This Our Magic World: The Prologue

The Next Day

Raven hadn't slept well - or at all - for the rest of the night. She had paced herself doing busy work, cleaning Hunter's apartment, rearranging things. All night she had ignored the primal hum in her bones, the twitch at the base of her spine that told her to get outside and NOW. To prowl, to hunt.

When the sun broke over the horizon, she called into the office and called in sick. I don't understand any of this, she thought, dropping the phone back into the cradle. But I'm f-cking gonna find out.

She tip-toed back into Hunter's bedroom, sitting gently on the bed. She raised a hand and shook Hunter, who was snoring.

Hunter mumbled; Raven sighed. Standing, she renewed her tactic - she lept onto him, screeching, "HUNTER! HUNTER WAKEUPWAKUPWAKEUP!"

Hunter muttered something unintelligible, but wrapped a sleepy arm around her waist. He opened his eyes just a crack, a grin playing on his features. "Hey, baby," he mumbled sleepily. "You're in a good mood today."

Raven beamed a little, just for show. "Called in sick to work," she started, and Hunter's smile fell. Before he could speak, though, she raised a hand and continued. "Figured I haven't spent a lot of quality time with Dad. I'm gonna go by his place right about now." At Hunter's dumb expression, Raven elaborated: "Just thought I'd let you know."

Hunter sighed the resigned sigh of someone wanting to saying something of the most dire. Raven tried very, very hard not to be irritated, and didn't succeed very well. Alright, Hunter, she bit off silently. I'm a f-cking Slayer, whatever the sh-t that is, I've been having dreams about girls dying and some random hot British va-

Her thoughts cut themselves off right there. Realization clicked and dawned; something gleamed in Raven's eyes.

Hunter, for all his love and care, didn't seem to notice; when Raven snapped out of her revierie, though, he was watching her. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" He asked her in clipped tones.

Fire came to life in Raven's eyes; her fists clenched and unclenched the sheet. "Yea," she bit off. "Leaving now. Don't know when I'll be home."

Hunter looked amused. "You don't live here. Technically, you're going home."

Raven shook her head. "F-ck you, Hunter."

And with that, she was gone.

--------------------

When Raven pulled into the parking lot of her father's apartment complex, she had to try to supress a shudder. The place was on the verge of falling apart, and it tore Raven's heart to shreds to see her father living in such a rathole.

My house too, she reminded herself. She had been spending so much time over at Hunter's new place, helping him and Joel get settled, she hadn't been home to visit with her father. And she felt bad about that, she really did.

Well, Ray my girl, she said to herself. Be prepared to feel more like sh-t.

She whipped her keys from her tin of a purse, and opened the door.

Her father sat in the dining room, newspaper open and a cup of coffee in from of him. He looked tired and worn, and he hadn't shaved in days. "Hey, daddy-o," she said warmly, dropping her keys on the table. She planted a kiss on her father's head for good measure. "How goes it?"

Aaron Spencer grunted in reply. "It goes," he muttered, grappling for his coffee and taking a gulp. Setting his mug down, he eyed his daughter. "Haven't seen much of you lately. Hunter getting adjusted alright?"

Raven nodded. "Couch came in yesterday while I was at work. Cable guy is supposed to come by and set up the TV and Internet tomorrow."

Raven's father nodded. "That's nice," checking his watch, he eyed his daughter with renewed suspicion. "And what brings you back to our humble abode at the crack of freakin' dawn?"

Raven smiled. "Couldn't sleep," At her father's knowing glare, she capitulated: "Alright, I need to use the 'Net. Hunter doesn't have his sh-t together yet, and there's some stuff I need to look up posthaste."

Mr. Spencer shrugged. "Go for it. I'll be leaving here soon, though. Mike called me in early."

Raven sighed. "Dude's a f-ck, dad. Kick him straight in the ass for me when you get there, 'kay?"

Mr. Spencer shook his head. "Y'know, Ray, if that didn't involve me losing my job, I just might. Now, go. Do your stuff." He took another sip of his coffee. "Are you gonna be here when I get back?"

