Only the Begining-Part II

Cordelia paced the interior of their office and sighed. Doyle had explained
Erin's story to her earlier over the phone and she had come over right away.
After crying into Doyle's shoulder, the girl would probably need some tips
to reduce swelling.
But when she had arrived, Erin had looked perfect other than her eyes being
a little red. She was sitting with Doyle on the couch, discussing things
that would need to be done in order to stop this demon. She took one look at
them sitting so close together and felt a pang of jealously in her heart.
This was the same girl they had taken home last night? She hadn't looked so
beautiful in the light of the street lamps.
<Oh God, I wonder what I look like under that light.> Cordelia thought.
This was the girl that had been using Doyle's shirt as a Kleenex for the
last half hour and Cordelia was surprised to find another pang shoot through
her.
She wasn't attracted to Doyle. She wasn't supposed to be jealous. But she
was. She was terribly jealous.
They had both left the room to find Angel and now Cordelia was alone,
pacing, and she hated it.
"Hello?" She called. "I'm still here."
"We know." Doyle said from the other room. "We're just trying to show Angel
how to use the computer."
"I know how." She heard the vampire growl, then heard sharp taping on the
keyboard.
Cordelia groaned and walked into the other room, tired of waiting for them.
She pushed open the door to see Angel hunched over the computer with Doyle
and Erin standing behind him. Doyle had a protective arm wrapped around the
girl's shoulders and it seemed so natural that Cordelia had to stifle the
gasp that rose in her throat.
She walked over to them and nudged Doyle out of the way. He smiled at her
quickly then moved away from her. She glanced at the computer screen and
wrinkled her nose.
"This is the guy we're looking for?" The others nodded. "He's so slimy and
scaly." She paused to study the picture. "And have we ever faced a black
demon before? He's different."
"I think black is a new demon colour for us." Angel agreed. "And as much as
I love your comic relief Cordelia, this is serious. He's been preying on
women and children like this for centuries. But because he does it in the
guise of a human and an abusive husband at that, it's never been brought to
a slayer's attention. Or even a demon hunter. No one has ever known." He
stopped to smile. "Except of course, the victims and the person who wrote
this article. Possibly another victim."
"Does it say how to stop him?" Erin asked, scanning the article.
Angel shook his head. "There's no definite solution written down here. But
his main weakness is listed." He glanced at the screen. "He's most
vulnerable when he's in his human form. It says an attempt to kill him would
probably be most successful if we caught him during his time as a human."
Angel frowned. "Which means during the day, putting me out of the fight."
"You should have kept that damn ring." Doyle muttered.
Erin cocked her head. "Why would that put you out?" She asked.
Angel glanced at her in confusion before quickly realizing she didn't know
his secret. He drew in a deep breath, "Well, you said you know about the
demons and vampires and such, right?"
Erin nodded.
"Many years ago, I was turned into a vampire," Angel began, "one day, nearly
a hundred years ago now, I killed a gypsy girl that was sacred to her tribe.
The gypsies put a curse on me which returned my soul to my body and made me
remember every single horrible thing I'd done. I'm fated to walk the earth
in eternal anguish."
Erin arched one of her eyebrows. "Sounds like you've practiced that quite a
bit."
Angel nodded. "After a hundred years, you add some big words to sound
smart."
"So let me get this straight, you're a vampire, but you're a good vampire?"
Cordelia nodded. "He has been the whole time I've known him." He paused.
"Oh, except for that time you slept with Buffy and you went all 'grr'
again."
"Went all 'grr' again?" Erin asked.
Angel rolled his eyes at Cordelia before explaining. "If I had one moment of
true happiness when the thoughts of my evil deeds were no longer plaguing my
thoughts, the soul that had been delivered would be yanked violently from my
body. I had that, but everything is okay again."
"So, as Cordelia put it, you're not 'grr' right now?"
Angel shook his head. "Well, I mean, I still have teeth and everything, but
I don't bite people." He glanced at Doyle. "Unless they really, really
deserve it."
"Funny." Doyle muttered sarcastically.
"So, back to where we were," Angel said, "unless you guys can find a way to
transport me to this guy, you're on your own."
"Maybe we should find out where this old boy lives before we go making our
fight plans." Doyle suggested. "I can take Erin and have her go through some
names. See if she recognizes anything."
"The name he used with us was Ross Sheppard. I don't know if he still uses
that alias, but it's worth a shot isn't it?" She asked.
Doyle nodded. "We can go over to my old place and grab some things before we
go on the hunt. I have weapons there and my phone book. It's possible
someone in there might know him."
"We should start in the city directory." Angel said, pulling it out from a
drawer. "He flipped it open and searched through the Sheppards. "Okay,
there's two 'R. Sheppards' and one 'Ross Sheppard'." He looked up. "What do
you say we make the rounds together and peek into some windows? If he's in
his demon form we're sure to recognize him. If he's not, Erin could always
identify him."
She nodded. "Sure. We can go to Doyle's after we test drive this one first.
If this fails, we might need that phone book."
"And if this succeeds, we'll need his weapons." Cordelia pointed out.
"So, we're off?" Angel asked.
Erin glanced at the window in the main office. "Sun's gone down, we're
safe."
As they walked out, Doyle grabbed her arm and smiled. "You're sure taking
all this demon and vampire stuff in stride."
Erin nodded. "Well, I think deep down I've always known this stuff was going
on somewhere in the world. We're all demons in one way or another Doyle."
She smiled at him, then followed the other two out into the street.
"You can say that again." He muttered, before following her.

