Xander walked into his room slamming the door behind him. Grabbing his duffle bag from beside his dresser he shoved a bunch of clothes in it. Then he knelt down punching a floorboard, making a hole where it was. He reached down into his space and pulled out an old Folgers can.
Popping the lid off it he dumped the wad of bills he'd been taking off of vampires since he started hunting with Buffy. A grand, He counted. *It's just enough maybe to get me to L.A., Maybe if I get a ride, to San Fran.* He put the cash into his pocket and reached deeper into the blackness of his floor taking out the Government Issue .45 he'd liberated from the armory along with the rocket launcher. He reached back in pulling out the holster and clips for it. He slapped in a clip, and racked the slide to chamber a round. Slipping on the safety he put it back in the holster and slid it on his belt. Taking the second clip he put it in his coat pocket. Doing a quick mental inventory he grabbed his bag, *Money...Check...Clothes... Check...Pistol with 2 clips and one in the chamber...Check.* He headed out the door snatching a picture off his dresser as he left. Walking out his front door and out of Sunnydale he passed the "Now leaving Sunnydale, Please come back again" sign. He sighed and stuck out his thumb.
Less then 30ft from the sign an old pick-up truck pulled over for the boy to get in. The driver a kindly looking old man stuck his head out the window.
"Where ya headin' kid?" The old guy asked with a toothy smile.
"Anywhere but here, thinking maybe L.A." Xander told the man while looking for pointed teeth. Not seeing any Xander calmed a little.
"You're in luck kid I'm headin' there. Hop on in," The man, told him still smiling.
"Thanks," Xander said as he threw his bag in the back and hopped into the passenger side of the truck.
"No problem young feller." The old man replied to the young man's manners.
Xander didn't calm all the way down until the old man pulled out on the highway. Taking the picture out of his pocket he looked at the redhead giving him a hug. *Bye Wills,* He thought slightly teary- eyed. *I'll miss ya all.*
Dawn had just crept over the horizon, painting the sky a beautiful violet and blue mixture, as the old man pulled his truck up along side a curb on the outskirts of L.A.
"This is it son, the end of the line. Time for ya to wake up." The old man spoke kindly as he shook the boy sleeping in his passenger seat.
Xander awoke with surprising quickness to the shaking first his eyes coming open and his mind wondering where the hell he was.
"Thanks sir. I appreciate you giving me a ride and all especially at night... however I don't recommend you do it again though." Xander told the man as he hopped out grabbing his bag out of the bed of the truck.
"You're right son. I shouldn't have stopped but you looked rather down so I figured it couldn't hurt to give ya a ride." The old man replied. "I wish ya well lad. Maybe I'll see ya around."
"Maybe. Thanks again sir." He smiled as the old man kicked the truck into gear and pulled off.
*Now where?* Xander thought as he started walking into the city. *Need to find a place to sleep if even only for a night.* He walked down the street looking for a cheap motel. Seeing a small out of the way place that reminded him of the Sunnydale Motor Lodge, he headed for it.
Looking out at the few cars that peppered the parking lot in front of the small single floor motel, he noted the few high priced cars with a rather sarcastic mindset. *Rich men out to sleep with their "Mistresses."* He thought with a lot of scorn behind it. Walking into the open reception area he noted the diminutive man behind the counter and the few plush chairs that had obviously saw better days.
"I need a room probably only for the night." Xander told the small man.
"That's $50 in advance and another $100 tomorrow." The small man told him while trying (and failing humorously) to look down his nose at the brown-haired teen.
"Fine." Xander said reaching into his back pocket and pulling out the wad of cash there. Counting out 2 twenties and a ten he tossed them over the counter to the little man. "Know any decent places to eat around here?" Xander asked not really expecting an answer.
"There's this nice little Scandinavian place down the street about 2 blocks. Serve American stuff but the atmosphere is like that of the Viking halls." The little man replied frowning at being asked for advice by what was obviously a tourist.
Xander grinned. He'd always been kind of in awe of the old Viking myths and getting to eat in a place that was modeled after a Hall was appealing. "Cool I'll check it out then."
