meet a Watcher. Remember I told you about Watchers.”
April remembered sitting at the table in the Magic Shop while Willow explained, “Every slayer has a Watcher. Basically, their job is to help the slayer and train them. They read a lot of books and know all kinds of stuff about demons and vampires.”
“Mm-hm, but why do I need to go to LA? You guys are doing a fine job training me. Ask Spike, he’ll tell you. I am ready to fight evil vampire guys. I’m ready to kick ass. I don’t need some special Watcher guy, you guys are doin’ good.”
“April,” Willow said, her eyes snapping, “This is not optional. If you want to be a good slayer you’re going to LA with Spike to meet Wesley.”
Unable to argue, April consented to pout. She didn’t do it visibly though, because that would only cause further complications.
“I’ll go,” she said, “but I’m not going to like it.”
For the past hour, a war had been waging in April house. Her mother was none to happy about her only little girl gallivanting around with a man she barely knew.
“Mother,” cried April in exasperation, “I am an adult, and as such I am going to Los Angeles with Spike.” April hadn’t yet explained about being the slayer. Somehow she guessed that her strictly Catholic mother would not understand that she had to battle the forces of evil.
“You may be an adult,” cried her mom, “but you are not going anywhere with any man named Spike.” Spike, who was standing in the doorway, just smiled. He was thoroughly enjoying this little spat. It amused him.
April shoved the last of her things into the duffel bag. “Look, I’ll be back on Sunday. Please Mama, try not to worry. I can take care of myself.”
Pushing Spike into the hallway, April made her way to the first floor. When she reached the front door, she opened it and breathed in the cool autumn night. With her mother on her heels, she stepped out onto the porch.
“April Marie, if you leave this house right now, do not expect me to let you back in!”
April sighed and turned around. Kissing her mother on the forehead she said, “I love you. I’ll see you in a few days.”
Wesley tapped on Angel’s door. He was unsure of how his boss would react to their visitor, but it was probably best to prepare him before hand. Wesley opened the door and braced himself.
“What is it Wes?” demanded Angel in an annoyed tone. Wesley frowned. Angel had been particularly annoyed lately. Perhaps it was the case they were working on, perhaps it was something else, perhaps Wesley would figure out a way to work everything out and—
“Wesley!” cried Angel, bursting in on the other man’s thoughts. “What do you need?”
“Oh, right,” Wesley sighed, “Willow called me.” He gauged Angel’s expression. The vampire’s face barely flicked at the familiar name.
“She’s sending Spike here.” At this Angel’s eyes grew angry. He had no desire to lay eyes on his obnoxious spawn ever again, but Wesley finished before Angel could object. “He’s bringing the new slayer.”
Angel’s face fell slightly. Just saying slayer made him upset lately, not to mention if anyone said the B-word, he would make a beeline for his office and stay there for days without speaking to anyone.
Wes understood. Buffy had been the love of Angel’s life. He’d lost her so many times, but this final blow was the hardest to swallow. His beloved was dead, for good this time, and he hadn’t been there to save her. Wesley saw how that ate Angel up inside. He had gone to Sunnydale once since then, right after the funeral.
“Why?”
“Willow thought that she should be instructed by a Watcher. I tried to explain that I’m not a Watcher anymore, but with Rupert Giles in England and the Council all blown up there really aren’t many other options.”
“How long?”
“A couple of days maybe. They just want me to evaluate her. Willow seems to think that she isn’t capable of facing the daily onslaught of the Hellmouth.”
“Okay, but keep her outta my hair.” Here Angel met Wesley’s eye. They held each other’s gaze for only a minute, but it was enough to see the heartache that Angel hid beneath his brooding exterior.
April settled into the passenger seat of the car beside Spike. The vampire didn’t like the radio, so they rode in silence. The headlights cut a line across the highway. There were a few cars on the road, all hurrying to get into the city.
Finally, when she thought she would explode, April spoke. “What’s he like?”