   *  *  *

Erin peeped over the edge of a window and shook her head. "That's not him."
She slumped down to the wall where Angel, Cordelia and Doyle were sitting.
"Why did we leave the Ross Sheppard until last? We should have checked him
out first."
Angel scratched the last 'R. Sheppard' off his list and circled the 'Ross
Sheppard' carefully before crawling away and standing up.
"Let's go. For now, this guy is our last hope."
The other stood up and followed quickly as Angel took long strides toward
another street.
"Fourth Avenue." He muttered, glancing at the paper he held in his hand.
"There." Doyle pointed to a street sign that read 'Fourth Avenue'.
Angel nodded and began to walk over to that street. "That's the address." He
said and pointed to an apartment block that rose high into the air. "And
lucky for us, he's on the first floor or we wouldn't be looking into his
windows."
They crept toward the window Angel had indicted and crouched below it.
Angel looked over the edge and came back down quickly. "I think it's him."
He whispered. "He's not in demon form but Erin I need you to look to be
sure."
She nodded and dared to peek over the edge. Her eyes filled with tears at
what she saw. A man stood over a woman, screaming at her. Erin could see the
bruises already forming on her face and arms. A boy that couldn't have been
any more than ten years old came flying into the room and attacked the man
from behind. The man flung the boy off and sent the back of his hand flying
across the boy's cheek.
She bit her lip and crouched down beside the others. "That's him. I'll never
forget his face when he gets that way." She quickly wiped away a tear that
had fallen. "I can't even stand the thought of what that little boy is going
through. He'll be next. Ross will kill his mother, then he'll move onto him.
My brothers and I were lucky enough to get away before he could kill us."
Doyle rested his hand gently on her shoulder. "We'll get him Erin. I
promised you and it's a promise I intend to keep."
Angel nodded. "You and Doyle go back to his old apartment. You should get
the weapons before you come back to my place. Cordelia and I can look up
some more things on this guy, maybe there's more articles and a possible way
to kill him."
They stood up and Doyle led Erin toward his apartment while Cordelia and
Angel walked back to the agency office.