The little man put the money into the register and grabbed a key off the wall. "118" he said his eyes focusing on a miniature TV that was on top of the register.
Xander grabbed the key and walked out,* 111...112...114...115.... 117...118... Bingo.* He thought as he got the magic number with the key from the desk.
Opening the door and entering the place Xander saw it wasn't as bad as he expected. A small bed lay against one wall, a TV opposite, bathroom on the far wall and a night table. Perfect, he thought with a genuine smile. Throwing his bag on the bed he shut the door walking toward the bathroom. Looking in he saw it was a spartan facility. Inside there lay the standard toilet, small shower, and sink with a mirror. *Hey, Hey! Even got fresh towels.* He looked appreciatively at the object in question. Taking a whiff of himself he grimaced. *O Yeah definitely shower time,* he thought stripping off his clothes and hopping in.
Hopping out of the shower he dried off. Wrapping the towel around him and grabbing his clothes he walked out to the bed. Opening his bag he pulled out a solid black t-shirt, black jeans, and black boxers. *Wow. Solid color. What are the chances of that being what I threw in? * He wondered to himself. Throwing on the clothes he fell on the bed exhausted, falling into a deep sleep.
˜*Xander*˜
Xander awoke with a start. Hearing a scuffle outside he got out of bed a looked out his window.
Outside his hotel room in the parking lot he saw a blonde woman fighting off what appeared to be two men except with really strange faces. Without thinking about it he raised his window and grabbing his pistol and firing out the window hitting one "man" in the back, staggering "him" enough for the woman to sink the piece of wood she held in her hand into his chest.
Quickly closing his window and hiding his stuff to make it look like no one was in his room he clicked off his light hoping the woman wouldn't open the door.
Listening closely he heard the woman finish off the last vampire in the classic sound of exploding into dust. He could hear the woman as she asked herself where the shot came from. He heard her approach the reception area. Throwing a $100 bill and a quick note on the table and grabbing his stuff he ran out of his room while she talked to the hotel clerk.
Getting to the car belonging to the next couple over he opened the door. *Leaving the car unlocked in LA. Morons, they deserve to have it stolen.* He busted the bottom of the steering column and hotwired the car then drove into the night.
˜*Buffy*˜
*I just wanted to be left alone. I didn't want to fight anymore, * she thought as she spin kicked a vamp in the jaw. She made to stab it when a gunshot pierced the air and she saw the vamp stagger. Not one to miss an advantage she stabbed into his heart and was rewarded with the sound of dust exploding. *What the fuck was that? Where the hell did the shot come from?* She thought, her inner thoughts distracting her enough for the second vamp to land a blow to her stomach.
*Fighting now, thinking later.* She decked the vampire across the jaw with a right hook knocking him back a few steps. Not hesitating for a second she drove her stake into the thing. Rewarded once again with the sound of dust falling.
She stashed her stake back in her pocket and walked to the hotel clerk. He was cowering beneath the counter hoping that it was over. "It's okay now, you can come out I fought them off." She told the clerk.
"Oh thank you, thank you so much. They've been grabbing my customers at night and when I reported them to the police the police just told me to stay inside and to hide until dawn." The clerk rushed out.
"Great. Has anyone checked in here with a gun lately?" She asked him trying to get back on the point of her visit.
"One dark-haired young man did. Room 118. He hasn't checked out yet so he should still be there." The clerk told her.
"Thanks." She said as she walked out of the room and toward the far end of rooms. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye as a car sped off into the darkness.
Knocking on the door and receiving no answer, she pushed slightly harder then the door could take making it open. Looking around the room she saw a $100 bill and a small note on the back of the hotel receipt.
Dear Buffy,
Sorry for the cat and mouse type game but I know you're not too happy with me.
Still love ya,
Xander.
*Xander?!?!?! What the hell why isn't he in Sunnydale?* She thought.
Leaving the parking lot of the hotel in his stolen car Xander made a straight shot towards the bus station only to see a woman being accosted by a much larger and seemingly human man in a long black leather coat. Jumping out of the car Xander yelled.
"Hey Bozo leave her alone!"
The man turned looking at Xander in utter confusion.
