The Elder watches the working of the world, and is concerned. Something is going to happen. Something that will change the world forever, for the better or the worse. And things do not look good now. The Elder stretches his conscience deep into the afterworld. He knows who he must find. He is hard to locate. His death so long ago. And the Elder knows he is happy where he is, and does not want to be found. But the Elder is persistent, and one can hide only so long from him. He find's the soul he has been seeking, and speaks to the reluctant spirit.

        The Elder speaks "I have need for you"

        The dead spirit answers "Have I not done enough already?"

        "Perhaps so, but you are still needed."

        "Please let me rest; my time has come and gone, the world will work things out for itself."

        "I cannot, you know what is happening."

        "I have left the affairs of the world forever, they do not concern me."

        "You can lie to yourself, but you cannot lie to me."

        "Please, there must be another way. I have earned this, have I not?" the voice says in defeat.

        "You will go."

        "I will."
 

        Her name is Jennifer Denzel, she’s twenty-three years old. She works as a bartender at a local L.A. pub called the Heartbeats. She had to work late tonight, her replacement called in sick. Probably faking it so she can make out with her loser boyfriend. So she stayed on until closing time. She isn’t worried about that right now though. 

        "Help me! Somebody!" She screams as she runs down the alleyway. When she left work their were people standing around her car. Seeing her, they started towards her. Having been mugged before, she offered them her purse, but they didn’t take it. They kept coming. That’s when she saw their faces. Twisted and gnarled, like some kind of monster. Sharp fangs extending below their lips. She did what anyone would. Jennifer ran like hell. Down the street, the monsters pursued her. She ducked through an alley, they came right behind her. Jennifer knew the town. She just had to get a little further. But the creatures were fast, gaining a foot on her every few steps. There it was, the exit way, it would take her right to the police station, she would be safe. Three steps, she could hear them draw closer. Two steps, She could hear their snarls. One step, and she stopped dead in her tracks. A figure loomed in the exit, the same twisted face as her attackers, this one wielding a battleaxe. Jennifer dropped to her knees in tears, I'm dead, aren't I? No one comes to save you in real life. The creature blocking her exit ran dead at her, axe raised. Jennifer closed her eyes and waited to feel the blade strike her shoulder. Any dreams she had had for her future were now null and void. But all she felt was wind. When she looked up, she realized that the creature had leapt over her. She turned around to see the head of one of one of her attackers come off, and disintegrate. The second attacker found the axe buried in his skull. He too disintegrated. The creature with the axe found his next target, this one caught the axe and tried to wrestle it from the first one’s grip. The first one shoved him off, the second one bolted back the way he came. The first creature raised the axe, and with superhuman strength, threw it in the second’s direction. The ax spun through the air five times before burying itself in the creatures back. He stopped and turned around. She saw the blade protruding through his chest. Then he, likewise, turned to dust, the axe falling through the air onto the pile of ashes.

        The creature walked over and retrieved his axe. No blood stained the blade. So he wiped the dust from it. Jennifer couldn’t quite grasp that she had survived. The creature walked back over to her. She was sure it would kill her now. But he merle extended his hand. She nervously took it. The creature helped her up. She looked at it with bewildered eyes. Without a word, the creature turned and left. Seeming to vanish into the shadows. Jennifer, shocked beyond words, got up, walked back to her car, and went home. She would never tell anyone what happened that night.

        A dark man watched her leave. A dark man indeed. Oppressed by a darkness he both lived in and created. One he had recently chosen over the light. "Somehow, I just can't seem to care." The words he had spoken only a few nights before. They were like a mantra to him now. His soul was forfeit, he knew the truth now, he was screwed. Dual forces had raged for his soul for a long time now. But it was obvious now, no matter how much he longed for it, his life, his very humanity was lost to him. He was no savior of souls, He couldn't even save the one he had loved. The darkness had him. He was a lost cause. The only thing that really mattered now to him was to take down as many as he could with him. Once he was the defender of the innocent. No more, he was now hunter of the guilty. He is the vampire with a soul. His name is Angel.

