Prologue

Somewhere in the Old World a dark figure crouched on top of a crossbeam high above a warehouse floor with no lights only shadows. Her information had been good. The vampire count in the warehouse was now at twenty, with four more to come. Then there was a crack as the beam started to give away. "Shit, shit, shit," the pitch of the voice gave away the gender of the watcher as a stream of curses followed her when she jumped of the beam, did a flip and landed in the middle of the group gathered below her. "Hey sorry for dropping in like this," she apologized as she staked the first one and the reflection in her sunglasses showed it turn to dust. What followed was perfectly rehearsed ballet of slaughter. She caught sight of two more coming in fast. She fell down in a split, thrust her stakes up and was on her feet before the dust started falling. A kick sent another flying into a stack of crates and dust followed. "Who are you?" bellowed the leader as another vampire charged her and got dusted with ease. "Willow," the girl greeted, "the wicca," she added and threw fireball at him. "Get her." the leaders command turn into a scream of agony when he was engulfed in flames. "Great now the rest will run," she muttered as the host in front of started to retreat and soon she was alone with the shadows. "Willow the wicca, yeah that I'll but the fear of god into them" she muttered and removed her cap. The girl known as Willow then dusted herself off, removed the sunglasses, thus revealing a pair of green eyes and ran a hand through her short red hair. "Well lame nicks aside I'm going home," she said to the darkness, turned on her heel and walked out of the warehouse.

Chapter One

The sun came crashing in through the windows, streaking the apartment with streaks of light and thoroughly annoying the bed's single occupant. "Go away," Willow muttered and rolled out of the beam. Outside the city was pulsing with its steady rhythm and the lights shone on the mirror above her dresser, on it hung four pictures. The first, from top to bottom, was of herself, her best friend Buffy and Buffy's watcher slash mentor Rupert Giles taken two days before she'd left for the Old World to teach and slay vampires on her own, the slay part took up the better part of her time though. The second picture was black and white of a young man with sharp features, blue eyes and bleached hair, Spike he had been fun, but currently he was on walkabout something he said he did every decade or so to refresh his feel for the world. This walkabout actually entailed burning rubber from London to Moscow and get plastered in as many cities as possible. The third picture was group shot of everyone that made up the Scooby Gang, both active and reserve members, the four and final on was of her parents, which they'd sent it to her on her twenty fourth birthday. In the bed Willow rolled over and came face to face with what she'd declared loudly to be the most hated object in her apartment. The alarm clock. "Eleven AM, school, teaching" then her brain made the connection, "Class!" she exclaimed and jumped out of the bed. Clothes came sailing from the drawers and landed on the bed. Blouse, jeans, bra, panties, shoes. "Shoes." she said in a panicky voice and dove under the bed. She dressed in hurry, putting the blouse on inside out, tripping over a stake as she pulled on the jeans and the hobbling into the kitchen while putting on the left shoe. "Laptop." she stated as she closed the laptop on the kitchen table. "Coffee." she mumbled and dumped two spoonfuls of instant coffee into her "As matter of fact I am a rocket scientist" mug. "Car keys." she said thoughtfully, looked around and spotted the keys on upright stake on the counter. Out the door she went, grabbing a black leather jacket with her, down the stairs and onto the street. "Hot seat, hot seat," she exclaimed when she sat into the car. She pulled out onto the street, there never was much traffic in the street where she'd made her home. It was in one of the oldest part of the city and it only went one way, it came to an end at plaza, where on every Sunday there was a market. The houses weren't tall only two stories, maybe three and sometimes she could swear that time stood still here, but today it was moving way too fast. She pulled into the University parking lot with a shriek and the students and teachers alike smiled as she ran past them, the fact that she was always in the nick of time was the stuff of staff room legends. She came to a stop in front of her lecture room, she ran a hand through her hair, took down the sunglasses and put on her teaching glasses. The sign said Professor Rosenberg, advanced computer theory. "Morning Professor Rosenberg," her class greeted as she walked into the room. "Morning class," she replied as she placed her laptop on the desk, two roses and three apples adorned her desk. "Now last time we were talking about fractal mathematics and how they could apply to codes and code breaking." she started her teaching. As soon as the class was over, she was out the door and back on the road. Now heading for the Church Library, on of the main reasons she'd decided on this city. A large black car with darkened windows drove past her on the way there. She looked as if in thought for a moment, but then shook her head. "No this isn't the Hellmouth and therefore hellmouthy things don 't happen here," she said to herself. Behind her the same black car, did a U-turn and stopped traffic for miles behind it. The driver just ignored the shouts and honks and drove on. "I think this years walkabout is at an end," the driver said to himself. Back at Willow's apartment the black and white picture of Spike came lose.