Raven shrugged. "Dunno. I'll call you, alright?"

Mr. Spencer nodded once more, and Raven left him to puruse the newspaper in peace.

Raven brushed into the office, pushing away random papers with mild disgust. Where would the man be without me? she thought. Then something froze inside her. Let's not think about that, shall we?

She booted up the computer, which ran fairly fast. It was a splurge her father had bought Raven for her nineteenth birthday that past year, and Raven loved the thing to death. It also doubled as Mr. Spencer's work computer, which annoyed Raven only marginally.

Sighing, restless, Raven settled down in the chair and stared out the window, when -

She was someone else. Standing in the parking lot of O'Hare, looking around herself dumbly.

She turned to a map, and everything went black; when the world flooded her eyes again, her caramel-colored finger was pointing to a town.

Raven felt a smile spread over her face as she hailed a cab. "Asbury, please."

When Raven snapped back to reality, the login screen was glaring at her. Raven couldn't find the urge to move.

She's on her way here, NOW. Isabel is coming.

What the f-ck does this all mean?
 
Paying the driver, Isabel got out of the cab, dragging her bag along behind her.
"Great, Is, now what are you supposed to do?"
Looking around the neighbourhood, Isabel realized she didn't really think this through.
Pulling her bag along the ground, Isabel picked a direction and started walking.
Trying to find a girl whose last name you didn't know, in a city you'd never been to before, was not going to be easy.
Looking around at the different buildings looming above her, Isabel didn't even feel the vision coming.
It hit her like a sledge hammer, making her drop her bag and almost knocking her off her feet.
Buffy surveyed a room filled with people, most of them girls not much older than Isabel's seventeen years.
Buffy spoke.
"I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there's evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn't been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn't been, either. But this isn't about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes. Not when its army is ready. Now. Tomorrow morning I'm opening the Seal. I'm going down into the Hellmouth and I'm finishing this once and for all. Right now you're asking yourselves what makes this different. "What makes us anything more than a bunch of girls being picked off one by one?" It's true; none of you have the power that Faith and I do. So here's the part where you make a choice.
"What if you could have that power"¦ now? In every generation one Slayer is born because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men."
Buffy pointed to a red headed woman who smiled nervously.
"This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power should be our power. From now on every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer.
"Every girl who could have the power, will have the power.
"Can stand up, will stand up.
"Slayers"¦ every one of us. Make your choice.
"Are you ready to be strong?"
The vision ended and Isabel opened her eyes.
"Slayers? I'm a Slayer?" she blinked. "We all are, Buffy, Faith, me"¦and Raven."
Looking around with renewed interest, she tried to find the building she thought Raven would be in"¦which apartment block was hers.
Her eyes locked on a run down apartment block, the smashed windows and the crooked downspout.
Something deep in her soul told her that Raven was in there, somewhere.
Takin a deep breath, she stood beside one of the cars in the lot and looked up at the many windows.
"Now what do I do?"
 
wow, cant wait til they meet. its getting better and better, i love the vision sequences.
 
Wow, Mesektet and Lyri!! They are almost about to meet!! I can't wait. It's very cool how they can both sense each other. You guys are doing great. Keep going please!!!
 
Same Time, Same Place

The Internet was getting Raven nowhere. Leaning back in the worn computer chair, spinning it slightly, she rubbed her chin in dismay. Well, f-ck, she thought bitterly. There has to be something here-

Sighing, irritated, she pulled up the browser and stared at Google, brain churning over what to search for next.

"-Spike, also known as William the Bloody-"

Raven blinked.

She typed the name into the query box, stomach tied in knots. Pleasepleasepleasepleasec'monpleaseplease...

Links began to slowly appear on the screen, and as Raven perused them, her ire rose. "DAMNIT!" She yelled, smashing a fist into the computer desk. She opened her mouth to continue her tirade, but it was then she looked at the desk.

The entire corner had been smashed off. It now hung from one panel, swinging uselessly from side to side.

