I don't own Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Josh mumbled to himself as he sauntered towards the town of Sunnydale. Yawning he stretched his muscles and readjusted his shoulder pack so it would stop hitting his thigh. He'd heard the Slayer was there. It'd be nice to finally meet one, well aside from his sister.
Josh had no idea why he called her his sister, hell they weren't even blood related, well technically they were, kind of. Sure they had the same parents but he created himself because he had to. Stupid little annoying Shadow men try to take his essence and put it into a little girl. Bastards almost took a quarter of it before he cut them off.
But no, they just had to put part of that girl's essence somewhere. Give him a conscience would they, some emotions to go with it. Fucking assholes. That one was rage, or anger. He was getting the hang of them finally. Took him a couple centuries to deal with them, that and having a corporeal form for the first time in his extremely long life.
"Look after Salim." His human "mother" would tell her. Before she went crazy with power and got herself killed of course. Too bad he had to conceal his strength, make it inconspicuous. He didn't want to be barred from the village before his survival skills were honed. Kind of annoying, having to worry about nutrients and sleep and other things this body needed.
Josh looked into his pack; two daggers, a book about augmentation and combat magics he learned to control, a bag of chips, bottled water, two different shirts, another compartment with a pair of pants and his I.D. He hated having to change his name every seven decades or so. That and moving around from place to place. Couldn't stay in the same town without some one noticing that you don't age past twenty-three.
Josh rummaged in his pack while he walked. Where was it? He couldn't have lost it. He slaughtered an entire bar full of demons when he took it. Burned the place too; he just had to try that fireball spell. Worked like a charm too.
There it was. Josh unruffled the slips of paper and looked at them as he walked. He really needed to pick up the pace. He wanted to get in before the hotel closed down for the night and the slip said that it would only register new patrons between six in the morning and eleven at night. Probably should have called ahead but he wasn't thinking.
Josh huddled himself in a black leather coat as the wind began picking up. Annoying little thing, wind. He didn't have to worry about it when he was incorporeal.
Thank Misudia the Destroyer for all those good luck charms he had. Reflected nicely against the cars on the highway. Let them know he was there and not to drive into him.
He liked his coat. It had places in the back of the neck and wrists where he could put throwing knives. His grey combat boots came with their own holders too; making a total of seven daggers he could throw, each inconspicuously and rapidly. Well for him it was four daggers. The two that could go into each wrist he replaced with one larger wooden stakes for each. He had heard that despite the Slayer, Sunnydale was crowded with vampires. Didn't want one mistaking him for a snack.
God he had been walking since five that morning, usually he could handle the sixteen hours of walking but that five minutes of fighting in the bar and the spells had tired him out. He was relatively new to continuous magic use and it still tired him out. He kept forgetting that around twenty-five percent of his power was with the slayer now.
Reaching behind his back and down into the pockets of his dark blue jeans and took out his wallet. He found it oddly appropriate for him to have a leather wallet, hand stitched with a skull on fire in all white. Opening it up he looked in the compartment where he kept his coins.
There were only two. The first was a heavy African coin. He had had it since his first mother gave it to him, something of a memento he guessed. No idea why he kept it, but it felt right as he flipped it between his gloved fingers. The other was a magical artifact. He could use it to channel and manipulate elements. Not the elements on the periodic table or whatever scientists thought they had conjured up but things like water, earth and fire.
He liked using it because he could conjure fire himself and then manipulate it as he saw fit through the coin without tiring himself out. It had to be in his hands though, having it in his wallet wasn't much help.
His stomach grumbled. He hadn't eaten since that morning before he first set off. That plus the small bag of chips he kept in his bag were all that kept him going. Needing nutrients for this body was different for him. He could go days without food and still function more or less like he usually did but he really needed to eat if he wanted to blow up every bar along the way to Sunnydale, which he seriously considered when he left Las Vegas.
His good luck charms clanked together as he walked. He didn't mind the sound anymore. Ever since they saved his life before he rushed out of Las Vegas. Really, how was he supposed to know the bodyguard job he accepted was from the mafia. Then have them be attacked by a narcotics team from the police department. Bullets riddled into him during the fight.
They thought he was dead. Of course he could survive those bullets anyway since none of them hit him in the face. He healed much faster than Slayers or vampires so bullets shot from a handgun were usually healed before the next one hit him but instead the bullets ricocheted off his good luck charms.