Chapter 2

The Church Library was located in massive building that had originally been planned as cathedral in the early fifteen hundreds, but during its construction it came apparent that the dome the architect had designed could not be build, so the roof was leveled of and the massive building turned into a library, with a smaller church next to it. Some said that the library resembled a prison, with its large courtyard like reading space and the towering bookshelves that reached the fresco painted ceiling. The bookshelves themselves were a masterpiece of craftsmanship. All wood with five floors of walkways that went around the entire building and across it at one point, so if you were going to get something from the top shelves you'd better be ready to carry it down the narrow stairs that linked the walkways together. Amidst all this at the center table of the reading circle sat Willow surrounded by big and musty tomes and her laptop. She seemed strangely at home among the high bookshelves that towered all around her. With her black leather jacket draped over the back of the chair and the sleeves of the blouse rolled up, she paged through the latest tome. "Well it's not in here," she muttered, carefully closed the tome and checked off the list on her laptop. "Something troubling you?" asked a low feminine voice. Willow grinned and looked up from the computer screen. "Same old, same old Sister Agnes, teach, research, kill vampires," Willow answered. Willow had met the Sister on her first day at the library. She'd lost her way and Sister Agnes had taken pity on the lost yank and given her the tour, even helped her get in after closing hours when Willow desperately needed some books. Sister Agnes had kind brown eyes and soft features and was a true believer in God above and well aware of the things around her that most people ignored. "So then fight goes well?" Sister Agnes asked with a small smile and sat down in the chair next to her. "As well as to be expected, but these Old World vampires are tougher then the ones around the Hellmouth," Willow answered. "And the ones last night?" Sister Agnes asked. "Heard about that did you?" Willow asked with a measure of pride. "The newspapers think it was Russian Mafia deal gone affray," Sister Agnes answered. "Well they were right about one thing, they were not our local stock, probably the reason they fled," Willow stated and there was a bleep from Willow's screen as cartoon drawing of Giles stepped onto the screen. "Remember to slay and be careful," it said in a digitized voice. "That's my cue," Willow said and started stacking the tomes, but was stopped by Sister Agnes's hand as it covered hers. "Allow me to do that for you. You have more pressing matters to addend to," Agnes said with a caring smile. "Thanks Agnes you're the best," Willow said and closed her laptop. "Godspeed Willow," "Thanks I'll need it," Willow's said, placed a small peg on the nun's cheek and then bumbling Willow made a comeback. "Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean to. I mean I sometimes forget that you're a nun and you're always so nice to." Sister Agnes smiled and waited until Willow's bumbling subsided. ".and I'm sorry. Did I say that already?" Willow asked and looked up. "Its quite all right Willow I'm not offended. Now go and save our lord's creation," Sister Agnes said and padded her shoulder. "I'll just be going then," Willow's said and pointed towards the doors. Sister Agnes watched as Willow retreated towards the door and shook her head with a smile as she picked up the tomes. As she looked up into the fresco she sent up a small prayer. "Look after her, for old times sake?" she asked. Willow walked out of the library and along its walls until she came to the church that had been build next to it. She looked up at the church doors. The sun had set maybe ten minutes ago and the stars were coming out. "Well it couldn't hurt," she thought to herself and entered. The church seemed small compared to the library it was build to serve, but it was still impressive even to a Jewish girl like herself. "Same god, different savior," she mumbled as she lit a candle and looked up at the crucifix. "I'm sorry I pegged Sister Agnes okay," she said with a smile as she thought about how truly ridiculous this was. When she turned away from the burning candles she could have sworn she saw man kneeling in front of the altar out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked better there was nobody there. "This is not the Hellmouth," she reminded herself and strolled out of the church. Inside the Church the man who had been kneeling in front of the altar stepped out of the shadows, looked up at the altar and crossed himself. "Thanks," he said with distinct British accent and placed a gold coin in the collection box on his way out into the night. The black and white picture on the mirror in Willow's apartment fell down onto the dresser at the same time the coin made a clanging sound at the bottom of the collection box.