   *  *  *

"Oh look!" Cordelia pointed at the answering machine. "We have a message.
This is great, another costumer."
She tapped the button and a message began to play.
"Cordelia, Angel. It's Giles. I looked up the demon you were wondering about
and I got about as much as you did. But there was one thing you might find
of interest. In the article I found it says he can most definitely be killed
in his human form but only by a wooden stake. Like a vampire, yet he's not
one. A crossbow would probably do, but do not attempt to kill him in his
demon form. He's invincible. I hope this helps. Talk to you soon."
There was a click and a dial tone.
Cordelia frowned. "Someone called Giles?"
Angel nodded. "I thought maybe he would be able to get some more information
since he has all the books."
"A wooden stake." Cordelia shrugged. "Well, we have lots of those. It's not
a problem."
"Are you going to stake him?" Angel asked.
"What?"
"Well, either you or Doyle has to do it."
She nodded. "Oh, well maybe Doyle could do it."
"Do what?" He asked, struggling into the office with an armful of weapons.
Cordelia moved forward to help him as Angel caught some of the weapons
falling from Erin's arms.
"Stake the demon."
Doyle smirked. "Are we a little mixed up dear? Staking is usually reserved
for vampires."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "We got a lucky break. Turns out Angel called
Giles back home, he's the book guy and he said the demon can only be killed
in human form with a wooden stake."
Erin's forehead creased. "That's the only way? Well, I'm sure glad I'm not
any kind of demon hunter."
Doyle sighed. "Yeah, I can do it. Not a problem." He turned to look at
Angel. "We'll go when the sun comes up. Maybe we can catch him while he's
still sleeping."
"Make sure you call me when the fight is over." Angel said. "I have to know
that you're all safe."
Doyle nodded. "Will do."
"Just to be safe, you should all take some weapons. Wood, I mean." Angel
said. He turned and reached into a drawer. "Here Doyle."
The demon looked confused. "What's this?"
Angel strapped one of the contraptions to his arm and pressed in a stake.
"You just aim your arm, hit this button and," the stake went flying across
the room.
"What are you, batman?" Doyle asked, an amused look on his face.
"Hey, it's really useful." Angel said defensively. "Just take it."
Doyle pushed up the sleeves of his jacket and Angel strapped one of his each
of his wrists, then pushed stakes into both.
"You see where the button is?" Angel said.
Doyle nodded. "I've got it. What else should I take?" He rolled down his
sleeves, covering the stakes.
"This." Angel handed him a crossbow, then handed a smaller one to Erin and
Cordelia.
"They're really easy to work." He said, pointing out the trigger to Erin.
"And last, you should probably each have a few stakes in your pockets." He
handed each person two stakes and they dropped these into their pockets.
"Don't get hurt." Angel warned.
Cordelia and Doyle nodded as Erin glanced into the kitchen.
"The sun's about to come up." She said. "We should get going."
Angel watched as they walked out of the front door and into the quickly
rising sun.