Raven looked in shock at the broken desk, and her unharmed fist. No blood, no broken skin, nothing. She clenched and unclenched her fist to test for broken bones.

Nothing.

Raven grinned wickedly.

And as she did, she became someone else -

She stood outside of the apartment complex, staring at her surroundings with confusion. She had never seen this place before, didn't know where to start.

But all she knew was that the other girl was in there somewhere. She could sense her with every fiber of her being - something deep in the marrow of her bones said to find her, and that's what she did.

When reality flooded Raven's eyes again, she was no longer smiling.

Standing up fast enough to throw the computer chair into the wall behind her, she threw the door open. She winced at the resounding crack the door made against the wall, another testament to her new strength.

Running down the hall and to the front door, ignoring the look of shock her father sent her way, Raven tossed the front door wide enough to crack the top hinge. She barely noticed.

As she reached the stairs, instead of running down them, she jumped them, all on impulse, without even thinking. The whole flight was covered in one well-timed leap, and then she was out the door.

The only thing that stopped Raven dead in her tracks was the sight of a small, thin brunette with caramel skin. The sight of Isabel, the girl that had haunted her dreams for almost a straight week, the girl that had claimed ownership of something Raven didn't even know she needed.

Unmoving, unblinking, Raven whispered, "Isabel."
 
E
eunsoma
wow!! im speechless...
Her bag slipped from her shoulder, but she barely noticed.
All of Isabel's attention was focused in the girl now standing in front of her; she didn't have enough left over to think about her bag.
Taking a small step forward, Isabel spoke the name of the girl who she had been seeing in her dreams for the past week.
"Raven"¦?"
Emotion over came her and she rushed forward, embracing the other girl so hard she didn't think she was ever going to be able to let go.
I don't think I want to let go, she thought to herself. I don't think I want to risk losing her.
But she did let go, taking a step back to gaze into the girls eyes.
"I can't believe I found you. Yesterday, I didn't even know if you were real. And now you're standing in front of me. I never thought things like this could happen."
She stared at her girl, and brushed her long dark hair away from her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest with, and she thought for sure that any second it was going to burst through.
"So, where do we go from here?"
Something deep inside her told her that she had to find the others in her dreams. Buffy, Faith and Spike.
But she had no idea where to start looking.
 
Her bag slipped from her shoulder, but she barely noticed.
All of Isabel's attention was focused in the girl now standing in front of her; she didn't have enough left over to think about her bag.
Taking a small step forward, Isabel spoke the name of the girl who she had been seeing in her dreams for the past week.
"Raven"¦?"
Emotion over came her and she rushed forward, embracing the other girl so hard she didn't think she was ever going to be able to let go.
I don't think I want to let go, she thought to herself. I don't think I want to risk losing her.But she did let go, taking a step back to gaze into the girls eyes.
"I can't believe I found you. Yesterday, I didn't even know if you were real. And now you're standing in front of me. I never thought things like this could happen."
She stared at her girl, and brushed her long dark hair away from her face. Her heart was pounding in her chest with, and she thought for sure that any second it was going to burst through.
"So, where do we go from here?"
Something deep inside her told her that she had to find the others in her dreams. Buffy, Faith and Spike.
But she had no idea where to start looking.
 
Wow Lyri and Mesektet, I loved this chapter. Raven trying to google Spike was awesome. Especially when she broke apart the desk. I loved the reunion of Raven and Isabel. It was so sweet. I'm strating to understand her relationship with raven a little bit more now.
 
The Moment

Raven stood stock still. Jesus Christ...it's...

Before she could utter a word, Isabel rushed her and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Raven closed her eyes and hugged the girl back, a small smile playing across her face. Here was the girl who had lived in her dreams. Something, someone, whatever the hell it was had drawn them together.

Isabel let go and Raven just smiled for a moment, mind numb from shock. Isabel reached out and touched her hair - Raven did the same, reaching out and running her fingers across short-cropped brown locks. She really is a real girl!, she thought giddily.

Being in Isabel's presence made her spine thrum, her muscles sing. Something was happening.

"So...where do we go from here?"

