As the film finished a mob of people filtered out the doors of the movie house and into the street. Amongst the throng walked a married couple in their late twenties. The woman carried a dark haired baby who lay sleeping in her arms. Some of the other movie goers stared daggers at her as she hurried past. As they cleared the crowd she turned towards her husband and scowled.
"What at you mad at me for? You're the one who wanted to bring him with us. Can't you even keep him quiet through one lousy film?"
"Maybe I would have been able to if we saw something where a car doesn't blow up every five minutes. I can't believe they actually let us into an R rated movie with someone Alex's age."
"Don't pin this on me, Jess. We could have just left him with Rory, if you weren't so being so menstrual."
Jessica's eyes narrowed as she stopped walking and turned towards her husband. "Tony, the last time we left Alex alone with your brother he spent half the night flicking bottle caps at him. He could have really hurt him."
"He was just trying to teach the brat to catch. Its a good lesson for him to learn. I won't have my son growing up to be one of the loser slackers that get pushed around. He's got to toughen up if he's going to make it in life"
"God Tony, would you listen to your self? Alex isn't even two years old yet and you're already talking about toughing him up? What do you think you'll accomplish?"
"I think I'll get a son who doesn't cry like a bitch whenever there's a loud noise. I could barely follow that chase at the end the way the kid was screaming. Jesus, you nag about never getting a night out and you can't even shut up when I go through the trouble of pulling one together."
"I'm sorry, but fast food and the late showing of some biker movie is not my idea of a romantic night on the town."
"Can we not start on this now? And by the way, I don't know what you're mad about. You picked the movie after all"
"Did you see the options I had? The only other movies playing this late were that barbarian film and the yet another Rocky movie. The Road Warrior was more of a default than a choice."
"Sorry to interrupt such a touching moment," said a figure emerging from the shadowy alley behind the couple, "but my friends and I were looking for a bite and we were hoping you could help us out."
"Look buddy, I'm in the middle of something here, so why don't you and your disco buddies go hose of your leisure suits and leave us alone"
The man on the speaker's right turned to his companions. "Dibs on this guy Lance, you and Vinney can split the girl and the kid. "
"Sounds good to me Thomas," He shot Jessica a sideways glance. "I was in the mood for something soft."
"What the hell are you three freaks talking abou.. OH MY GOD!" Tony screamed the faces of the three men in front of him distorted to a set of cruel demonic visages. He took a step back, nearly stumbling over his own feet, and then sprinted down the street as the three vampires pounced.
Meanwhile a dark sedan with the windows almost completely painted over turned on to the street. The driver leaned forward, staring out the small rectangular portion of windshield that still remained transparent. A grin crossed his face as he took in the scene. "Well look at that." He said, turning to his passenger. "Care for a bit of sport before we leave for L.A."
The raven haired woman gently set a porcelain doll down on the dash board as she turned to face the driver. "Oh Spike, Such lovely thoughts dance inside your head. Miss. Edith loves it when you spin them to words for us." Her calm face suddenly broke into an expression of mad glee. "Can we dance tonight? Important dances like the ones people in big houses used to have before we ate them all up? "
"Yes luv, well dance all night." Spike pulled her in to a deep kiss before stepping from the car into the night.
Tony sprinted down the empty street, running with every fiber of his being. As the sound of his pursuers foot steps echoed in his ears he cursed himself for not just paying for parking at the lot across from the theater. He franticly grabbed for his keys as he saw his car approach in the distance. In his momentary distraction an arm shot out in front of him, knocking him to the ground. Tony looked up past the black duster of his assailant into a pair of harsh yellow eyes. A wave of guilt washed over him as he thought of his wife and son back in the alley. Before the emotion fully griped him the vampire chasing him arrived reinstalling the terror that had griped his soul.
"Hey, back off man. I've been chasing this guy for two blocks. Go find your own meal. "
Spike looked to the new arrival feeling some what insulted. "You think I would eat something like this?" He planted a kick to Tony's side evoking a stuttered moan. "I just fancied a late night kill, but if you're desperate enough to actually feed off this beer soaked lump of gristle then by all means, be my guest." Spike stepped away as Tomas bent down over Tony's prone form.