   *  *  *

Doyle glanced nervously at the front door of Ross Sheppard's house, waiting
for the woman and her son to leave.
"Are you sure he'll let them leave?" He hissed to Erin.
She nodded. "If they don't show up for work and school, it'll arouse too
many suspicions. He always let us go."
"Shh." Cordelia warned and pulled them both closer to the wall.
"Bye dear." They heard a male voice call.
"Bye." A woman answered sullenly, then walked down the front steps and into
the street. A young boy followed her. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans
and a light grey sweater.
A soft smile made its way to Erin's face. The way his light brown hair slid
onto his forehead and into his dark brown eyes reminded her of her brothers
when they were younger. And the Cookie Monster backpack that he wore was
similar to something Erin herself had worn in elementary school.
"Kevin." The woman said softly and crouched beside the little boy near her
car. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone what happened last
night. Okay sweetie?"
Kevin nodded slowly and they all caught a glimpse of the darkening bruise on
his face.
"Tell your friends that you fell down the stairs, or that you bumped your
eye, okay?"
He nodded again. "Okay mom. I won't tell."
Then he turned in what they assumed was the direction of his school and
began plodding along the sidewalk, his feet dragging in a depressing motion.
The woman watched her son for a moment longer with tears glistening her
eyes, then got into her car and drove away.
"Why doesn't anyone have the strength to stop it?" Cordelia asked.
"Maybe they would normally, but this guy is taking everything from them."
Doyle answered. "She's losing all her self esteem without even realizing
it."
"Are we going?" Erin asked, her voice low and hard.
"You can't make this into a personal vendetta." Doyle told her carefully.
"You get careless that way."
"It's personal." Erin said. "You know it Doyle, it's very personal."
She stood up and waited for the others to follow her. "I should go in
first." She said. "He'll recognize me."
"That might be a good idea." Doyle agreed. "We'll be right behind you."
They walked over to the front door and Erin drew in a deep breath on the
step before trying the door knob. It was open and she stepped inside.
"He's in the kitchen." She whispered, before striding purposefully in that
direction.
Doyle flashed a half smile in Cordelia's direction before following the
younger girl.

   *  *  *

Erin walked into the kitchen and slammed her hand down on the table as hard
as she could.
"Hello Ross." She said slowly.
The man sitting at the table glanced up in alarm, ready to act like any
other normal human. When he saw who stood there, a smile spread across his
face.
"Well Erin, it's certainly nice to see you again." He ran a hand through his
blonde hair and smiled wider, causing his blue eyes to sparkle. "What are
you doing here? You know your mother and I are no longer together."
"Really?" Erin feigned surprise. "And do you think that could have something
to do with the fact that you killed her?"
Ross stood up. "It could. In fact, I think that might be one of the main
reasons we broke up. That and the fact that she was so weak."
"And I wonder who did that." Erin said sarcastically.
He looked amused. "Big deal. So does the kid I'm living with now and he
won't say a word."
"He won't have to." She answered. "Because I'm here to stop you."
Ross laughed. "You and what army?"
"This one." Doyle answered for her, as he and Cordelia stepped into the
room.
"And what have we here?" Ross looked over at Erin. "You've made friends with
some demon hunters? How wonderful for you."
Ross took a step toward Erin and Doyle raised one of his arms and pressed
the hidden button. A stake flew out of his sleeve and was embedded in Ross'
chest.
He looked down at it. "Now that wasn't nice. I suppose you heard the old
myth that I can be killed by wood when I'm in my human form huh? Wrong!" He
laughed. "I guess I can tell you how to really kill me since I'll be getting
rid of you all in the next minute and a half anyway. You see," Ross began,
"to really kill me, you have to behead me. Take a big ol' ax to my head or
something. But since it looks like all you have are stakes and cross bows, I
figure I'm pretty safe."
Doyle raised the cross bow he held. "Don't come any closer."
Ross looked exasperated. "I told you that can't kill me."
"Maybe not, but it sure looks like it could hurt." Doyle answered.
"And how would you shoot me if I did this?" Ross asked, then grabbed Erin
and held her in front of him. "You wouldn't risk her life just to hurt me,
would you?"
Doyle lowered the cross bow.
"I didn't think so."
Erin struggled against Ross' arm that encircled her neck but he held fast.
As Doyle and Ross tried to stare each other down, Erin finally slammed her
elbow backward into Ross' stomach then shot forward when he loosened his
grip in surprise. As she ran, he reached out and caught her by the hair
before she even got more than a step away from him.
"I told you never to touch me." He yelled at her, then slammed his fist into
her face. He grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her across the room. She
hit the wall with a hollow thud and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Doyle felt his face changing in anger and suddenly he flew toward Ross.
"Oh, not only a demon hunter but also a demon himself." Ross said as Doyle
slammed into him, causing them both to fall to the floor.
Cordelia watched Doyle and Ross fight for a moment, then ran to where Erin
lay and tried to wake her up.
"You hurt her enough." Doyle yelled, then punched Ross in the face. "You're
not going to hurt her again."
"That's where you're wrong my friend." Ross answered and threw the other
demon off his body. He stood up and kicked Doyle in the face, then in the
ribs.
Doyle lifted his other arm and released the other button, causing a stake to
fly into Ross' neck. He looked confused for a moment, then pulled the stake
out of his neck and tried to stab Doyle with it. He rolled to one side,
avoiding the sharp point of the stake then kicked Ross' arm, snapping it.
Ross howled in pain and threw the stake at Doyle as hard as he could. The
stake clattered to the floor next to Doyle's head and he got up, then threw
himself on Ross again.
His fists rained down on Ross' back before he was thrown to the ground and
kicked once more.
Ross then turned his attention to where Cordelia knelt over Erin's limp
body.
"No." Doyle said, and forced himself to his feet. "Cordelia look out!" He
yelled.
She turned in time to see Ross' boot fly toward her face and she collapsed
on the floor next to Erin.
Then Ross turned on Doyle again and wrapped his fist around the demon's
throat. "I'm keeping them for now. You get out of here and you tell whoever
ran this operation that I want to see them." He gestured to where Cordelia
and Erin lay. "If you ever want to see them alive again, I suggest you
better hurry."
"I won't leave them here with you."
"Then I'll kill them now and make you watch. Is that what you want?" Ross
hissed. "Get out."
He threw Doyle to the ground, then watched as the demon made his way slowly
to the door.
"I'll be back." Doyle rasped, standing in the doorway.
Ross smiled at him. "I'm counting on it."
Doyle opened the door and started down the front steps.
"Oh, by the way." Ross called and Doyle turned around. "If you're not here
by sundown, they both die."