        Angel's nightly vigil continued for a few more hours. But soon enough the sun was due to rise. He had to be out of its way. Angel opened a manhole and took to the sewers. The lack of oxygen did not bother him in the least. He hadn't taken a breath of fresh air in centuries. An hour later he saw shafts of light coming down from the manholes above. A pang of longing rang in his heart. He quelled it quickly. The light was forbidden to him now. He would not let it deter him. He had to focus his mind on the task at hand. The vampires in his territory were getting a bit smarter. Hunting early in the morning, just before dawn, hoping Angel would turn in early and stay out of their way. They were getting harder to find. They know that he's out there, and that he can end their immortality rather inconveniently. They weren't coming to him anymore. Angel would have to start hunting them tomorrow night. He suspected a few locations that may hold nests. He'd scope them out, find the best course of action, and slaughter them. Angel stopped. He had been staring at the murky water below him for some time. He realized something. Hunting and killing vampires was becoming routine. Almost boring. It hadn't occurred to him until now that those vampires in the alley had been his first find this week. Perhaps they were moving to safer grounds, in which he would have to move as well. Or maybe they're so thinned out that it will be almost impossible to find them. Angel arrived at his stop. Unsure of where he should go now. Prepare for tomorrow night? Instead, he headed left, through another network of sewers, one that would lead him to the police station. He had a few questions to ask.

        "Where..?" Where indeed. He did not recognize what he saw. Shining towers overhead. Large things were zooming past him. Something bumped into him.

        How did I get here? This is not my crypt. 

        "Hey! Watch it buddy!" 

        "Sorry," He stepped out of the way. Sorry? I never say that. Kain looked around some more. Were he not so bewildered he may have killed that human for running into him. But Kain could only look about in awe. He looked at himself. He was dressed differently. The cloth he wore was some sort of black leather. Tight fitting, but still comfortable. A pitiful armor. He instinctively felt to his side. He felt the scabbard. Good, wherever he was, he was not unarmed. But where in hell am I!? I don't know of any place like this. Even Dark Eden wasn't this impressive. Why am I here? One minute I'm lying facedown in my own blood. Kain stopped. My Blood!?

        Memories hit Kain like sledgehammer to the back of his skull. They crippled him. He fell to his knees and gripped his head, trying to make sense of the images cycling through his mind, or force them into place. The sun rising-a skull fortress-an ancient vampire beheaded-an old man suffering the same fate-by my blade?-a decision-a skull encrusted blade-going through my heart?-9 towers of purest white-a pit of flames-a man made of bone-an odd little man-a kingdom at it's knees-a dark creature-save the world or damn it. "All on my whim" he said aloud.

        "Hey buddy, you alright?" Kain looked up. A human in a blue uniform. He didn't run or try to attack. If Kain didn't know better, he'd swear the man didn't recognize the visage of a vampire before him. Kain stood up.
        "I'm fine kind sir," the blue-wearing man shrugged, gave Kain a puzzled look, and walked off. 

        Humans were everywhere, Kain noticed. These giant towers must be where they live. What a strange place. But how did I get here? Kain started walking, to avoid being bumped again. Trying to collect his thoughts. I died? Did I not? Kain thought as he walked the street. Perhaps this is the afterlife? The abyss? It did not seem so. Kain watched people moving about. So crowded this place was. Kain's vampiric strength assured a clear path through the crowds, but to be truthful most human's avoided him, though Kain had the suspicion it was because of his dress and not because of his race. Another mystery. Kain looked ahead. This place is gigantic! He realized. The streets went on forever, the buildings reaching up to the sky. He never could have imagined such a place in his entire life. Kain walked down the street for an hour or so. It seemed to have no end. It was hot too. The sun was draining him. He needed to find some shelter from it.

        I'm hungry. The thought just appeared. Seemingly out of nowhere. So lost he was, he hadn't felt the hunger creeping up on him. Who knows when I last fed? There is food all around me. But Kain held his instincts in check. Humans were everywhere, yes, and if he killed even one, surely the horde would close in on him and kill him. Better to remain inconspicuous, as a vampire can be at least. He had to find an isolated place to feed. But where? There were no forests in site. No caves. He could see signs no signs of wilderness anywhere. But he would have to feed, and soon. Kain's wandering now had a direction, if a vague one. Find an isolated place, dark if possible, and feed there. Kain wandered straight for another hour. The world started to take on a different tone, he noticed. The shimmering buildings were replaced with rusted ones. While still impressive, buildings of steel and all, It was definitely looking used and worn. There were fewer humans here. Perhaps this is where I would have to wait. Another memory surfaced to Kain. Sanctuary. "Of course,", Kain laughed at his own ignorance. Wherever I am, I can always return to my crypt for nourishment.