They left him with the coroners since they couldn't identify him as having previous ties with the family. When he woke up he knocked the two coroners out and ran from the building.
He took out the entire mafia before he left. Showed them.
Then he took off for Sunnydale at first word of a Slayer. It was the first time since the Boxer Rebellion that he had heard of a Slayer, but that one died before he could get to her.
He turned to the other part of the wallet, where the bills were kept. Six thousand dollars in cash, he wondered how much the hotel would cost. Either way he could stay in a single room for as long as he was in town. That mafia vault was no match for an electricity spell.
Laughing softly he looked at the small card now in his hands. It carried all the money in his account. He had no idea what the account was but he had set it up after he realized he couldn't carry around such as huge sum of money and blood money from the mafia at that. What a beautiful invention.
He remembered the other slip of paper in his bag. It was an ad. He had ripped it, along with the hotel advertisement from a large book attached to a phone in the bar. The bartender was not pleased, ergo the bar fight.
"The Magic Box." Josh said to himself, "Open eight to five." That meant it was closed by now. No one there. He could break in, but that was unnecessary and tiresome. He really needed to get to that hotel if he wanted not to live on the streets that night. He could find a crypt for the night but he was no vampire.
He'd meet the Slayer eventually. He could do the locater spell, he had done it before, but unlike all other spells he could do, he actually needed the ingredients.
Yawning once again he saw the lights that surrounded the welcome sign on the side of the highway. He was close.
He had never had a body before this one, but for a humanoid it was nice. His black coat concealed a deceptively lean and muscular form. Despite all the junk he ate, his immortality and demonic side kept him lean and close to the point of fatless for survival and combat purposes. So much so that he had to cover himself in clothing so he didn't get cold at night or when it rained. Winter was a bitch all right, that's why he moved to California in the first place.
Josh was what women called handsome. His wavy black hair glistened oddly in most lights as it bounced lightly against his face. It's shoulder length helped shield his face and ears from cold, as well as the back of his neck. The hair colour nearly appeared again above his eyes in the form of a dark brown. His eyelashes were long, as long as most women had them he found.
His prominent cheekbones and chin were lightly concealed by a small amount of stubble that covered his chin and cheeks. His neck had no fat on it and his vocal chords and "Adams apple" were prominently shown.
It was weird though, his parents had never thought about the fact that he was Caucasian and both of them were of African descent. He wasn't pale, like a vampire. He could go out in the sun, which made the traveling a lot easier and he had grown a tan many women he met envied.
Josh switched his pack onto the other shoulder slowly and began rubbing his shoulder that had held the bag for the better part of the day, leaving an imprint in his skin. He sighed softly as he finally reached the first real street of Sunnydale. Migigor Road, that was what he was looking for, the ad said it was off of the highway that ran through the town but didn't say how far along it was.
He shook his head in improvement as he found it to be the third street on the left. It was on the corner.
It wasn't bad for a hotel. A pool, bar, small restaurant and nearly three hundred rooms spanning six floors. Josh had fixed his mind on one of the more expensive single suites on the sixth floor shown in the advertisement. Josh found it was still open. Wriggling his arm Josh moved his sleeve upwards and stared at his watch for a few moments. The hands, first of all Josh wondered why they were called hands. They didn't even remotely look like hands, more like thin pieces of metal. Either way they produced a number closer to ten-thirty than it was to ten thirty-five.
Josh reached the front doors and was about to open them when they magically moved aside for him. Smiling he entered the lobby. He whistled enthusiastically as he twirled around, looking at the almost Victorian styled lobby. Lot's of gold, overly ornate lamps and tables. Even a few couches placed around a gas-operated fireplace.
He looked at one of the clerks at the counter that encompassed much of the left wall. A young woman, nicely shaped from what he could tell, but her work dress did little to emphasize her body. Her blonde hair was tied back and the ponytail came through a space at the back of the hat she wore, the hat having a logo of a bear near a stream. The same as on the advertisement; must be the company's mascot or something.
Josh walked over to her, strutted was more like it. He had seen many demons and species in his time but none had such ripe looking, ravishing females as the human race. "Hello." Josh said confidently. His voice was pleasant enough. He didn't mumble or talk too slow and it wasn't so low that it was raspy and dark but it wasn't like he sounded like a boy.