   *  *  *

Doyle broke into the sunlight and began to walk toward Angel's home. He
felt blood dripping down his nose and onto his chin but he made no movement
to wipe it away. He was thinking too hard, trying to remember what Ross had
said to them. The only way to kill him.
<Beheading!> Doyle thought suddenly. <That's it.>
He broke into a run toward Angel's house, worried about what Ross might be
doing to the girls while he was gone. But he had no choice. If he didn't
come back with Angel, Ross said he would kill them.
And Doyle had no doubt in his mind that he was a man of his word.

   *  *  *

Angel stared at the phone and silently willed it to ring. When it emitted
no sound, he resumed his pacing.
"They should have called by now." He muttered, running a hand through his
dark hair.
Suddenly the door burst open, letting in a triangle of light. Angel cried in
surprise and jumped out of the way before it could burn him.
"Doyle." He said, his relief evident in his voice.
"I wouldn't get too happy chief." Doyle said. "We're worse off than we were
when we started."
Angel frowned. "What do you mean? Where are Cordelia and Erin?" He glanced
at Doyle's throat which was rapidly turning purple and blue. "What happened
to you."
"It turns out your little library friend was wrong." Doyle went to the
freezer and pressed ice to his nose. "This guy can't be killed by wooden
stakes. He has to be beheaded."
"That still doesn't tell me where the others are."
"He got them. If I hadn't left, he would have killed them right there. We
need to get back before he does kill them."
"What makes you think he hasn't already?" Angel asked, his nostrils flaring.
"I tried not to think about that." Doyle answered, then glared at the
vampire. "Let's move."
He walked to the elevator and they rode down in silence to Angel's
apartment. Once there, they moved quickly toward the trunk where Angel kept
most of his weapons.
Doyle opened it and pulled out an ax first. Angel looked at its size
questioningly before pulling out a bigger ax.
Doyle smiled. "I think maybe if we hack at his neck for an hour, this might
do the job." He pulled out a small, hand held ax and showed it to Angel.
The vampire smiled back. "Take it. We might need it as back up."
"To the tunnels!" Doyle announced, then followed Angel to the rat invested
sewer tunnels the vampire could use to get around in the day.

