Gabrielle
Part One

She knew she had to feed soon. She couldn't keep up this pace with out nourishment. She had to be so careful though not to lead the others to her. She had lost track of how long she had been running. The nights all seemed to run into one now. Not that it mattered. Not anymore.

She blended well with the homeless kids and strays. She also fit in with the crowd that hung out at the clubs at night. She was safe in the crowds there since she would sense them as soon as they got close. She wore her make-up dark, her hair and clothes black so she fit right in. She identified with them but shook her head sadly at the ones who clung to death and spoke of it as if it were a friend coming to take them to a better place. They talked of life's pain and how they would welcome death. They wrote their poems and stories. Some made cuts in their skin to watch their life's blood flow from the wound, that being the only thing that showed them they were even alive. She wanted to take them and show them what it held so their fascination with it would end. There were worse things than being homeless or hungry. There were even worse things than death. Much worse.

She too had looked upon death as a release from life's endless pain. She knew her way around the streets at night because the streets had been her home for some time before she had met Michael. She knew of broken homes and addictions and being hungry at night. She had been hungry many times but nothing she had felt before compared to the hunger she felt now. She had to stop and feed soon. She would have to take the risk. She knew she could find someone to leave with easily enough when she got to the club she was searching for. She would be careful and not leave anything for them to follow. So far she had only taken what she needed to survive and it had worked. As long as she didn't kill they would have a hard time tracking her.

She feared being found but the hunger grew insistent and it would not stop until she fed. She knew her limits and she was almost at hers. If she grew weak she would make mistakes and mistakes would be her undoing. Finally she reached the cross street she had searched for. The club was underground and she wasn't going to find it in any phone book. She had the address and the password to get in the back. She could stay inside there and be safe so she could rest and plan her next steps.

She finally came upon the warehouse and went to the back of the building. When she knocked the door opened to show a huge bald guy staring down at her. She looked up at him and said ' dragon's blood' and he stepped aside and let her pass. She felt the music under her feet before she actually heard it. She went to a freight elevator and stepped inside. As it slowly descended she heard the music get louder and louder. Her senses, more acute, made the music almost painful to her but she allowed herself to be assaulted by all the sounds and smells that bombarded her as she stepped out of the elevator and walked to the bar.

She had slipped her on sunglasses as she walked, her eyes trying to adjust to the many different lights that flashed on the crowd as they danced. She kept her mind tightly guarded but carefully sent out a mental sweep of the crowd in front of her. She knew that any one strong enough to be a danger to her would have their mind guarded as well, but the younger ones would not be aware of the danger and she would find them right away. She felt no danger in her present vicinity but knew she had to keep her guard up. She took a deep breath and tried to relax as she ordered a drink.

She watched the crowd as they made their almost violent movements together. The floor was a sea of writhing bodies seemingly entangled in a passionate dance of death. So many of them in black clothes and hair, the same black kohl she also wore under her eyes. It was hard to tell who was dancing with who, they all seemed to be melded into one black wave of rhythm. She wanted to blend in with them and loose herself for a few hours so she stepped from the bar and as the music pounded her senses she let herself be enveloped in the wave.

Her hunger soon overcame her though as the scent of so many bodies filled her. This was not a good idea, she had to be careful. She stopped dancing and pushed her way through the crowd to the rest rooms where she fought another crowd to get inside the door. It was almost as crowded in there as it was outside, she had to get a hold of herself away from so many bodies. As she moved through the crowd, she could sense the same passionate distain for life, for rules and authority she to had felt. It made her ache for her life to be as it had been. She pushed her way to the back where she found herself facing two girls locked in a passionate kiss as if they were the only two people in the room. She stepped past them and finally closed the door on a stall and took a deep breath. If she was not running she could afford to loose herself all she wanted but for now she had to keep a clearer head and that meant she had to go back out and sit at the bar. She would find someone to leave with and then she would be on her way again. Once she fed and was strong again it would be easier for her to think about her next step.