“Who?” asked Spike, making eye contact, “Wesley?” April nodded. “Used to be kinda stuffy, stuck-up, British. Don’t know now. I haven’t seen him since he left Sunnydale after his slayer went all crazy homicidal.”
“Buffy?”
“Hell no! A different slayer. Name’s Faith. A nice chit, a little insane maybe.”
“I thought there was only one slayer.”
“There was, but then, Buffy died and Faith was called.”
“Then Faith is dead?”
“No!” Spike sighed with aggravation. “Buffy died, but then she came back. Then when she died again, you were called.”
“She came back?”
“Would you shut up with the bloody questions a’right?” Spike stared at the road, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
April was quiet after that. She stared out her window as the landscape flew past her. Closing her eyes, she tried to imagine what it would be like in Los Angeles.
The little girl was standing on the beach. Her hands were covered in blood. April wasn’t far from her, but the wind was blowing so hard that she could hardly hear what she was saying. Walking closer, she realized the girl wasn’t talking, but singing. Listening closely to the words, April was horrified.
Little bloody footprints running up the hall
Tiny little screams that no one hears at all
He’s coming now you cannot hide
Close your eyes you’re gonna die
April’s eyes flew open and she sat straight up in the seat. Her seatbelt strained painfully across her chest. Sweat ran from her forehead into her eyes. Running the back of her hand across her face, she tried to remember the dream she’d had.
Spike barely glanced at her as he said, “Are you alright? Look like you saw a bloody ghost.” When she didn’t reply he continued, “We’re almost there. We gotta go to this fancy law firm place though and I’m not real sure where it’s at.”
April nodded cautiously as she leaned back. Her heart was pounding against her ribs and her breath kept catching in her throat. Her dream blurred, but somewhere, in the back of her mind she heard someone singing. She couldn’t understand the words, but whatever it was it was not pleasant.
Wesley looked at the map that Fred had constructed. The little brunette sat on the table beside him, studying the map with as much intensity as her partner. The streets of LA stretched across the entire paper, dotted with red marks indicating places that the police had found the bodies of dead children.
Normally, a serial killer was not within Wolfram and Hart’s purview, but these cases were not normal. They were unusual in that there was no physical reason for the children’s death. They were each perfectly healthy and the coroner could not determine cause of death. In his expert opinion, the children should not have been dead at all.
Because of the supernatural circumstances, Angel had asked his team to investigate. With Fred’s help, Wesley had begun to look for a pattern in the killings. Unfortunately, they had been staring at the same map for almost an hour and still no such design had emerged.
With a groan, Wes conceded. “We’ll look at this later, with fresh eyes.” Fred nodded. Behind them, the door opened and Harmony entered.
“Hey Wesley,” she said in her musical voice, “Spike’s here with that girl.”
April gazed around the large lobby of the Wolfram and Hart law firm. The marble floor and vaulted ceiling nearly took her breath away. From the stairs on the left side of the lobby came a rustic man wearing a shy smile. He was followed closely by a little brunette in jeans and a sweater. Spike stayed behind April, avoiding eye contact with the other people in the room.
“Is this her?” asked the man. Without waiting for an answer he held his hand out for April to shake. She tried to smile, but she was keenly aware that Spike was casting nervous glances around the lobby, and he was still trying to hide behind her.
“Can we go some place else?” April asked. The man nodded and he motioned her across the lobby to a smaller office. The four of them entered the office and the man beckoned April and Spike to comfy club chairs.
“I’m Wesley Windom-Price,” said the man. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Yea,” replied April, “It’s nice to meet you too. Can we get started please, I would really like to get back home as soon as possible.”
“I understand.”
“Will said that she wanted you to teach me about being slayer.”
Wesley stared at her for a few minutes, studying her. She waited patiently, tapping her fingers on the arm of her chair. After several silent moments she leapt to her feet.