   *  *  *

Erin opened her eyes slowly, afraid of aggravating the pounding in her
head. Once her eyes were fully open, she surveyed the room, then herself.
She was tied to a chair beside Cordelia in what seemed to be the little
boy's room.
<Kevin.> She reminded herself. That had been his name, Kevin.
"Cordelia." She hissed, trying to wake up the other girl. "Cordelia."
"Hmm?" Cordelia murmured something, then slowly opened her eyes and tried to
get up. When she found she couldn't move, she opened her eyes wider and
struggled against the ropes.
"I've tried that already." Erin said.
Cordelia stopped struggling and turned to look at her. "What happened? The
last thing I remember was trying to wake you up, then getting kicked in the
face."
"Either he told Doyle to get Angel and come back for us or," Erin trailed
off.
"Or what?" Cordelia looked at her. "Or what?"
"Or he killed Doyle."
"Which we don't want to think about."
Erin nodded. "Exactly. We just hope Doyle made it back to Angel and they're
on their way to save us right now. Without any interruptions from other
problems."

   *  *  *

Angel and Doyle ran through the tunnels in the direction they knew Ross'
home was. Doyle had pointed it out on a map when there was still a small
amount of light in the sewers. Now he had one hand on the side of the
tunnel, hoping he didn't fall on the ax in the dark.
Ahead of him he suddenly heard Angel collide with something and grunt.
"Angel?" He asked.
"I'm fine. But there's someone else down here."
"Well! If it isn't the great poof of Sunnyhell. Good to see you again."
"Spike." Angel groaned. "What are you doing here?"
"Having a few drinks if you don't mind."
"You're in the sewer Spike." Angel said, then picked himself up.
"I have my own drinks." The blonde vampire replied, pulling a bottle out of
his coat. He swayed unsteadily and Doyle rolled his eyes.
"Look, if you're quite done we have some work to do."
"But the sun's up." Spike's word slurred. "If the great poof here goes out
into the sun he'll go whoosh. Light up like a dried chunk of firewood."
Doyle nodded. "Which is the main reason we're travelling in the sewers."
"Well, let me help you." Spike said and threw an arm around Doyle's neck.
"See, I have the ring of," he paused, trying to remember the name, "well,
you know the one that lets me go out into the sun. See?" He shoved his hand
into Doyle's hand and the demon smacked it away.
"Yes, I see." He turned to Angel. "I thought you smashed that ring."
"I did." Angel replied. "It's not even the same ring."
"S'too." Spike spat at him. "Look." He spotted a ladder and a drain hole and
smiled. He stumbled toward it and swayed unsteadily before climbing up the
ladder and thrusting his hand into the light.
Angel winced as he heard the vampire's hand catch on fire, then laughed as
Spike's face went slack before he started to scream.
"Goddamn it!" He yelled, yanking his hand back into the sewer and plunging
off the ladder toward the ground. He hit the cement with a crack and thrust
his hand into the dirty water along the bottom.
A smirk played across Doyle's face as Spike's hand sizzled in the water.
"Oh shut up." He spat and stood up, nursing his burnt hand.
"Now if that didn't sober you up, I don't know what will." Angel said,
shaking his head.
"I still think you're a poof." Spike hissed.
"Sure, okay, great." Doyle raised both his eyebrows. "We have some women to
save, so it might be a good idea to keep going."
"Who now?" Spike asked, looking smug.
"Cordelia and Erin." Doyle answered. "Like you care."
"Who's Erin?"
"Cordelia's pet snake." Doyle answered, sarcasm dripping in his voice. "Get
lost, we don't need you."
Angel stopped him. "We might be able to use him." He turned toward the other
vampire. "Spike, would you mind being a decoy for us today?"
Spike smiled. "It's what I do best, isn't it?"

Only the Beginging-Part III

Leah's Diary