She stepped out and fought her way back to the door. As she stepped through the door she collided with two guys coming out of the men's side. As she fell back wards one of them grabbed for her to try to keep from hitting the floor. She righted herself easily enough and looked up at him to say thanks and she noticed the scars on his arms. He had used razors on his skin and the scars trailed up his arms and disappeared under his black shirt. The small one on his wrist made a beautiful white tattoo of skull. She touched it lightly with the tip of her fingernail. She felt him shudder at her touch and looked up to meet his eyes. His eyes were so dark that in the light of the club she couldn't make out pupils. She saw his friend turn to walk off alone and knew she had found who she needed.

She had not allowed herself to do more than feed since she had taken off from LA. She stepped closer to him so she could be heard, "Take me from this place." He took her hand and stepped through the crowd to the back of the club. He took her to the freight elevator and closed the door as it started up to the way out. She took his arm in her hand and trailed her finger along the scars that snaked up his arm. He was breathing deeply as she touched him but he had not spoken. She reached to undo the buttons on his shirt to follow the scars further but the elevator came to a jerky halt and he took her hands again and stepped toward the door. Even the city's night air was heaven after the smothering atmosphere of the club. She took a deep breath and let herself be lead down the alley to the front of the warehouse. He reached into his pocket and she heard keys as they came to a line of cars parked illegally in the street. He opened the door for her and got in beside her. She was intrigued by his silence but sensed she was in no danger from him so let herself be driven to where ever he was taking her.

The building he parked in front of didn't look like much from the outside. But she had slept in the storm drains before so she didn't look down on anyone's choice of residence. They stepped into the hallway and unlocked a freight elevator and began their ascent. As she looked up at him in the darkness, he smiled slightly at her but remained silent. As the elevator stopped, he slid the door up and led her to a door, which he unlocked and stepped into. She stopped once inside the door and waited for him to come back for her. She could make out furniture in the darkness and as candles were lit the room came into view. She was quit impressed. The room was open and had very high ceilings. The couch and chair in front of her were full of different cushions and pillows. The black fabric blending into the darkness so well she hadn't noticed it close to her. The candles gave the whole room an eerie glow that made her feel very comfortable. The candles where everywhere, all different shapes and sizes, they gave off the rooms only light.. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she made out his things all around her and she knew she would have liked this boy had she met him when she was still alive.

He finished lighting candles and came back to her. He easily lifted her into his arms and carried her to a sea of cushions on the floor. The images above her on the wall intrigued her but when his lips found hers, her mind allowed her senses to take over and hush all conscious thought. He was very gentle at first unsure of her needs, but as the two lovers touched and explored each other he became more assertive. She ran her tongue over the many scars that covered his body, his moans telling her what his words didn't. She took the nail on her little finger and cut a thin line on his shoulder. As the blood entered her system her desire grew and she sucked hungrily at his cut. As she licked the blood from the cut he came inside her for the first of many times. After his orgasm had subsided, he reached up with a razor and cut a deeper cut for her. He moved against her mouth so it allowed her to drink from him more deeply. He made many such cuts. It seemed to bring him as much pleasure as it did her and she drank until she was satiated.

Once she drank, she ran her tongue over the cuts he made, causing them to close quickly. In the candlelight he was unaware she was doing this, only sensing her tongue against the sensitive flesh he had opened for her. He brought her to many orgasms as his passion seemed to flow from him as freely as his blood. She was physically satisfied as well as her hunger quieted. She fell asleep in his arms and slept peacefully for the first time in many weeks.

She woke fighting the demons that invaded her sleep. Her arms swinging at invisible hands, unsure of where she was at first. She pushed herself against the wall so she could defend herself as best she could. He woke when she did and tried to reach for her to reassure her. She realized where she was as she heard his voice for the first time. He was trying to comfort her but was unsure what to do. His voice brought her to her senses and she finally took a deep breath. She dropped her face into her hands when she realized she was safe and she allowed him to take her into his arms. "You're safe here." He whispered over and over to her, trying to calm her.

