AN: Alright, you all know that the characters aren't mine. They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. I told you guys I'd get it out today...so I am! I just wanted to thank you all for your support, it really meant a lot to me. You guys rock! I hope the chap isn't too rushed, I'm just kinda setting up the story right now. Thanks guys!

Chapter One

Sometimes, I wonder what it is about my girls that has me so enthralled. Dru’s had me in her hold since that little church in the English countryside. And as for Lizzie? Ever since I first heard her heart beat, I knew that she was mine.

**England, 1860–Five months later

Mother threw me out when she began to understand the extent of the change in me, and my body. Not even Father could stop her. I don’t know if he really wanted to. I truly am cursed by the devil. He planted his seed in my womb. I feel it growing inside me, becoming alive. Sucking my life from me and into itself as my body swells to accommodate this new houseguest that has been forced inside of it.

What do young girls do when a fate like mine has over-taken them? I’ve heard stories of younger girls, great with child who have shamed their families and lived on the streets of London. But these stories have been told to me by my mother since I was the age of seven.

I’ve been left with nothing. No friends, no family...not that either of these had been much of a blessing in my life. Not even my little dog Father had given me when I turned 15. All I have now is this child growing in my womb. And despite how it got there...she’s all I have.

I know it has to be a girl, this spawn of the devil. Only another woman could leave me in such misery, but with hope blooming in my heart. Only another woman could be both blessing and curse. Even though he shattered the fragile relationship I had with my family and tenuous hold I had on them, the stranger has given me something I’ve always wanted.

Someone who is mine. Someone to love, and care for, who will exist solely for my love. Someone who won’t run in terror when the visions become too great for my control, and I fall to the floor, writhing in agony as the cruelty plays out, and I feel their pain as they feel it. Someone who will sit by my side and mop my brow with a cloth as I used to do for my mother when she was feeling unwell. Before the visions became too great for my control, and she saw the evil inside of me.

I won’t do that to my little girl. Even though I didn’t want her, I’m starting to fall in love with her. She’s my chance for a better future, and I refuse to sit here and weep for a lost love I never felt. She’s mine, and no one will take her from me. She’s all that I have. The first thing that was really mine, and she’s not even here yet. Already she knows more love than I’ve ever felt from my own mother and father, just from me.

I’ll go to London. The thought of raising her in this small town on my own...the gossips will destroy her. The church has no record of an Irish priest, they say he is a murderer. That he’s been visiting churches like that one. And, for the first time in months, I’m glad. He’s given me a new life, but he won’t ever know her. I’ll kill the both of us before he lays a hand on her, or my belly where she waits for the time to come into this world. I hope she likes me.

**London, 1 month later


He remembered her, the dark goddess before him. She was heavy with child. Some miserable human had touched her, even as she wore his mark upon her throat. He didn’t care that a human wouldn’t understand what those twin punctures meant, he had marked her as his, to finish off when he chose. Creatures like himself abided by these claims, why then couldn’t his prey?

**Two weeks later

He’s back. My executioner and my salvation. And he knows. I don’t know how, but he knows that she’s his. He says...that we’re his. That he won’t allow me to run. That he’ll find me. He says he’s letting me live until the baby is born. He says he’ll turn me then, once she’s a year old. After she’s stopped nursing.

I wish she could stay inside me, where she’s safe. But I can’t wait to see her! I just know that she’ll be beautiful, with my dark hair and my mother’s hazel eyes. For once, I want to be selfish. I want to hold my baby girl in my arms, and wipe away her tears in the middle of the night.

And Angelus? He says that we’re his. That no one, and no thing will ever hurt us. That he’ll kill them before they do. He’ll protect us from the things that crawl, and slither, and ooze in the night. Even the creatures like him, especially the creatures like him.

He says I don’t have a choice, that no matter what happens, he’ll go after what is his. I’ve been marked with his bite. She is the daughter of a monster. If I run, he’ll destroy me. My hold on reality is already far too weak, I see too much suffering to ever be truly sane.

I’ve been taken a part with the victims too many times to ever be whole again, if ever I had been. He’ll take us, the only thing I have to decide is how long, and how hard I’m willing to fight this battle that I can not win.

I just want to be here when my Lizzie is born.

AN: Thanks for sticking with me, guys! I'm sure you guys are seeing where I'm going with this...Can you do me a favor? Tell me if it seems too rushed, or there's too little dialogue? I really appreciate all of your feedback!