"Who the hell are you kid?"
"Someone who won't stand here and let you hurt someone." Xander replied, pulling his pistol from his holster.
"What the hell kid? Calm down! There ain't nothing wrong here is there sweet heart?" the man asked turning toward the woman to hide the movement of his left hand into his pocket. Grabbing his own gun the man turned back toward Xander, gun hidden behind his back.
"He's been following me for the last 4 blocks and I don't know him," the woman told Xander with a terrified tremble in her voice. "Thank God that you're here." She smiled at the last words and the man brought his gun up and fired at Xander.
The round flew at Xander, the horrible shot scraping the hand he wasn't holding the gun in. Xander fired off his own round catching the man in the chest. Pushing down his emotions, he swiveled his weapon toward the woman he approached, keeping an eye on the man he shot just in case he wasn't dead.
"Now Ma'am want to tell me why you set me up?" Xander asked in a voice so cold the woman didn't doubt for a minute that Xander would fire if given the wrong answer.
She started to answer, her mind shutting down any process that could hope to start lying. "It was a job, been doing it for weeks. I act in distress and a rich guy stops and tries to "help" me. Then Bruno," Nodding her head at the now definitely dead guy. "Would rob them and split the cash with me," she said in explanation. She started shaking in fear at Xander or more pointedly the big barrel of the .45 currently pointed at her head.
"The cops after you?" Xander asked a thought sparking through his mind.
"Yeah they've been out here a couple times looking for us. On those nights we don't work." She answered.
Xander led her back to his car and grabbed the duct tape he had thrown in there. Always great for emergencies he smiled as he thought it. Binding her hands behind her back with the duct tape he also slid a piece of tape across her mouth. Binding her legs was just as simple she seemed to have no fight in her. He opened in his back door and tossed her in. Closing the door he noticed the wound for the first time. Taking the duct tape he bound his own wound.
He walked back to "Bruno" and searched him. Coming up with about a grand in cash, the .45 caliber pistol he had shot Xander with, and a nice leather trench coat. He slid the cash into his pant with the other money and the pistol into his new coat. Slinging the coat around his shoulders he noticed that there wasn't a hole in it. Looking down at the body he saw he had hit the guy where the cost was spaced.
Taking his duct tape he proceeded to hog tie the man. Dragging Bruno to his car he chunked him in the bad next to the woman. Hopping in the car he took out the same pen he had used to scribble a note to Buffy with. Writing a quick note to the cops he duct taped it to Bruno's chest next to his wound.
Xander sped to the police station. Dropping off the woman and dead man on the steps he hopped in the car and drove off back to the bus station.
˜*Back at Police Station*˜
"Hey Murphy you're not going to believe this!" called Officer Ried.
"What?" yelled the desk Sergeant, (also called Murphy.)
"Well there's a dead guy and a woman bound in duct tape on the steps!" Ried shot back.
"What the hell?" Murphy wondered aloud while coming out from behind his desk to look at what he was talking about.
Sure enough on the front steps there seemed to be two people bound, one a woman struggling; the other a man, eerily calm. Walking out they saw a note taped to the man's chest. On it they read:
Dear Officers,
These two people tried to rob me. I didn't take kindly to it. The woman told me everything, saying they've been doing it a while. Interrogate her, you'll see.
Signed,
Mister X.
˜*Bus Station*˜
"Hello how may I help you?" the ticket clerk asked.
"Hi, one ticket to New York please." The dark-haired man in leather asked.
Xander stepped off the bus and looked around at his first sight of New York. *Not much different then L.A.* He thought. *No chicks in bikinis though. Ah well, as the saying goes, "Can't have your cake and eat it too." At least it's far, far away from Buffy.* He smiled at that thought. He wanted nothing to do with the Sunnydale crew for now. Not the least of the questions he didn't want to answer was where he got the pistols.
Walking out of the station he hailed a cab like in the movies. *Wow, it worked!* He thought with a grin. *Maybe cheesy movie cliché aren't so cheesy.* He got in the cab. The driver looked to be from the Middle East, what with a turban on his head and all. This fact was confirmed when he heard the driver speak.