“Look, Mr. Windom-Price, or whatever, if you don’t have anything to teach me then I guess me and Spike will just be on our way.”
“She has the attitude of a slayer,” Wesley said to Spike. “Thinks she knows what’s best for herself. Willow sent you here so I could evaluate your ability to be a slayer.”
“That’s bullshit!” cried April. She was raging now, “Will knows I’m plenty capable to be a slayer. I can kick vampire ass without your damn evaluation.”
She turned on her heel and started for the door. Before she could exit the office, the door opened and another man entered. He was tall and dark. April bumped into him and stumbled back into a table.
“Who the hell is this?” asked the man, pointing to April. Spike rose to his feet, trying to be imposing. April, in an attempt to mimic Spike’s posture, righted herself and put her hands on her hips.
“I’m April, the slayer,” she said in her most commandeering tone. Her usual confidence was shaken by this new arrival. When she spoke he turned to her and assessed her. He seemed to gaze right through her, like he wanted her to disappear.
“Angel,” Wesley said in a calm voice, “I told you about Spike and April coming. Remember?” Angel’s eyes grew distant and he nodded. “Did you need something?”
“There was another murder. The ADA is here and he wants to talk to you and Fred,” Angel replied. Wesley and the girl exchanged looks.
“Can you excuse us?” Wesley asked April.
“A murder?” Spike questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Yea,” said Angel, his voice dripping with venom. “It’s really none of your business.” Spike didn’t say anything, but the scowl on his face shrieked volumes.
Wesley and Fred followed Angel back into the lobby. Although Angel had made it expressly clear that this was not a matter for Spike and his slayer, they tagged along anyway. In the lobby was a young man in a charcoal suit. He looked like a little boy that wanted to dress up like his dad. Wesley almost had to suppress a laugh at the ridiculousness of the man.
“This is Wesley,” said Angel. “He’s the guy that we have investigating these murders.” The young ADA didn’t say anything. He stared at Wesley. The group stood in silence for what seemed like an hour before he spoke.
“Colin Ried, Assistant District Attorney,” said the suited man. “What information have you gathered already? The police don’t have any leads or any suspects. The District Attorney’s office is getting a little desperate and we’re prepared to take anything we can get.”
Wesley sized up the ADA. He was young, but Wes could see that he knew was he was doing. His direct attitude was a welcome change from all the thinking and analyzing that went on in Wolfram and Hart.
“Why don’t you come with me,” Wes said. Taking the ADA by the arm, Wes led him up the stairs toward the room with the map that Fred made.
“Can I come too?” piped April. Wes looked back at her. He expected her to look foolish, excited, but the girl was serious. Angel shrugged and Spike appeared to want nothing more than to unload the slayer on someone else.
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Once they were in the conference room, Colin spoke up, “Why is a law firm interested in a serial killer?”
“We aren’t your ordinary law firm,” replied Wesley. April walked to the board on which was pasted the faces of all the murder victims. She touched the picture of one little girl and she began to hum a haunting little tune. Her eyes were vacant, as if she checked out.
Ignoring the attorney, Wes went to her side. She stared into the face of the little girl and continued to hum. Wesley took her shoulder and shook her. April didn’t twitch. He shook her harder and she snapped back to attention. She fixed Wesley with a curious look, like she couldn’t understand why he grasped her arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked her. She nodded and turned back to Wesley and Colin. Shaking the cobwebs from her head she smiled at the two men.
“So what’s going on?”
“There’s been four murders,” Wes replied, “Well five now. They’re all children and they show no outside signs of trauma. There isn’t a pattern or anything and frankly we really don’t have anything other than this map.” He motioned to the big piece of paper posted on the wall.
“Well this is great,” snapped the ADA. He ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He was at the end of his rope and two seconds from driving his fist through a wall. “God dammit!” he cried in anger. Hitting his head lightly against the door frame he tried to settle his thoughts.