"Its personal. This guy insulted my threads."
The blond vampire glanced back in the middle of lighting a cigarette. "Yea, well the seventies are over and polyester may be the worst human invention since the sun lamp. Beer blob there may have been on to something." Spike turned back and walked towards the alley, ignoring the nasty look Thomas shot him.
Drusilla stepped lightly out of the dark sedan, pausing to watch Spike speed off after the fat human. After the blond vampire had disappeared from sight she turned her attention towards the nearby alley from which muffled screams could be heard. She daintily griped the edge of one of the buildings that bordered the dark recluse and tilted her head to peak inside.
Half way down the down the alley stood the slight form of a woman, thrashing against the two male vampires that pinned her against a large grey dumpster. Drusilla barely glanced at the horrific scene before casting her eyes to a small bundle of cloth that lay amiss the cardboard and garbage bags that clogged the alley. She glided silently over the pavement, unnoticed by the other occupants of the alley. Reaching the bundle she knelt down and parted the blanket, revealing a dark haired baby boy that was just starting to stir. As the child looked up his brown eyes met hers and a look of wonderment spread over her face. For a long moment she knelt there, staring into the baby's eyes. Eventually a smile spread across her pale face. She reached down and pulled the child close to her.
"My, what grand things you have ahead of you my little prince. You're mummy must be very proud of you." Drusilla paused and looked up. "What has happened to your mummy, anyway?". The dark haired woman turned just in time to see the body of Jessica Harris slump to the ground.
"Check this out Lance. This chick's trying to make off with our dessert."
"We can't have that happening. Why don't you just hand him here, though I'm sure you can convince us to give him up, if you know what I mean.''
The baby gave out a short cry, causing Drusilla to pull him even closer. "Hush now. Bad things happened to my mummy too, but I was looked after just fine."
"Come on princess, give it up." one of the men said as he grabbed the arm which cradled the baby. Drusilla's eyes narrowed and her right hand shot up, tearing through Lance's face. The vampire screamed and fell to the ground, clutching the deep gash where his eyes used to be.
Drusilla lightly shook her hand, sending blood splattering across the ground. "Naughty Naughty little boys. Shouldn't play so rough." She leaned down and picked up a sliver of wood from amidst the refuse. She dangled it ominously between her forefinger and thumb. "Someone could get hurt."
The blinded vampire continued to screaming pain. "Vin, kill this bitch! Don't let her get away with this!"
Vin let out a low growl and crouched slightly. "That splinter doesn't scare me you cheep whore. I'm going to make you wish you never met us."
As he charged forward Drusilla twirled around him like a dancer practicing a routine. Vinny face was a mask of confusion as he looked down towards the sharp pain in his chest. Just as his fate dawned on him he exploded into dust.
As the cloud of dust settled the child in the vampires arms sneezed, causing Drusilla to pull him even closer. "Hush, hush, everything's all lovely now." A weak cry brought her attention back to the alley. She spun around to see Jessica Harris straining to prop her self up. Her dress was badly torn and she was still bleeding from the bites on her neck and shoulders.
"Please" she cried, laboring for every breath. "Look after my baby. Don't let them hurt my little Alexander!" With that last cry she collapsed back against the dumpster.
Drusilla turned away, showing no distress over the young mother's death. She just turned back to the child resting in her arms. "Al- lex-xander. Such a pretty name. Your my Alexander now. And mummy's going to look after you for ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever....". As she spoke she lifted the child above her head, outlining him against the night sky. Her voice took on a song like quality as she rapidly spun around, bobbing the drossy child up and down as she twirled.
At the entrance to the alley a solitary figure propped himself up against the brick wall. Blood streamed down his face as he bared his fangs and snarled. "I'll get you for this. The next day I see you will be your last. Nobody dose this to me. You're as good as dust."
"So are you, mate." came a voice from behind him. The blind vampire tried to turn towards the sound, but felt a hard piece of metal slam into his neck. He had just enough time to register what had happened before his body exploded into dust.
Spike tossed away the garbage can lid an watched the fresh pile of dust settle amidst the garbage and junk. "Busy night luv?"