"Where to buddy?" the man said with an obvious Arab accent.
"The nearest and cheapest hotel." Xander said while taking out a couple of twenties.
"Right away sir." The driver replied flicking on his meter and moving out into the turtle-like traffic.
The drive was relatively uneventful. The most exciting part was when someone cut off the cabby and Xander was treated to some very creative curses in Afghani. The cab pulled alongside the street next to a rather nice looking building, which showed that the owners obviously cared about the appearance of the building. It was a three- story building with a small sign above the door. The sign, painted in green with black letters said:
To all seeking room for the night, and bode no ill will, enter here and find your fill.
On a plaque on the door it stated the hotel's name, The Last Roadside.
"That's 20 dollars please." The driver stuck his hand back for the twenty that was forthcoming
"Thanks," Xander said handing over said twenty. Getting out of the cab, he walked to the door and pushed it open. On the inside the inn looked like a Middle Ages tavern. *Cool.* Xander thought, *Kind of Robin Hood like.* Seeing an older gentleman of about 30 years standing at the bar he walked up to it.
"Hello, son what can I do for ya?" The innkeeper asked.
"Well I was here about a room, but it's got to be expensive for a place like this," Xander said truthfully.
"Nonsense, we charge $60 dollars a night and another $30 for cable if you want it," The man said.
"Well, that's cheaper than I would expect, Name's Xander." Xander said taking the required $90 out of his pocket.
"Name's Ivan, First door on the right, up the stairs. If you want something to eat or drink we don't do room service here. You'll have to come down to the tavern part," Ivan the innkeeper said, handing Xander a very old looking key.
"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind." Xander said walking up the stairs and to the room he was given. Opening the door he saw a room straight from the Middle Ages, with a real four-poster wooden bed, olden style windows and an oil lamp. Only thing that wrecked the illusion was the 17" color TV in the corner. *Wow, $90 bucks for all this. Great deal,* he thought.
Throwing his bag on the bed he sat down in an old chair next to the bed. It creaked slightly when he sat in it but it supported his weight. Pulling out his stuff he took an inventory of what he needed. *Let's see, 2 .45 pistols, change of clothes, 3 clips for said pistols, only 34 rounds though. Need to buy a couple boxes. Couple of stakes, a cross, watch, and only $1,760 in cash. Need some more quickly. Maybe I should go see if the "Nightlife" has any money I can borrow.* He thought through his mental inventory. Grabbing his "new" coat and the pistols he quickly loaded them and slipped them into his coat, one going into a holster. He slid the jacket on and headed downstairs.
"Hey Ivan, anything interesting to eat and drink?" Xander asked with a crooked grin.
"Well if ya want I got some mead, you can drink that even though you're underage Got some roasted pork too. What would you like?" Ivan smiled at his current (and only) customer.
"Well the mead sounds good and I guess roasted pork it is." Xander's grin widened at the fact that he really had no choice.
Ivan reached behind the counter and grabbed the drinking horn of mead. "Here ya go kid. This is the way it used to be done in the Viking Days. You don't set the horn down till it's gone. You can eat and such. But you do it with only one hand." Ivan smiled. *No way is the kid's going to out last the horn.* "The pork will be out in a minute." Ivan said passing the horn to Xander.
Taking a swig of the mead he found it wasn't bad, kind of a pleasant honey taste to it. Taking another couple gulps he let out a belch worth of Viking days. "Excuse me. Good stuff though it does make you burp." Xander told Ivan in a conspiratorial way.
"Heh heh, it ought to. It's fermented honey. Mean's it's on the same level as beer, but a hell of a lot better tasting." Ivan said dropping the pork in front of Xander. "When you're done, if you're looking to go out there's a club down the way called FANG, Supposed to be pretty good. You might want to check it out." Ivan told him.
"Thanks Ivan. I appreciate it." Xander said. Tearing into his pork. Not bad he thought, actually really good. Gobbling the rest of pork taking occasional draughts of his "drinking horn". Standing up he downed the rest of the horn. Setting it down on the bar, he smiled.