“Mr. Reid, our team here is working on this case around the clock. We’re going to figure it out.”
“Yea,” yelled Reid, “but when? After another little kid dies? This bastard is massacring them and there isn’t a damn thing I can do and it really pisses me off!”
April shrank from the man’s anger. She sat in a chair and looked again at the pictures of the little kids posted on the wall.
“I’ve seen her before,” she whispered. “She was so sad. It was so cold. She was singing.” April suddenly felt very tired. Her eyelids grew very heavy and she tried to keep her head up. Everything began to fade and April felt herself falling.
“You shouldn’t be here,” the little girl said. She was bent over April, who was lying on the sand. “He’s coming and it isn’t safe.”
“Who’s coming?” April asked. Her voice sounded strange as if it were coming from outside her body. The little girl looked over her shoulder and her face became a mask of fear.
“He’s coming!” she cried. Then April heard the singing.
Little bloody footprints running up the hall
Tiny little screams that no one hears at all
He’s coming now you cannot hide
Close your eyes you’re gonna die
Opening her mouth to scream, April felt like she was choking on liquid. She struggled to breathe and the little girl and the beach began to fade into darkness.
When April could see clearly again, Ried was leaning over her, his expression extreme concern. She was lying on the cold linoleum floor.
“Wesley went to get some help,” said Reid. “Are you okay?”
“What happened to me? Why am I on the floor?”
“You collapsed,” he replied. He put his hand under her neck and lifted her head. “Are you okay? You hit your head pretty hard on the floor.”
April sat upright quickly, “I’m fine.” She scooted away from the young man, eyeing him. He was attractive, with light hair the barely fell into his eyes which were a bold espresso color. His brow was furrowed as he examined her.
“So are you a lawyer?” he asked. April stared at him stupidly, unsure of how to respond. “No, of course you’re not.” He smiled and laughed a little. “I don’t know how the hell I got stuck on this case. I think they District Attorney’s office likes to haze the new guy.” He sat back on his feet. “This is impossible, I’m telling you.”
April looked at the pictures of the children again. Raising her arm she pointed at the little blond girl. “I saw her.”
He looked at the picture, and his face grew concerned again. “When? Where?”
“Just now,” replied April. Her face grew distant. “I saw her in my head. She was talking to me. I don’t know what she was talking about.”
Reid didn’t say anything. He stared at the girl crouched on the floor across from him. She seemed frightened and confused. Reid felt the urge to comfort her in some way, but he remained where he was.
Before April could say anything else, the office door opened and Wesley entered with Angel and Fred. Colin looked up at them for a minute before climbing to his feet. He ran his fingers through his hair again. April stayed on the floor, staring at the photograph of the little girl.
“I saw her,” she repeated to the new arrivals. “That little girl. This is the second time that I’ve seen her. She told me that he was coming and there was this song and her hands were all bloody. I saw her.”
Wesley was taking April’s claims very seriously. The ADA thought she was insane, but Wes knew that slayers were often keenly aware of the conditions around them even if other people were not. He had spent the last half hour pumping April for details about her visions. All the while Reid sat in the opposite corner making annoyed noises through his nose.
It wasn’t until April began to sing the little song that Wesley knew which books to look in. It sounded so familiar, like something he’d read about before. April was relieved to be let off the hook for a bit, but the young lawyer was near insane with impatience.
“If you want me to solve this case you’re going to have to let us do this our way,” Wesley informed him. He went into his office, leaving April and Reid alone in the conference room.
“So if you aren’t a lawyer then who are you?” Reid demanded after a minute.
“I’m a friend of Wesley’s.” Reid made a noise under his breath. “Wesley is helping me with…” She trailed off, unsure if she should tell Colin about her job.
“With?” April shook her head, refusing to answer. Reid eyed her curiously, biting his lower lip.