Blushing only slightly the girl took him in for a moment. Josh thought about her, she couldn't be more than twenty-five, but with her perfume he couldn't discern her age from her scent. Needless to say they were around the same age physically. He didn't understand why humans found it odd and at times disgusting when a much older person romantically partnered themselves with another who was much younger. It happened during the Middle Ages and a little later and much more before.
Most demon races didn't care, but then again they became mature very quickly and most lived longer than humans if they weren't outright immortal. It was more blood than anything for demons. That and race. No vampire woman, and few period, liked waking up beside a slug monster and few "pure" demons would allow themselves to be seen with one of human blood, like a vampire.
"Hi. How can I help you?" The girl said cheerily. Josh knew better, she was tired from the day's work. He could hear it in her voice.
Josh smiled as nicely as he could, but in his current dress one could mistake it for an evil sneer, "I'd like one of the single suites please." Josh said calmly. He hated the word please. It meant that he wanted something given to him. It was polite. Annoying thing, having to be polite. For millennia he took what he want when he wanted it and when he couldn't he used his now nearly non-existent mind control powers to make others do what he wanted.
She quickly inputted a few of the words on the computer and turned back up to him. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment. "Um, all of single suites are taken."
Josh sighed and leaned over the counter, "That's terribly inconvenient. Are there any other vacancies in the suite section?" He said calmly. Inside he seethed.
The young woman quickly put a few more words into the computer and again stared into his eyes as she spoke, "There is one suite open. But it's the family suite and has three beds and seven rooms, including a complete kitchen and private Jacuzzi room."
Josh sighed and looked as sad as possible, "I see. I was hoping to get a suite for myself tonight. How much does this family suite cost?"
She quickly inputted even more into the computer, "Seven hundred and sixty-nine dollars a night."
Josh looked struck by the numbers. He could afford them easily but for a single man that arrived without any mode of transportation to have that much money would seem odd. "So what do you suggest I do?" He said, flicking his hair out of his face.
"There are several vacancies but if you're looking for something close to the caliber of a suite, then I suggest you come home with me." She said. She looked at him, dumbstruck by her own words and covered her mouth, "I'm so sorry. That just came out."
John stood back a little and held up his hands, "No harm. I'm flattered. In fact, might I actually take you up on that offer?"
The girl blushed profusely, "Oh. Well my roommate is off in New York visiting her family for most of the Summer. I guess you could if you wanted to wait another couple minutes until my shift ends."
Josh smiled warmly, "I thank you for you're hospitality…"
"Oh Jennifer. See the nametag." She said, pointing to the small piece of metal with her name engraved on it, along with "In Training" underneath it. Josh smiled again and turned his body so he could lean against the counter in another way.
Sighing he said, "I'll be over there." And pointed towards the fireplace. He could feel her smile and he smiled himself. In town only a few minutes and Josh had already made a friend. Besides that he heard this Slayer had friends and they researched things for her. If he came in they would probably check for his name, if they found it, in hotel databases and such things. It was better this way.
He had neglected to think on that until now. A Slayer with allies other than her watcher was nearly unheard of. Only a few had companions and fewer still had friends. He had no information on any of her friends aside from one being a somewhat tame vampire. In fact all he had was her picture and name and they were almost a year old.
Buffy Summers. Odd name for an odd girl. Well young woman really, being in her twenties or so. She was a pretty little thing too. Had he not come here to retrieve his essence he could have been a friend of hers, perhaps end in a relationship. He knew she was activated when she was around fifteen, making her one of the longest living Slayers in recorded history. He knew that for certain, seeing as he actually helped in the writing of those records for a time while he infiltrated the Watchers.
His inner thoughts passed the time until Jennifer, now affectionately called Jen in his mind came out from behind the counter with a remote control. Using it Josh saw her turn off the gas fire as well as all but a few lights. She smiled, "The janitor's will get the rest."
Josh swept himself off of the couch and walked over to her, "I apologize but I never properly introduced myself. My name is Joshua." He said, raising his hand in what he knew humans called a handshake. A sign of greeting and respect. She took his hand and he lightly squeezed. He turned his body and bowed to her, caressing the back of her hand with his lips.
She giggled. Something Josh knew only girls did. It was odd to have that belief tested by this young woman but no matter, he had a place to stay. She probably owned real food. Much better than those fries and hamburgers he usually bought. In fact, they could eat together and talk.