After a time she sat up."I'm not safe anywhere. It isn't even safe for you for me to be here. If I can stay until the sun sets I will go then." She looked up at him and mentally thanked him for the dark curtains that hid the sunlight. She couldn't believe she allowed herself to fall asleep with no thought of morning. "No one can see this place from the outside, you are safe here. The only way in is up the freight elevator and I control it from this floor. It doesn't go down unless I send it down. So unless the one's who seek you can climb the outside walls you are safe here. You can stay as long as you want." She closed her eyes as she wished she could do just that. But she knew the ones who followed her could get to her even here and she wouldn't endanger him by allowing him to help her. She knew his fate if they found him with her. No, she would leave as soon as the sun set. "I appreciate you offering me a place to stay but I have to go as soon as it's dark. You allowed me to sleep and I needed the rest more than you know. I can't ask for more than that." "You aren't asking, I'm offering." She smiled sadly at him and shook her head. "I can't stay. I wish I could. But I can't" He started to speak again but she placed her hand to his mouth and quieted him. She pulled him to her and fell back onto the cushions. She wanted to loose herself in him once more before she had to leave. He made love to her almost desperately this time, as if knowing it would be the last time. If she couldn't stay with him then he made sure she wouldn't forget him when she left.

They made love for hours, finally falling into an exhausted sleep. She woke before him and laid quietly listening to his breathing. She was intrigued by his need to cut his skin the way he did. She looked down at him as he slept and there were not many places unmarked other than his face. He had a kind face, sad but gentle. She didn't even know his name. Not that it mattered. She would have to leave soon and maybe it was better if she didn't know. She remembered the images on the wall she had seen when she first laid down and she turned to the wall to look closer. The entire wall had been painted like a huge mural, the images both frightening and painful. He had been through his own hell to be capable of such images. It made her sad to think he had known such pain. She lit the candles closest to her so she could see better, the room growing dark as the sun was beginning to set.

The scenes followed in succession as a young man, closely resembling her sleeping lover, was led through what could only be his mind's version of hell's torments. The many demons and tortures so real they made her feel actual pain. But then her breath caught in her throat! The image of a young woman caught her attention. She was holding a silver challis and the blood from it spilled out onto her hands and arms. The young man was on his knees in front of her, the knife used to cut his wrists was in his own hand, as if his blood had been freely given up to her. The black hair and facial features uncomfortably close to her own. The soft voice behind her made her cry out in surprise. " I knew you would come, I've always known."

She was unsure what to say. She looked at the mural again and then back at him. "I don't know who you think I am, but I haven't been sent here to you. I can't be, I knew nothing of us before this night. There is a resemblance to me I will admit that, but I am not the one you seek." He smiled at her and then walked to the wall. He touched the figures in the painting as if they were real. To him they were.

"I have dreamed of you since I was young. When I was being beaten or kicked I learned to go inside myself where they couldn't reach me. My dreams were my only comfort then. Soon the pain even followed me there and I had to find a way to make myself not feel it anymore. So I started cutting myself, giving in to the pain I felt until it no longer brought pain. Once I mastered that I was able to withstand most anything that was dealt to me. Only when the beatings got out of hand and bones were broken did I cry out. But it took that for them to get inside me. When I was finally old enough to run, I did. I left my mother to her drugs and assorted boyfriends and never looked back. When I began to have the dreams with my demons in them, I knew I had to find a way to get them outside me. So I started drawing them, then painting them. Each time I drew them, it placed them outside of me, so I could leave them in the darkness when the lights went out and they didn't follow me into my sleep anymore. I started having dreams of you before I even left home. The one who drinks of blood would save me. She would release me from my pain and I would be free for the first time in my life. I knew I would gladly give up my life's blood to her because she was my salvation." When he stopped speaking his hand was touching the face on the painting.

She didn't know what to say to him. What could she possibly say? The pain he has endured must have been horrible and she didn't doubt what he said, but he was looking to her for salvation. She couldn't save him, she couldn't even save herself.She had no idea how to explain to him why she couldn't stay. She couldn't even tell him who or what she was. He was in danger already just by helping her, the less he knew the better. The part about "she who drinks blood' bothered her a great deal. How could he know that about her? He seemed so accepting to her taking his blood when they made love, but now she knew why. He thinks she is the woman from his dreams. But she wasn't, she couldn't be. She couldn't stay with him, but she couldn't take him with her either. It would be dark soon and she needed to leave! She turned and looked back at the mural. She frowned as she looked at the woman but she realized that in that segment of the picture, it was the only one the boy was not being tormented in. The face looked up to her with a look of total peace. She closed her eyes and tried to think of what to say to him.