Spike watched the love of his life spin around the alley, dancing with a small bundle she held in her outstretches hands. He smiled and started into the alley. The smell of blood greeted him, wafting up from the body of a young woman lying next to a dumpster. He spotted a pile of dust next to the body. Dru continued to spin around, now humming a waltz, completely oblivious to the rest of the world. As she whirled by him Spike caught one of her arms and spun her into a close embrace. "Had a bit of fun tonight I see."
"Naughty boys wouldn't play nice. Miss Edith was very cross with them."
"I'd wager she was. What of that bloke with the new outlook on life? "
"Very naughty. Tried to get fresh."
"Well that bloody well shows him. Nobody touches my Dru."
Dru smiled up at him "I'm a princess."
"That's what you are." The bundle in Drusilla's arms shifted slightly, drawing Spikes attention. He pulled back the teddy bare patterned blanket to reveal the sleeping child. "Snack for the road?"
Dru whined and pulled back, coddling the child as she went. "He's not for eating. He's all mine, to look after and grow and play with and take care of and change and feed..."
"Your not serious about this are you? This is a actual child, not one of your dolls. If we don't eat him now hell just end up dead a rotten. "
"Not with me looking after him. Hell grow big and strong with his mummy protecting him. "
"No Dru, he wont. Hell just end up like one of your birds, or your fish, or your dam kittens. Every time you take in some living creature it rots and dies. Why do you think this will be any different?"
"Because both the stars and Miss Edith told me so, and they so rarely agree on anything."
Spike suddenly paused. "The stars? You have a vision luv? Tell me, what did you see?"
Dru moaned and rolled her head back and forth. "They all came down and danced inside my head. Showed me all the things he would do. So many great big things. All blurred together. Blinding, it was."
Spike stared at the tiny creature sleeping peacefully in the arms of his eternal companion. He had been through a lot with Drusilla, but didn't have a clue what to make of this situation. "Look we can sort this out later. Lets just get to L.A. first. I don't fancy trying to fight the rush hour traffic given our current mode of transport."
He turned and started towards the car, but could still hear Drusilla whispering behind him. "Don't worry my little prince. Just give daddy some time. We're going to be such a happy family together."
Students made their way through the bright morning sunshine, slowly funneling towards the school building. As the buses emptied a black jeep pulled up to the curb in front of the school. In side an older woman watched her daughter step out. "Have a good time. I know you're gonna make friends right away, just think positive."
The girl looked back to her and nodded. As she turned to close the door her mother called after her. "Honey? Try not to get kicked out?"
The girl smiled somewhat nervously "I promise."
"Okay." Her mother turned and drove off leaving the blond standing in front of the impressive building.
Meanwhile a girl with long red hair slowly made her way up the front stairs. The walked sheepishly, almost as if she was afraid of eye contact. As she reached the door someone taped her on the shoulder. "Excuse me?"
She quickly spun around, a smile lighting up her face. "Jessie!" Her face immediately dropped when she saw who was behind her. The boys dark clothing stood out greatly against the bright background with the exception of the sunlight reflecting off the motorcycle helmet in his left hand. His skin was unusually pale, but not extremely so. His brown eyes seem soft and friendly and he wore a lopsided grin that seemed to conflict with all other aspects of his appearance. "Umm, you're not Jessie, I mean of course your not Jessie you would know if you were Jessie or not its just that Jessie is usually the only one who talks to me in the mornings before the computer labs open and you probably don't care about that but its just that I don't talk to that many people not that I can't talk but not many people talk to me so this is..."
The boy in front of her pause for a second before replying. "Wow, That was really something. Uh, my names Alexander and I was just hoping you could point me towards the office. I just transferred in so I'm a little lost, and I mean little in the complete and total way."
"Its at the end of the first corridor on your left. You can't miss it. Well, I mean you could miss it but it would be pretty hard to but I don't mean you Alexander would and I'm going to stop now." The girl stared at her feet, her cheeks burning.
"Thanks. I guess I'll see you around. Oh, and my friends call me Xander."
"Willow!... is me."
"Nice to meet you. I'll catch you later."
He turned and walked into the building, leaving Willow quivering slightly in the doorway.
"...Xander".
