Author’s Notes: Hey everyone! LOL, once again, between my favorite story thinking hours of midnight till 2am, I was up (sadly) and my brain just WOULDN’T shut up. What did it do that WAS productive? Well, my muse, Nuria, came up with this wonderful little (or not so little) story. Of course, I was pissed off as hell at the time, but hey, take what you can get sleep-wise, and write all other hours, right? Write. So, yeah, this is what I came up with, of course, it was all cooler sounding before I finally got to sleep and forgot it all, but bare with me here.
Spoilers: Major spoilers from ‘Rein Of Fire’ through to ‘Calvary’
Story Notes: It’s just after the Angel episode “Calvary” But to recap, Angelus is free, Cordy set him loose, it’s continuous night, vampires are everywhere, and Angelus has revealed that The Beast is too stupid to be running this show on his own, he’s working for someone. *takes a deep breath* Uh, yeah, that’s all we’ll spoil!
Summary: They are being led straight to Cassidy McMillan’s tomb, but is it really Cassidy McMillan, and is she alive… or dead? And what does any of this have to do with The Beast?
Feedback: Yes! Feed the author, please! Critique/Comments/Enjoyment is greatly appreciated, honestly, just drop me a line! Goddess_Delenn@yahoo.com
Distribution: Aria can have it! Everyone else has to ask, all you have to do is click the above link and tell me you want it, I guarantee I’ll say yes, you just have to ask first!
Songs For This Fiction: “She’s lived through too many sleepless nights, she’s crying, she’s crying… this time it’s over, I’m going to make it end.” from “Sarah Yelling” by “3 Doors Down”
Warnings: Sex: Yes. Violence: Yes. Language: Yes.
Pairing: Angelus/(?)
Rating: R
Date Started: February 28th, 2003 6:17pm. Date Finished: Currently Unfinished.
The Welcoming
By ~Delenn~
It was the pounding beat that drew them, the screaming sound of blood through veins, echoing deafeningly in their heads.
In all truth, the heartbeat had appeared out of nowhere, in a tomb nobody went to. The funeral was long past, all the mourners’ hearts passing slowly out of hearing, and no new one had appeared. This wasn’t slow then steadily louder until it filled their ears… it was just there.
Slowly they approached young Cassidy McMillan’s tomb, the freshest burial in an old family vault, reeking of death. The door was bolted fast, and they were intrigued, intrigued by the pounding of a heart, a living heart, where all should be lifeless.
There was a woman, a young woman, blonde and pretty, much like Cassidy had been, lying on top of the McMillan’s sarcophagus. They were more cautious now, in their approach, wary of the waning beat, growing fainter instead of stronger.
Closing in, they surrounded the coffin and body on top of it, prepared to pounce; a beating heart was rare now, too rare.
It was quieting, the pounding in their heads, slowing, dying. Allowed to focus they surveyed the body closer, the chest lifeless and still, the heart beating just below the skin. Then it stopped.
A human heart alive, beating, and then not. Eyes blinked open wide, clouded and unseeing, and a mouth opened as if to cry out.
They were closing in, debating on the kill, when she sat up. Tossing her captors far across the tomb with a motion so fast it was blurred, and pierced the deadened, silent day-turned-night with a scream.
Cassidy McMillan dies, the daughter of a prominent political figure in Los Angeles, Scott McMillan.
Over 150 people came to the funeral of 19-year-old Cassidy McMillan. The promising young woman graduated high school almost a year and a half early and was taking two years off from school to figure out what she wanted to do in life, according to her father, deputy mayor Scott McMillan.
Only a day after the bizarre weather phenomenon hit L.A. turning the sky black, Cassidy was found dead in a grotesque display of bodies at a local nightclub. According to police, almost 200 people were killed in what is assumed to be some sort of cult involved mass-murder. While Scott McMillan and Cassidy’s brother, Andrew, firmly deny that Cassidy was involved with any cult-like activities, police remain skeptical. Through a statement released to the public, the police are saying that some bodies were so mauled as not to be recognized (Cassidy was one of the luckier victims) and said it is most likely the work of ten or twenty people with machetes.
At the funeral, Andrew McMillan gave a touching speech over his younger sister’s charming personality and genius IQ, pointing out that violence is always wrong no matter whose family member it is. The casket was closed, and soon after the coffin was placed in the McMillan family tomb which was then resealed. The staff of this newspaper would like to offer our condolences to the McMillan family on the death of such a promising young woman.
Angelus read the newspaper with slight curiosity, certain that The Beast had killed the young woman. After reading several obituaries and articles on The Beast’s victims, Angelus had found that they were all relatively the same age, and all from wealthy families.