She opened her eyes and turned to him and started to speak with no idea what she was going to say. "Look..no…wait, what is your name?" He looked down at her and said, "Matthew, my name is Matthew." "Matthew, where do I begin. I can't be the woman in your dreams. Our meeting tonight was complete chance. I'm afraid I have no salvation to offer you. I don't want to disappoint you but I have to honest with you. I have to leave soon and I can't come back. I have to stay ahead of what's after me…" He interrupted her…"But I can help you! Let me help you. You don't have to fight alone now. We didn't meet by chance. I haven't been to that club for almost a month, so what are the odds I would go on the night you were there? And what are the odds that with all those people in that club, that we would bump into each other?" "But Matthew you don't understand. You can't help me, no one can…" "You're running from demons just like I was." "But the demons that are after me are real Matthew and they will not stop until they've found me. They are not images in a painting or visions from a nightmare. I'm not trying to say your pain was not real, I'm positive it was unbearable, but as horrific as it was the people that hurt you were still human. The ones after me are not and they can administer pain your mind cannot comprehend! Besides, you don't know me, you don't know anything about me."

"You came to me in my dreams, that happened for a reason. I know you drink blood, other than that I don't need to know. I have my ideas, so much is written in books, but all I know is I have waited for you all this time and I can't just step aside and let you walk out that door."

She looked up at him and couldn't think of what to say to convince him she HAD to leave. How could she take him with her? She couldn't even defend her herself against them so she knew she couldn't defend him. She knew he wanted to defend her but that wouldn't happen so that was out of the question. She couldn't think. Ever since she started running her mind had gone into limbo. She fed, she rested, she kept moving. She didn't have time for anything else. She knew she could leave easily enough, even as big as he was he couldn't keep her there if she wanted to go. She knew her strength was many times his even though she was much smaller in size. She turned to him and had to say something. "I can't let you come with me, I will not be responsible for your death. You can't ask me to do that. I travel much faster than you will be able to and I can't afford to be slowed up. You have a great place here, stay here, I have to go." That said she turned to leave.

Matthew reached for her to try to make her listen just as the windows blew in. The sound it made was so loud neither heard the other cry out in surprise. They both threw their arms up to protect themselves from the shards of glass that flew past them. Neither escaped being cut, Matthew catching the worst of it since he partially shielded her with his size. Had it not been for the heavy curtains covering the windows they both would have been cut to pieces. "NO! Matthew run!! Run!" She gathered her composer quickly and ran for her backpack. Matthew was dazed but coherent enough to run to the dresser. Instincts took over and she knew she had only moments to get her dirk out and dipped. She managed to dip the blade into the silver nitrate she had in her bag without getting it on her skin. She knew the pain of a burn from the stuff, being careless with it only once. The wound took months to heal. She turned to face who ever had come with him. She knew Michael would not be alone. She hoped Angel was not with him, she didn't want to hurt her friend. How had things changed so much in so short a time? Her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness of the room, she backed against the wall so she could defend herself without trying to watch behind her. Matthew had gone to the dresser and come away with a handgun. He stepped back to the wall beside her. She knew it would do no good against them but before she could say so Michael spoke from the shadows, "Gabrielle, my pet…you have brought us far from home to find you. Tsk…Tsk… You know how I hate being away from home." He stepped out where she could see him and she had to fight her fear of him to keep it from making her stupid. She had to keep her head even if she knew there was no way out. Matthew pointed his gun straight at Michael but Michael paid him no mind and took steps toward Gabrielle his demeanor so casual, as if he were out on a Sunday stroll. He smiled at her as he came closer but there was no warmth to his face. He was a predator. Matthew spoke up when he kept coming toward her, "Stay back you son of a bitch..." Michael ignored him and Gabrielle started to tell him the gun would do no good just as he fired. Michael took a few steps back taking the bullet in the shoulder. " He looked down at his wound, touching his fingers to the blood. As he licked one finger he looked up at Matthew, " This is my favorite jacket you little bastard. Look what you've done to it! You know, that really pisses me off." He stepped before even Gabrielle could register the movement and Matthew was sent flying. He hit the wall with a sickening thud and slid to the floor unconscious. Gabrielle cried out to Michael. "NO! Michael, don't kill him!! You came for me, well here I am. He isn't part of this." "He became part of it as soon as you left the club with him my pet. His death will be on your head. Something for you to think about while you lie sleeping." He smiled as he said this and the smile froze Gabrielle's voice in her throat. The fear of what he meant by 'sleeping' made her unable to act. She saw movement to her right and knew the others were moving closer to her. She had to do something! She couldn't be taken without fighting. She had survived all these years by using her street smarts, now it was time to not think but let her instincts to take over. She saw movement to her left and she swung her dirk just as someone rushed to surprise her. The scream that ensued told her she didn't miss. The silver nitrate acting like an acid as his skin began to burn. She chanced a glance down and cringed as she recognized Ben. The cut across his chest had blackened and his skin shriveled and burned. She didn't want to hurt them but she knew they meant to take her back and seal her up. She knew her fate and she wasn't going. She would turn the knife on herself before she let Michael take her back.