The school secretary finished looking over the papers that the dark haired boy had handed her. She turned back to regard the sole occupant of the line of chairs. He stared blankly at a patch of floor, his face unreadable. His body showed a great deal of tension, however, and he sat hunched over with both hands clasped tightly together, occasionally twitching as if he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Every once in a while, he would break his routine to glance at the door to the hall.
"Everything seems to be all right here. Mr. Flutie will see you now."
"Uh, well, I'm actually waiting for someone. I'm not supposed to go into things solo." The boy paused and grinned slightly. "At least not anymore."
The secretary smiled sweetly and gave him a sympathetic look. "I know your first day at a new school can be a bit intimidating, but you have nothing to worry about. Mr. Flutie is very kind and understanding. Why don't you go in and get introduced? I'll send in your parents when they get here."
Xander sunk slightly in his chair. "My parents aren't coming. They're out of the country at the moment."
The secretary paused, somewhat embarrassed by her assumption. "I'm sorry. Who are you waiting for?"
"His attorney." They both turned towards the door of the small office. Standing there was a neatly groomed man in an expensive suit. He walked up to the secretary and handed her a sheet of paper. "I'm here to oversee Alexander's meeting with your principal. Please inform Mr. Flutie that we are ready to see him now."
"What took you so long, Lindsey? Ambulance lead you on a wild goose chase again?"
The man turned towards Xander with a look of pure contempt on his face. "Forgive me if my appreciation of your dazzling wit is not what it should be after fighting L.A.'s morning traffic for three hours and spending a late night trying to get your file ready."
"Did I actually catch you on a bad day, or are you just upset that after all the years of this you haven't been able to get some one else to run interference with school administrators?"
Lindsey opened his mouth to respond but was cut off by the secretary. "Mr. Flutie is ready to see you now." The warm and supportive face she'd shown earlier had vanished, replaced instead by one of fearful agitation. A high priced lawyer accompanying a student to a simple introduction was never a good sign, not that she had ever seen it happen before.
As the two moved towards the principal's office, Lindsey whispered to Xander, "just keep quiet in there. I don't want this to turn into a repeat of what happened in Main." The boy just shot Lindsey a mischievous smile before entering the office.
Principal Flutie paced back and forth behind his desk, shuffling through a mess of papers as he went. His eyes grew wider and wider with each new sheet until they seemed to take up half of his face. A sudden buzzing from his desk almost caused the middle aged man to spray the papers across the room. After he quickly straightened the file, Flutie leaned over and pressed a button on the receiver. "Yes, Helen?"
"An Alexander Blood is here to see you, sir."
Principle Flutie quickly swallowed a lump in his throat. "Um, yes, send him in." The door to his office swung open to reveal a tall, dark-haired boy. His black clothing caused Flutie to shudder momentarily. The boy was followed by an extremely well dressed young man carrying a leather briefcase. Before he could say anything the man walked up and shook his hand.
"Principal Flutie? I'm Lindsey MacDonald from Wolfram and Hart. I'm here to oversee your meeting with Alexander."
"Excuse me, oversee?"
Lindsey set his briefcase down on Flutie's desk while Xander sank into one of the chairs across from him. "In 1993 Alexander's father, William Blood, established a trust for his son's education. As a full service law firm, we have managed all aspects of Alexander's schooling since then." As he said this, Lindsey pulled out a few documents from his briefcase and handed them to Principal Flutie, who accepted them after shifting the massive file into one arm. "As I'm sure you've gathered, Alexander's educational history is a bit more... involved than that of your average student. I'm here to officially resolve any questions you may have to ensure that he encounters a fair and impartial environment while he attends your school."
"Well, I haven't quite finished going through his record yet..." Flutie dropped the massive stack of papers onto his desk where it landed with an ominous thud, followed by a few seconds of silence. "I'm not even sure what to make of this."
"If we could just cover what you've read so far, you can contact me later at the L.A. branch if any problems arise."
Principal Flutie looked down at the massive stack of papers on his desk, and then at the dark haired boy who had yet to say a word. The teen met his harried glance, but only sighed as he shrugged his shoulders and turned towards the window. Flutie turned back and nodded sadly to the attorney before sinking slowly into his desk chair.