This was a trend that Angelus knew would lead to the Beast Master. His sire had once said that what you were informs what you become, and he knew from experience that this was true, so if the Beast Master was killing rich teenagers, it was something to do with their own past.
Angelus just hadn’t figured out what yet. Folding up the paper neatly, the vampire stood up from the table where he had been sitting and left the coffee shop without any blood being shed. “Guess it’s time to pay Cassidy McMillan a visit.”
“That’s the last one,” Fred announced tiredly, pausing to wipe at her sweat-soaked brow as she tossed the heavy stack on the tabletop.
Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne looked up from their respective places, staring with slightly wide eyes at the large stack of newspapers. Lorne cautiously asked, “That’s edited, sweet-cheeks?”
Rolling her eyes, Fred explained, pointing out the color-coded tabs with names on them. “These are all the newspaper articles I could find online about all of the victims the obituaries mentioned. We’ve got lifetime histories on some of them, even home addresses so we can go visit the families if need be.”
Gunn shook his head, still staring at the large stack of papers detailing the lives of almost two hundred people who had been killed by The Beast in that club. “Wow, that’s just… you did an amazing job, Fred.”
Wesley piped in, still not quite feeling like a part of the group but knowing that they needed him there and involved with Angelus on the loose, “That was very nicely done, Fred. Above the call of what was needed.”
All three men chorused together as though it had just occurred to them, “Thanks, Fred.”
Blushing, Fred took her seat next to the men and muttered, “It was no big. I just hope this will help us find… you know.”
Everybody was afraid to mention Angelus or The Beast because nobody could quite believe all the damage caused by the two or that they had been the ones to let Angelus out in the first place. Reaching forward, Gunn grabbed two stacks from the top of the pile, passed one to Wesley, and kept one for his own. “Let’s split up, see what we can find out. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover. Lorne, why don’t you go with Wes and Fred can come with me.”
Nobody dared challenge Fred staying with Gunn, knowing the problems the two had been going through lately. Stress was not conductive for a good relationship. Nodding, Wesley looked to the name on his tag and said, “Whom do you have? We’ve got a Frederick Von Hagen III. Did you organize by amount of information, Fred? His file is exceedingly large.”
Fred spoke up before Gunn could about the name they had, “We’ve got Cassidy McMillan, and yes, I did organize by the amount of information. It seemed to make more sense that way.”
The assembled group nodded and found that they had nothing to say to the others present. Nobody wanted to tell Connor about this adventure, because they didn’t really want to discuss anything with him, especially Cordelia, and he was too likely to go off hunting Angelus anyway. And there was nothing else to say. With mummers of “be careful,” the Fang-Gang silently gathered their stuff and headed out in separate directions.
From upstairs, Connor paced the small room that his love was in. Cordelia watched him with some mild interest, asking, “Who do you want to track first?”
Spinning around, Connor demanded, “Why didn’t they tell me about all this? I could have helped, this is important about The Beast!”
Smiling gently, Cordelia motioned for Connor to come lay next to her and he immediately did as she had requested. Once he was lying down and facing her, Cordelia sighed, “They’re trying to exclude you, Connor. I’m sorry it’s come to this, but they don’t trust you and they’re keeping you out of the loop on purpose.”
Connor nodded, knowing that Cordelia was telling the truth, placing his fingers cautiously over her stomach, encouraged by her soft smile. “I know, it’s just…”
“No buts, Connor, you have to forget them, they don’t understand us, don’t want us here,” closing her eyes, Cordelia willed herself not to smirk at the obviousness in this statement.
Craving reassurance, Connor leaned closer in Cordelia’s embrace, holding his new family tightly, but not so tight as to hurt. Sighing quietly, he announced, “I’ll track the girl first, it’s more likely that Gunn and Fred will be too distracted to notice me.”
Cordelia nodded and watched Connor about to get up; she reached for his hand and spoke carefully soft, “Connor,” beckoning him back to her.
Bending back down, Connor’s lips met that of his lover and the two shared a passionate if brief kiss, neither noticing how Cordelia’s eyes lit up with an unholy light when Connor’s eyes were closed. Once he pulled away, Connor quickly exited the room, promising, “I’ll keep you both safe, no matter what.”
Cordelia watched him go, proud at her handiwork, Connor was turning out better than she could have planned, with such loyalty to her, he would kill whoever she asked, she knew it. Perfect for her plans, now all she had to do was worry about keeping her identity secret.
Please e-mail the author of this story with your comments. goddess_delenn@yahoo.com