Chapter 3

Another night came after the day as it always has been and as it always shall be. The city was bright even during the night, but the narrow alleyways between the houses in the old town were dark and cloaked in shadows. A perfect place to hide and wait for prey. In one such alley between two tall gothic buildings a battle was being fought. "How many times have I got to tell you this," Willow said as she kicked the vampire again her coat flapping as she spun. "Just give it up," she exclaimed and elbowed it in the face. Five minutes out of the quiet street where she lived and she'd met her first vampire of the night and this one was definitely of the local stock, tough, old and with fierce left hook. "You really think you can kill me?" it asked in a voice that carried to accent. "As matter of fact," Willow said as she ducked another swing and then landed a punch in his side. "I do," she added and followed through by grabbing him, falling down and throwing him into the wall. "You're good kid, real good," the vampire said, "but time is on my side. While you may have ruined my dinner for the evening, it matters not, so I bid you good night," he said and was gone. "Damn," Willow cursed and hit the wall. The vampires of the Old World weren't stupid, probably came from living for so long. The one who had just pulled a Houdini on her was Michael, perhaps one of the youngest of the cities elders. She'd staked his sire after a week of constant hunting. The elders were refined and at times they could even be charming. Kind of like those that Anne Rice wrote about and Spike cursed about. So, factor in their high intelligence and the fact that they were few, but powerful. Willow was happy if she got maybe one a night, but there was always a childe somewhere to fill the gap. Last evening had been dump luck and she'd probably done the locals a favor by eliminating the competition before it got settled in. "One more circle around the old town and then home to bed," she mumbled. The major plus of the city's elderly population of vampires was that they didn't sire children in great numbers, they were more into snacking, and that made cemetery patrolling a thing of the past for Willow the wicca. She'd found out early that each vampire had it's own hunting ground and many were located in the old town. Her street was marked as her terrain and no vampire stepped on it, after she staked the vampire that hunted there of course. There were three save havens in the city that no one fought or fed on: her street; the Church Library and the church that served it; and finally the spot called the Meeting Place located in cave under the city and accessible only through its vast network of tunnels and catacombs. Willow looked up at the mark on the wall as she entered the territory of a vampire named Nathaniel. Each vampires territory was marked by their symbol or glyph, hers was marked with an ankh. Nathaniel was old vampire and a true gentleman, but a fierce fighter nevertheless. He thought of her as sport, a slight amusement to lighten his evenings. "Well, well. What do we have here?" he asked as he stepped onto the street with a smile on his face. His staff made a clicking said against the brick laid street. "Swords or fists?" Willow asked calmly. She'd given up the crossbow a while back, since they just seemed to either sidestep the bolts or just catch them. So she went back to basics. "Swords tonight I think," he said and drew a blade from his staff. "You know this isn't the way it should be done," Willow stated as she drew a slim sword from her coat. They were in stark contrast to each other, he with his top hat and in his dark nineteenth century clothing and she in her a all black assemble, black waistcoat and sunglasses. They truly were from two completely different eras.. "But it is so much more civilized," he stated as they started walked towards each other. "My offer still stands," he said as they met in the center of the street, "come work for me and I assure you that you won't regret it." "Sorry, gotta calling remember?" she said with shrug her shoulders. "Very well then. En garde!" The fights with Nathaniel were always fun and Willow confessed that being on first name bases with vampires wasn't idle and having fun wasn't something a designated honorary slayer should be doing, but that was just the way the game was played here. "Good form," Nathaniel commented as he blocked her strike and their swords crossed. "Not good enough if I'm going to kill you," Willow gritted through her teeth and pushed him away. "Well it's been fun, but I really have to go now," he said, disarmed her so she fell on her butt and was gone. "Damn, damn, damn," she cursed as stood and rubbed her sore behind. It would take some time before she could take down Nathaniel, but the real problem was that they weren't the psychopathic killers like the vampires around the Hellmouth Granted they did kill, but otherwise they made no plans to jump start the Armageddon They didn't even sire that many children. Still, it was a mission. "Some mission," Willow muttered as she picked up her sword. "Surrounded by vampires that think I'm incapable of killing them and regard me as late night entertainment at best," she muttered as she strolled along the street. This was true, the vampires did consider her entertainment. That was until she'd landed enough punches or had stolen away one meal too many. Then they got kind of angry, but they never banded together and so far that fact had kept her alive. "What I would give for some action," she said and went into her inner pocket in search for her palmtop, but found a letter with the seal of Nathaniel instead. "Son of a bitch," she cursed as she opened the envelope and unfolded the letter. It was writing in flowing letters and read: "Dearest Adversary, It has been brought to my attention that one of our kind entered the city no more than two nights ago. He's an elder, although not by many years, but likely to cause trouble and therefore upset the status quo. Would you be a dear and take care of this. If you do so I'll be in your debt. Yours truly, Nathaniel De'Night." "The nerve of that guy," she muttered as she folded the letter. Still a new master in a town of master vampires could cause a stir and she liked things as the were. She wasn't proud of it, but the death count was low and the fights clean. "I'll think about it in the morning," she said and put the letter back in her pocket. Once she was home she changed out of her hunting clothes into a pair of boxers and baggy t-shirt. As she turned down her bed she noticed that the picture of Spike had fallen off the mirror. She walked over and fastened it again. "Wonder what they're all doing?" she thought as she looked over the pictures. Somewhere in the city a dark figured walked out of a pub, music flowed from the inside as he opened the door. "The sun will be up soon," he muttered in his British accented voice as he swaggered down the narrow street without a clue that he was being watched. Maybe, just maybe, if the alcohol level in his blood were lower he would have noticed and taken instant action. But being on walkabout, well kind of as it was almost over, Spike or William the Bloody, the scourge of Europe and parts of Asia Minor was too plastered to notice the female form that followed him.

more to come