Raven didn't answer for a moment. Then she shook her head, black hair flapping. "Shit, sorry," she said. "Just making sure you really do exist."

She contemplated her question for a moment. She opened her mouth to answer, but then -

"RAVEN MARIE!"

Raven winced. She turned around to find her dad, extremely and definitely more than a little pissed off, standing in the doorway of the apartment complex. He started walking towards her, letting the door slam shut behind him.

"What the hell was that about back there?" He asked, almost shouting. His thumb pointed back to the complex, regarding the two doors she probably destroyed running down to the parking lot. "Did someone die? What the f-ck was important enough to damn near destroy my apartment?" He ticked his glance to Isabel. "And who the hell is this?!"

Raven winced again, running a hand through her hair. She looked extremely put-out. Thanks, Dad, for ruining a beautiful f-cking moment. She looked over at Isabel. "Isabel, this is my father, Aaron," she said stonily, gesturing to Aaron. She looked at her dad, placing her hands on her hips like an insolent child. "Dad, this my friend Isabel. She's staying with us for a couple of days."

Before Aaron could protest, Raven grabbed Isabel by the arm and started leading her in the direction of the apartment's double doors.

"Like hell she is!" Aaron shouted from behind them. "And what the f-ck did you do to the desk? Jason's gonna hafta come down here and fix all this shit, Raven. He ain't cheap!"

Raven leaned in to Isabel as they walked. "He'll be fine in an hour. I'll talk to him."

Like f-cking hell I know where to start.
 
Isabel pulled her arm out of Raven's grip before reaching out to take hold of her hand. As soon as the connection was made, a strange feeling surged through Isabel's entire body. A feeling of contentment, of being safe and loved.

She was finally home.

Isabel allowed Raven to lead her up to the apartment she shared with her father. She smiled at the broken desk.

"I see you've been having unexplained bouts of strength, too." She sighed. "This Slayer stuff has really been messing with my head. I don't know about you, but I'm about ready for some answers."

Pulling her sketch book out of her bag, Isabel flipped to a page somewhere in the middle and turned it to present it to Raven.

"And my question number one is: how the hell did I draw this 6 hours before I met you?"
 
Raven sighed a little as they entered the apartment. Lucky for them, her dad was leaving for work now, so Raven didn't even have to try to explain any of the weird shit that'd been happening to her.

Raven let Isabel's hand drift out of hers as the other girl went to the desk to examine it. There had been a thrum there, in their hands touching. A feeling of...peace. Safety. They had finally found eachother.

Raven chuckled a bit at Isabel's remark about strength. She reached up and idly scratched the back of her neck. "Yea...I got angry." She pointed behind her to the door that was nearly ripped off its hinges. "That was me too."

Raven plopped herself down in the computer chair, exasperated. "Answers would be nice," she muttered, running a hand through her long black hair. She gestured to the computer. "I've been looking all over the f-cking Internet for answers. Do you know how much the Internet knows about Slayers? JACK SHIT." She shook her head.

She watched Isabel out of the corner of her eye as the girl flipped through her sketchbook and presented a page to her. Raven's jaw dropped.

It was her. Perfectly rendered. Smiling, a cigarette dangling from her fingers.

"Christ..." She whispered, reaching out before her mind gave her limbs the command to move. She took the book and stared at the page. Her body was numb. So was her mind. She looked up at Isabel.

A connection fizzled there. She looked into her eyes, and -

A car crash. The screams of rending metal, glass shattering. Raven screamed, the sound never making it out to the scene.

Blackness. Blurry flashes of lights.

"My dad?" A fading voice asked. "What about my dad?"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart." A gentle, patient voice. A dry hand on her arm. "We lost him."

Raven blinked and shook her head, reeling backwards in the chair. "Holy shitf-ck..." She murmured, dropping her head into her hands. After a moment, she looked back at Isabel. "We need to figure out what the hell is going on."
 
wow, this is a really good story, you're writing is amazing. Please update soon, I just started an angel fan fic, and was wondering if you would please check it out and give me some criticism, its called "redemption." thanx
 
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