Where Darkness Leads

Massachusetts Bay Colony, 1653

The air around the village was cold and damp. Small billows of smoke filtered out of a few houses from the warm fires that burned inside. The racing of a horse along the trail flew up mounds of mud and dirt towards the rider. He wore a dark cloak with a hood cowering his head. The consistent pounding of the hoof beats grew louder as he rode faster till he reached the front of a village.

Soon some people outside who were busy with their daily chores quickly stopped and ushered their children inside in the presence of who had arrived.

At one time he was revered and respected amongst his fellow colonists and now he was just feared. He liked it. Before he felt he was just a mere person and now he possessed great powers that no one could possibly imagine. It proved important because he was easily able to maintain and deceive everyone that he kept his air of respectability while wielding his dark forces.

He stopped in front of a house slowly getting off his horse. He stepped to the front door extending his arm pushing it open.

“It is time,” the hooded man said.

“Please, show mercy on our family.” the mother implored, “I beg of you.”

She stepped forward walking towards him raising her hands in hope.

“I want the girl. She is the chosen.”

“No, she is our only child.”

“Bring her to me or I will bring my wrath down upon your entire village.”

“We can’t let him do that,” her husband’s solemn voice announced coming from the side room.

He walked out with his daughter by his side. She pushed aside the black locks from her beautiful clean face to see the hood man standing in the archway.

“Mother,” the girl said rushing into her mother’s caring arms.

Her daughter huddled close cowering in fear of the imposing figure that framed a dark silhouette.

“Be brave, my daughter,” she said holding her tightly.

“I will try.”

“Enough.” the cloaked man said, “Come with me, child.”

He raised his hand as the mother let go of her daughter into his grip.

The two walked back out to his horse where he mounted her on the back and he sat in the front of her. The horse trotted away as the parents looked on in sadness mixed with a semblance of relief at the same time.

Outside the village, he continued riding along the cliffs that overlooked the rocky shores of the cold endless Atlantic Ocean. He stopped when he came inland to a stone brick building with a wooden thatched roof.

He slid off of his horse taking the girl with him inside. Once inside in the center of the room stood a stone slab with its’ flat and gray smooth weathered surface and underneath were four rock shaped pillars placed at each corner. Overhead the slab a hole was made letting rays of sunlight beam down.

“On the table,” he said pointing.

Her face was wet and sullen from the despair she felt under his tutelage. Her eyes became frozen with fear when she laid herself down. He stepped around her to face the side of the table and lifted the hood from his head.

“Now the spell will be cast,” he said satisfyingly to himself.

From inside of his cloak he pulled out a sword possessing a blade of sliver and the hilt was of pure gold.

“Goddess Hecate, hear me.” he proclaimed holding the sword over her body, “I stand before you with this offering to you.”

The thunder boomed as dark clouds began to convalesce in the sky. The ocean brought up high waves of briny salty air from the winds that began to blow.

“Master of your domain grant me the knowledge and strength to become.”

Outside a young woman on a black horse dark as ebony fled along the same path approaching the building. Her blonde hair flew behind her as she rode against the flailing winds.

“Accept thy sacrifice and release the powers of living.”

He lifted the sword high over his head facing the blade towards the girl as the loud slam of the door opening startled him.

“Welcome, you are about to bear witness to my rising,” he said after seeing her step forward in front of him.

“I can’t let you hurt that girl,” she said bellowing between the strong crashes of thunder.

“It is by right and by destiny.”

“That destiny is going to change”

She threw up her hands grabbing onto his hold of the sword.

“Get out of here and run as fast as you can,” she said quickly looking down at the village girl.

The girl nodded her head and sled off the slab running outside. The wind began to pick up more violently. Soon a drizzle of rain began to pour into the sunroof.

“I will not be denied.”

She jumped up on the slab attempting to wrestle the sword away from his grasp. She flew a swift kick to his side knocking him to the ground. Her hair and face became damp. In her hands, she held the sword over his head as he flailed his arm upward. Suddenly, her body flew up against the wall dropping the sword by her side.

“I am more powerful than you can imagine little girl.” he said striding towards her as she pushed herself up from his blow, “Give up now and I might spare your life.”

“Never,” she replied indignantly.

He lifted his hand up and the sword soared to it.

“Then I will have the pleasure of watching you die.”