"Excellent. Let's get started," said Lindsey as he began pulling more papers from his briefcase.
Buffy Summers sat anxiously in the principal's waiting room, where she had been for the better part of an hour. She once again looked hopefully at the secretary, but only received an apologetic shrug.
"I'm really sorry about this. Usually these things are over in a few minutes. I don't know what could be taking him so long." She smiled half-heartedly and focused her attention on the girl. "It's not often we have two transfers in the same day, especially this far into the year. Where did you go to school before Sunnydale?"
"I went to Hemery High back in L.A."
"Hemery? I think I heard something on the news about that school.
Didn't one of the students end up burning down the gym during a school dance?"
Buffy cringed slightly. "It was just an accident really. You know the media, they blow everything way out of proportion. And with all the crape paper, lights and let's not forget poorly insulated electronics, those places are a fire trap." She paused, biting her lower lip. "Besides, almost no one was hurt."
"Right..." The secretary quickly turned back to her computer, trying to inconspicuously watch Buffy from the corner of her eye.
"As you can see, if you'll turn to section seven-F, the charges were dropped and an official investigation showed that Alexander's presence was purely coincidental."
Principle Flutie stared at the mounds of paper now cluttering his once pristine desk. He began shuffling through the mess, revealing sweat soaked patches on his light blue shirt. During the course of the meeting his appearance had become almost as disheveled as his desk. The jacket he had been wearing now lay limply across the back of his chair and both his collar and his cuffs were unbuttoned. His tie had been loosened to the point were the knot was almost falling apart and his glasses had slipped halfway down his nose.
"Oh yes, now I see," he said, finally digging up the right file. His eyes fell on another piece of paper, which he quickly snatched up. "There's still this incident last March at Levsin Academy."
"Ah, yes," replied Lindsey as he carefully thumbed through a neat stack of documents in front of him. "You should find a medical report attached to the back of that file. All of the students' reports were due to the hallucinogenic effects of an expired set of flu shots. There is currently a class action suit in progress against the distributor."
Principle Flutie turned the paper over and stared blankly at a very complex looking medical form for a few seconds. Eventually he lowered his head and nodded absently a few times.
"Is there anything else you need clarified?" Lindsey said, glancing down at his watch impatiently.
Flutie looked out over the sea of paper that had swallowed his desk over the last hour and a half. For a moment a flicker life returned to his dull eyes and he pulled himself up from his chair. He opened his mouth to speak but, upon meeting Lindsey's gaze, crumbled. "No, I think I have everything I need."
"Excellent. Please contact me at the L.A. office if any problems arise." With that, he returned his papers to his briefcase and slammed it shut.
This noise caused a sudden movement to Lindsey's right. "Huh? What?" Xander sat up in his seat and quickly took in his surroundings.
Seeing Lindsey on his way out he quickly jumped up and, rubbing his eyes, followed the lawyer out of the office.
"Umm, it was nice meeting you, Alex," called Principal Flutie from behind his desk.
"Likewise," replied Xander as he left the office.
In the silence of the office Flutie held still, pondering something. That was the first time he and Alex had spoken since he had entered the office over a hour ago. The Principal collapsed back into his chair and let out a deep breath. This was not going to be an easy year.
Buffy Summers sat about as tensely as possible on the waiting room chair. She read the football recruitment pamphlet she had found under her chair for the seventh time as she glanced between the wall clock and the office door. Every few minutes the secretary would glance at her, then quickly turn back to her computer.
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the office door opened. The first person to leave had long brown hair and was dressed in a tailored suit. Buffy instantly recognized the designer label.
Following him was a tall boy in black jeans and a T-shirt covered by a loose jacket. He turned toward her and smiled as he walked by.
Suddenly his expression flickered and became more serious. His gaze seemed to look through or into her, causing her to shiver. He quickly looked away and continued out of the office, leaving Buffy with a very strange feeling.
"You can go see Mr. Flutie now. I'm sorry about the wait."
"It's okay. Less time in class, right?"
The secretary smiled weakly and continued to watch Buffy until she disappeared into the Principal's office.
Upon entering the room Buffy found the Principal trying to wrestle a three inch thick folder into the top shelf of a filing cabinet.