        Sanctuary, Kain thought. More than a thought. More like an ideal, a concept. Kain felt the energies gather about him. He closed his eyes. He felt his body become like energy, excited, moving, for a brief moment, Kain didn't exist, then it slowed down and finally ceased. Kain opened his eyes. And snarled, scaring a few people around him. He had returned to the exact spot where he had first appeared. People all around staring at him in disbelief. Kain quickly shifted to his mist form and crept into a window. He ducked below the sill and waited. He heard the voices outside. One voice was familiar. "So you're saying that a man wearing black leather, carrying a sword, just appeared out of thin air." 

        "That's right officer"

        The blue-wearing man, he is an officer of the human's army it seems.

        "And then he suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke."

        "Hey, it wasn't just me! All these people saw it!" 

        There was a cacophany of 'Yeah' s and 'I saw it too' s. The officer certainly seemed perplexed. Having never had to report something like this before. Normally a wino or bum might say something, but now he had witnesses. How do you call in a disappearing man? 

        Kain didn't stay to hear the rest. He floated through the ceiling boards into the attic. Then out onto the roof. There he shifted back to human form to decide his next move. Those people saw me shift to mist, but none of them called out "vampire!" Why not? Where am I!? It would be dusk in roughly 2 hours. 

        Kate filled out paperwork. Not the most entertaining job at the police station. But she didn't become a cop just to shirk the more irritating of her duties. She'd become a cop to help people, to fix the problems with the world, or at least the city. She'd followed in her father's footsteps. They'd never been too close, but he was still her father, and she still respected him. Still missed him.

        Her father's memory always made her choke back a tear. Killed by an evil he didn't even know existed. He'd thought he was just dealing with some drug lords. Who would have guessed that the people were vampires? No one, he wouldn't have even believed her if she had told him. She knew, of course. Sort of, she knew, too late. She knew because Angel told her. But that knowledge hadn't arrived in time to save him. Angel had been there. Tried to help, but couldn't. Angel. She couldn't figure him out. A vampire, fighting for good? If so, why couldn't he see past the end of his nose? To see that oftentimes what he did caused more harm then help. Angel.

        "Kate,"

        The voice startled her. "Angel. It's daytime, shouldn't you be in your coffin by now?" 

        Kate never showed any fear in the vampire's presence, before or after she knew what he was. He would never admit it. But he wasn't used to that. Someone unafraid of him made him uneasy. 

        "We don't sleep in our-"

        "I know," She cut in, "What do you want?"

        "How has crime been lately?"

        "Why do you ask?"

        "Call it a hunch, I think something's up"

        "Yeah, well, it's been a flip side coin," She said curtly," On one hand, yeah, there haven't been many murders, rapes, thefts, in the area these past few weeks. By L.A. standards at least. But there've been a lot of disappearances, in a few cases whole families have simply vanished. No one seems to know where they are. We even have eye-witnesses of the victims a half-hour before they were reported missing. It's like they simply vanished off the face of the earth."

        "Have you got any leads?"

        "Not really, just one, there's been some strange graffiti appearing in the areas of the kidnappings. Weird symbols, looks like occult type stuff.

        "Symbols?"

        "Yeah, nothing else, no one knows what to make of it really. Creepy as hell. Not much to go on, huh?….Angel?"

        But the tall shade that was Angel had left the space. Kate decided she would never take her eyes off him even for a second when she saw him next. He seemed able to vanish when someone blinked their eyes. Kate turned back to her work. Something else had left too. The photos of the graffiti. Damn him. Then again, maybe it's too late for that.

        Kate looked out the window. The sun was setting. She said a quick prayer. The same one she said every time the sun went down. There was good reason to fear the dark now.

        Angel simply went out the garage, dusk hid the deadly rays of the sun from him, he no longer needed to fear them. What were these symbols? There were several photos. Symbols, strange figures, Angel was centuries old, but he'd never seen anything like these. The night was young, he'd find his answers.

        Kain stood atop the building, gazing ahead as he watched the sun sink into the horizon. Sundown, it always gave him a sense of inspiration. The dawning of the night brought power to Kain, his strength increased, his magical power recovered more quickly. At sundown, Kain felt like a god being born. He shifted to his bat form. From his vantage in the heavens no place was beyond his reach. Flying through the air took him back to the rusted town he had earlier graced. At the very least, it seemed poor. Poor places held poor people. And after a day of aimless searching in the cruel sun. Kain had worked up an appetite.