He jutted the sword forward at the same moment she rolled out of his path. She ran around to the back of the slab as he swung the sword against the stone creating a great spark. The spark created a fire that leaped and rose hurriedly across the floor.

In one swift and sudden move, she spun kicking him in the face throwing him backwards. She rushed to him gripping his arms tightly. He pushed his body against her until her back fell on the slab. In the moment’s struggle keeping the hilt of the sword away, he pulled back and plunged the sword into her stomach. Her eyes glazed over falling close laying there with her hair and body drenched from the rain on the wet altar.

“I’ve done it.” he said jubilantly, “I am forever eternal.”

He raised the sword in victory. As the sword hung high in the air a bolt of lightning hit the blade causing him to convulse in agony. The flames had spread out covering the entire room.

“No.” he screamed, “By destiny, I was promised.”

The surge of the bright white lightning coursed thru him from the sword to his feet.

“This was my chance!”

“Nooooooo!” his voice echoed as the lightning started to leave his body.

His scorched lifeless body fell to the ground beside her. From the outside, the building had become engulfed creating great gray smokes circling away into the sky from the roaring fire.

New York, 1998

The backstreet New York City block was silent and empty. Angel staggered down the sidewalk.

His steps were slow and his breathing was labored as he approached a trash can rummaging through it for scraps of food. Nothing. He continued silently into a darkened alley leaning himself up against a wall to rest. His face was soiled as dirty strands of hair covered his brow. For a moment he sighed until he smelled something further down the alleyway.

He had picked up the scent of a rat scurrying its way around the garbage cans sitting on the other side. He summoned up what strength he had left to try to catch the rat by stalking it despite the walk in his steps. The rat immediately vanished behind a group of cans leaving Angel to drive them all apart leaping to the ground.

Years ago Angel was once Angelus, a merciless vampire who was consumed with evil and held a penchant for unspeakable acts of torture. The Watchers journals recorded him as “the one with the angelic face”. However, in his time something had dramatically changed that made him the person he was now.

It was a century ago that Darla had found and allowed him to kill the Kaldrerash gypsies daughter. The fact that she wasn’t very bright only made her easier prey to him than others he had taken. However, after her death, he never anticipated what her clan would do to him as a result of his act.

After he quickly ran through the darkened woods he soon fell to his knees next to the roaring campfire built inside the forest clearing the clan had made their spot. He saw the body and could hear the sounds of an old gypsy woman softly canting beneath the cover of a small canopy. When her words ended his eyes suddenly became washed in a white light and immediately vanished. As he looked around he became confused about the man standing above him and his unusual surroundings.

“It hurts yes? Good. It will hurt more,” the gypsy elder spoke.

“Where am I?” Angel spoke exasperated.

The man continued with a tone of bitter anger in his voice.

“You don’t remember everything you’ve done for a hundred years. In a moment you will. The faces of everyone you killed…our daughter’s face…they will haunt you, and you will know what true suffering is.”

“Killed? I don’t, I don’t…” he said slowly shaking his head.

In a moment his centuries worth of memories came into his mind.

“No,” he repeated to himself out loud shaking his head back and forth.

His face showed the signs of guilt and regret as his head sank low feelings burdens no one could’ve bared alone.

As he continued sitting in the alley scrounging around for rats the demon Angel came to know as Whistler greeted him already aware of his unique history. He guided Angel knowing he was on a very thin line between either sinking down further or rising up.

He told him to go to Hemery High School in Los Angeles and there across the street sitting in an old Chevy Impala with the windows spray painted black he waited and watched peering out from a crack in the driver’s side window.

She soon saw her walking out, Buffy Summer, unsuspecting with her group of friends. It was the day she met her first Watcher and told to her the destiny laid out before her as the Slayer. Angel followed her into the evening where at the cemetery she staked her first vampire seeing the daunting realization on her face. It became just as bad when he saw what was going on at home through her bedroom window having to face her Mom about where she was. She made up a story about having talked to some boyfriend named Tyler. She headed into the bathroom holding back tears hearing the loud argument from her parents outside.

It was the moment where it all changed for him. After all the time he spent alone he started to feel for another person and a growing need to protect her. He went back to the sewers where Whistler stood by knowing Buffy Summers wasn’t going to have it easy. Angel knew right away he wanted to learn all he could from Whistler.