"Principal Flutie?"
"Yes?" He turned around, spilling papers from the folder onto the floor. "Oh, right. Just have a seat and I'll be with you in a minute." Once most of the file was stuffed into the cabinet he attempted to close the drawer, only to find it stuck. After several attempts he gave up and pulled out a file from a lower drawer of the cabinet. He walked over to his still much disheveled desk and began thumbing through the file.
"Let's see. Buffy Summers, sophomore, late of Hemery High in Los Angeles, involved in the pep squad, cheerleading, dance committee, arson, and gymnastics. I see no reason why you'll have any problems here. Enjoy your first day." He dropped the file on his desk and turned back to the cabinet.
Buffy paused for a moment then stood up. "Gee, thanks Mr. Flutie. It was great meeting you. I'll see you around. Go Razorbacks." She quickly backed out of the office and closed the door behind her, breathing a sigh of relief.
Flutie continued to struggle with the cabinet for a few minutes before pausing and turning back toward her file. "Wait a second..."
Xander and Lindsey exited the office and began walking down the corridors of Sunnydale high. The halls were deserted with most of the students still in class.
Xander took it upon himself to break the silence. "That went fairly well, wouldn't you say?" he asked Lindsey playfully.
The Lawyer scowled at him. "How would you know? You were awake for what, fifteen minutes?"
"Come on Lindsey, it wasn't that bad."
Lindsey's scowl deepened as he handed Xander some papers. "Here's your schedule. You have history in ten minutes, and for what it's worth, I'd advise you to show up." He paused. "And you were snoring".
"Ah. It's a shame you had to divert your time away from your latest botched nose job malpractice suit to work on this."
"Listen, you little punk, you may enjoy going through this little dance, but I have enough work without having to tuck you into new school every three months. And now I have to deliver office messages to our other clients in this town so I'll be lucky to get out of this hole before noon."
"You know, you may want to switch to decaf. I think your attorney-client relations are slipping."
"Let's get something straight. You're not a client. You're a client's problem, and that's the reason I have to deal with you.
That's why I have to leave my cases hanging while I fly out to Europe or Canada or the east coast and haggle with school officials over admission policies. That's why I'm now playing messenger boy in a random town chosen by a nutjob, probably because she liked the name. It's a wonder somebody hasn't staked that psycho yet."
As soon as Lindsey finished speaking time seemed slow to a crawl. He could almost see the words leaving his mouth as he willed them to stop before they reached the dark haired boy not five feet away. He felt not unlike a soldier watching an artillery shell fly towards him with no hope of avoiding it, but with the stinging knowledge that he had invited the attack. He watched as the veins on Xander's temples swelled and his muscles tensed.
Immediately time resumed its normal flow as the dark figure to Lindsey's right rushed towards him in a blur. Lindsey's head collided with the wall of lockers, leaving him dazed for a few seconds. As his senses cleared, he found himself hanging limply a foot and a half off the ground. An intense pressure on his neck showed Xander's forearm pinning him against the lockers.
Lindsey struggled to breathe through the incredible pressure on his larynx. He pulled desperately at the arm that held him pinned, but to no avail.
"Let's say we have a nice, quiet chat." The playful smiles and soft demeanor had disappeared from Xander's face. His expression had hardened to an icy stare. Lines of tension formed around his dark eyes as he stared up at Lindsey's helpless form. Even his voice had become colder, more serious, and now carried a slight accent.
"I don't give a shite what you and the rest of those wankers up in L.A. think of me, but listen to me you stupid git." Xander increased the pressure on Lindsey's neck, cutting off what little air he still had and leaving him gasping like a trout on a dock. "You say one more bloody thing about my mother..." Lindsey felt something cold and sharp pressing against his chest, "and I'll chop you into messes."
The bell rang, signaling the end of class. As students began pouring into the halls, Xander quickly removed his arm and let Lindsey fall to the floor in a limp heap. He climbed to his feet as Xander disappeared into the crowd. A small amount of blood was welling from a shallow cut on his chest and his neck remained extremely sore.
Dabbing the scratch with a handkerchief, he hurried towards the exit, all too eager to get back to L.A.