"Gabrielle," Michael growled. "You are making this worse on yourself by fighting. You know you have to come back with us." He stepped closer and Gabrielle raised the knife in front of her, realizing how small a defense it was against one as strong as Michael.

"I am not going back Michael. I won't let you seal me up. I didn't' do anything to warrant that punishment and you know it. I did nothing wrong." She watched for movement on both sides of her but knew they were more cautious after hearing Ben scream.

"You took April from me my pet. For that you pay the ultimate price. You don't think I can allow her death to go unpunished now do you? Come with me now and I will only seal you inside to die, I won't administer any extra punishment to you before I close the lid over you." He smiled such a cruel, cold smile she knew he meant to make her feel as much pain as she could and still be alive when he closed her in.

"April asked me to end her existence and I did so out of love for her. I loved her more than you ever could and that's why she came to me when she had come to an end of what she could endure. You pushed her over the edge Michael. I won't pay for your cruelty. You expected her to endure too much. Even we feel real pain when it is inflicted on us and you made sure it was more pain than pleasure for her, so you caused her death Michael not I. I won't pay for something you caused. She loved you and you took that love and made her life unbearable and that's why she chose death. You want to take your revenge out on me because she chose real death over being with you. She would have done anything for you to make you love her, all you did was take and take until she had nothing left. If anyone should pay it should be you! If I had the strength to have killed you, I would have gladly taken your worthless life rather one as special as she was, but I knew I didn't possess the strength necessary to accomplish it so I did as she asked."

As she stopped talking she heard Matthew moaning as he tried to come too. It distracted her just enough so that Michael rushed for her. Instinct brought her arm up and the dirk cut into his face and as the pain made him pause she ducked under his reach and ran for Matthew. She turned to see Angel and she saw indecision in her face as she contemplated whether to fight or help Michael. They had been so close she was glad April hadn't rushed her when she had the chance. Gabrielle didn't want to hurt her. "I don't wish you harm Angel, let us pass."

Angel heard Michael's rage and pain as he cried out. The silver burning his skin only momentarily making him pause. He screamed out Gabrielle's name and she knew they were out of time. Angel turned to help him, either not wanting to hurt her old friend or not wishing to feel the same pain, the reason didn't matter. Michael knocked her to the ground as he rushed toward Gabrielle. Gabrielle stood her ground and knew it would end here, now. Just as she brought the knife up to her throat she saw Angel get to her feet. She saw the anger on Angel's face as she ran toward Michael and knew she had a chance. She knew Michael's rage distracted him from Angel's attack so she quickly turned the knife outward as Angel threw herself into him and sent him into the knife.

Gabrielle wasn't quite sure where the dirk entered but she brought it up with all her strength and then back down trying to do as much damage as she could. Michael's scream came out in a gurgling spray of blood that covered her face and arms. She knew then the dirk had entered his throat and she tried to move the blade as much as she could before he recovered and pulled away from her. Angel held onto him as long as she could before he recovered enough to send her flying backwards and Gabrielle knew she had to finish him or they'd all die.