"Thanks again Ivan. I'm gonna go check out that club." He said walking toward the door.
"See ya later kid. And be careful eh?" Ivan called as Xander walked out of the door. Sure enough when he got out the door he saw a big sign a few buildings down and across the street. FANGS, it read. *Well not subtle, that's for sure,* he thought heading for the club. If he had been looking to the side he would have seen the black man with a coat very similar to his checking out the joint.
Walking into the club he was nearly blasted by the lyrics coming out. *Sounds like Heavy Metal*, He thought. *Cool.*
"You are enemy
You are my hated enemy
I am enemy
Number one-rated enemy
I'm labeled enemy
I am your mortal enemy
My actions enemy
Make me your bitter enemy"
Xander's head started bobbing to the harsh beat of the Disturbed lyrics. He started mingling among the dancing crowd. Not paying attention to the many people's faces, just dancing for the joy of it.
"All the world around enemy
They're tearing up the ground enemy
They're drawn in by the sound
Enemy, enemy, I must eliminate my enemy
Your people enemy
My people's hated enemy
What are you enemy
Though a created enemy
Terminate the enemy
Eradicate the hated enemy
I am an enemy
My very greatest enemy
You try to tell me that you love life Then find another way to kill life
Wanting, love life
Needing, kill life
Wanting, love life
Needing, kill your
Enemy"
As the song finished up he started cheering with the rest of the crowd. As the second song started he moved over to the side to watch for the song. "Bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind?
Liberate your mind you motherfucker
You're so narrow-minded, so narrow-minded
So liberate your mind you motherfucker
Will you liberate your mind?
Liberate your mind you motherfucker
You're so narrow-minded, so narrow-minded
So liberate your mind you motherfucker
Will you liberate your mind this time?"
Xander smiled at the song. Then something hit him. He looked at his hand and saw a drop of a red liquid. Taking his hands and moving it around in the liquid he felt the texture of it. *Blood,* he thought. Looking up he saw a drop as it fell on his forehead.
"Bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind
Can't you see that the pace has just fallen behind?
All the hate in your heart will be leaving you blind
So bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind?
Now bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind
Can't you see that the pace has just fallen behind?
All the hate in your heart will be leaving you blind
So bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind this time?
(Chorus)
Waiting for your modern messiah to take away all the hatred
That darkens the light in your eye still awaiting I
Liberate your mind you motherfucker
You're so narrow-minded, so narrow-minded
So liberate your mind you motherfucker
Will you liberate your mind?
Liberate your mind you motherfucker
You're so narrow-minded, so narrow-minded
So liberate your mind you motherfucker
Will you liberate your mind this time?
Bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind
Can't you see that the pace has just fallen behind?
All the hate in your heart will be leaving you blind
So bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind?
Now bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind
Can't you see that the pace has just fallen behind?
All the hate in your heart will be leaving you blind
So bold motherfucker don't you limit your mind this time?
(Chorus)
Out of Zion shall come forth the law?
And the word of the Lord from Jerusalem
Nation shall not raise sword against nation
And they shall not learn war anymore
For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
(Chorus)
As the song ended Xander felt the sprinklers open up and the blood
wash down on him. Looking around at the faces he saw that they had
changed. They had become demonic. *OH SHIT! * His mind screamed,
*VAMPIRE NIGHT CLUB.* He thought drawing his a pistol in one hand,
stake in the other. I am so going to die, he thought. I don't want to
die; At least I can take some with me.
The vamps turned on him and started moving forward. Grinning, the first wave rushed at Xander. Firing with his pistol, he tried to push them back. His stake slid into his first vamp of the night making it one with the dust bunnies. The rest swarmed him and started punching and kicking him while he was crushed beneath them. Tripping one vamp so that he ended on the bottom of the pile he slid out. *Freaking idiots,* he thought as the vamps pummeled their own member. Xander managed to sneak stake two of them before they caught on. As he backed up, everything stopped as they heard a resonant clapping. The vamps turned toward it, Xander did too, seeing a black man in a long trench coat, a katana under his arm. The man grabbed the katana and arced it on the ground.
"My turn." The black man said in a deep voice.