“So you’re an attorney? That’s cool.” April marveled at the lameness of the stream of words spewing from her mouth. She couldn’t stop herself and she continued to make an idiot of herself in front of a very attractive perfect stranger.
“Yea,” he replied, unconvincingly. He was looking at her with such intensity that April couldn’t meet his gaze. She felt a flush rising in her face and she stared at the floor between her feet. Nervously fidgeting with her fingernails April prayed that someone would come in soon.
Her prayers were answered, but in the way she expected. Spike came wondering in, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. He sized up Colin who was standing in the corner with his arms crossed. The young man returned the hardened stare, tilting his chin up in such a way so he could look down on the vampire.
“You a’right?” asked Spike, lighting his cigarette. He took a long drag then blew the smoke at Reid. He didn’t flinch, barely blinked, just continued to stare at Spike. April nodded. She longed to escape the ADA with all his questions and piercing stares. She longed to talk to Spike, to Wesley, to anyone about the immense feeling of dread that was welling up inside her.
Turning her thoughts to the case, she tried to envision the children alive. In the photographs on the board they were dead. They were sickly yellow and stiff. Like dolls they lay on cold slabs with their eyes closed forever. April shuddered a frigid wave of nausea washing over her. It threatened to push her over the edge.
The edge. April thought about it. It seemed as though she was drawing closer and closer to some kind of climax. Something was coming, something bigger than slayers and vampires, bigger than watchers and lawyers. Whatever the something was, it didn’t feel right. Like a shadow it loomed over her thoughts, intruding on everything. Soon she would face it. Soon she would prove to everyone she was perfectly capable.
Wesley lowered his glasses and cleared his throat. Angel didn’t ask, but Wesley saw the question in his eyes.
“It’s apocalyptic,” he whispered. “Another potential end to the word.” Angel didn’t seem surprised. He seemed a little elated. Wes imagined that a little danger and excitement was what Angel had been hoping for. It was something to take his mind off her.
Wesley thought for a minute about that night that the phone call had come. It was Xander. He’d sounded hallow, like Buffy’s death had drained the life out of him. It had been raining, Wesley remembered it because Fred and Gunn had just come home from the Chinese restaurant and their clothes had been dripping with water. Wesley had been reclining on the couch in Angel’s apartment. It was the first time that the four of them had gathered together to do anything other than combat evil.
Fred had said something witty, something that made the three men laugh. Angel had been laughing when he picked up the phone. His tone was light when he said hello. Then, it was dark. He didn’t cry, but Wes knew he wanted to. The party atmosphere quickly evaporated and the guests were sent home.
Wesley stayed for only a minute, to speak with Giles. The old man had sounded deflated. He explained to Wesley that he and Angel were welcome to the funeral, but it wouldn’t be anything fancy. Wesley remembered telling Giles not to worry.
“Everything happens for a reason,” he said in an even tone. “You’ll see, this is for the greater good.”
“Wesley,” Giles had replied, his voice so cold Wesley shivered, “I fail to see the good in the loss of an innocent young woman that dedicated her existence to saving the world. For the time being I suggest you keep that kind of talk to yourself.”
Wesley hadn’t gone to funeral. He was crushed that Buffy was dead, especially when she was such a fantastic slayer, but he hadn’t been particularly close with her. He also assumed that Angel would have liked to have had some time alone with her. To say goodbye.
Blinking, Wesley brought himself back to the present. “Angel,” he said, “this thing isn’t like any demon we’ve ever faced. He’s going to be very hard to locate and to kill.”
“Why?”
“Because he takes the shape of a man,” explained Wesley. “He feeds on the souls of children and once he has enough energy he lets in loose in a cataclysmic explosion that has the potential to rip a hole in the universal boundaries, unleashing god knows what into our world.”
“How do we stop him?”
“Funny you should ask. The book, it doesn’t say. That either means that no one has ever tried before, or…” Wesley trailed off, unwilling to finish his sentence.
“Or that no one has ever succeeded,” Angel said.
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