Motioning her to take the lead Josh followed her outside to her car. It was a small little convertible. Many people in California owned one of those, usually they were black or red, but this one was a lighter blue. He smiled at least he wasn't walking.
He felt the car rumble from the passenger seat. Leaning back he soon felt the wind take his hair and fling it back behind him finally showing the rest of his face that was before covered by hair. He smiled, thanks to his immortality his face remained unblemished by the scars of battle he had achieved years before.
Jen looked at Josh as much as the road allowed her eyes to waver. She had never seen some one so handsome, especially not in Sunnydale. Sunnydale was for retired folk moving out of the big cities or young people going to the college. She smiled as she saw him smile. He had a quality to him, charisma she thought it was. "So what are you here for? Business or Pleasure?" She softly yelled as to get over the noise of the wind.
He smiled, or more like snickered, she wasn't sure, "I'm here to see family."
"Hmm. So whose you're family?"
Josh's exterior cracked for a second, "I'm sorry what was that?"
"You're family. Who are they? I might know them."
Josh smiled warmly to her, "The Summer's family."
"You mean like Buffy Summers? You two don't look alike."
Josh's mind immediately began racing, hoping Jen wasn't one of those allies he was told about. "Yeah, we're cousins. I take after my mother's side." Josh said almost crying. He hated lying; it wasn't like him. Sure he would dance around the truth when necessary but with his new conscience he didn't like outright lies.
"I go to college with her. Or at least she used to. She stopped coming awhile ago." Jen said, turning the wheel and reversing the process as she straightened out on the new road.
Suddenly she swerved and stopped, "Home sweet home." She said reluctantly as she looked up to one of the floors in the apartment building.
Josh ignored her distaste at her own home and smiled eagerly, "Come on then." He said as he rushed out and around the car, opening her door for her. "I'm starved. If I can oppose that to you."
Jen got out of her car and yawned, "Sure, have it all if you want. Oh excuse me. I'll just let us in. Eight hour shifts just wipe me out."
Josh waited eagerly as she turned the key that opened the front of the apartment building. The two rushed up the stairs like children, not even thinking of taking the elevator. Jen immediately stopped trying to catch up as she saw she was no match for the much faster Josh. Smiling Josh turned as he rounded the bend from the first floor to the second. Rushing back down he grabbed Jen's arm and swept her into his arms.
Using his demonic side Josh barely felt Jen's weight as he bounded up three stairs at a time until she told him to stop at the fourth floor. Screeching to a stop Josh opened the door for her and set her down on her feet. She smiled, "Excited to get to my room?"
Josh smiled innocently, "I don't know what you mean." He said. Of course he did though. It was a sex joke. Josh tended to stay away from jokes like that due to his altered personality. Had he been what he was before the Shadow men and corporeal this girl would be dead and her apartment his. But now he loathed killing everything that wasn't a demon, or a Slayer, or humans allied with them. Oddly he felt no guilt towards they're deaths. Almost like he thought they deserved it just for existing.
His mind snapped back to reality as he heard her key turn. He quickly memorized the number on the door. "414." He entered before her as she beckoned him to.
"What is all this?" Josh asked as he surveyed the room. There were skulls, candles, jars with different spell components, hell even some heavy metal band posters littering the walls.
"What can I say? I'm a witch." She said innocently. Josh detected no lie in what she said. "You want to leave don't you? All this usually scares guys off."
Josh held his hands up, mentally creating a barrier spell around him just in case. "Well it wasn't what I expected. But you may be able to help me anyway."
Jen appeared startled for a moment, "I wouldn't expect you to be in need of a witch. And besides, I'm not very good."
Josh smiled, "Don't worry. Do you have what is needed for a locator spell?"
Jen looked around momentarily before shrugging, "Doesn't look like it. Why?"
"No matter. I'll get it tomorrow at The Magic Box. Now please where is you're kitchen?" Josh said.
"The Magic Box? There's a really powerful witch there. She could help you if you really need the help." Jen said pointing towards a small open doorway.
Josh walked slowly over to the doorway and looked through. It was dimly lit but he could make out the features of a fridge and stove. Immediately looking in the fridge Josh saw what looked like leftover pork roast. Smiling to himself he grabbed the plate and began slowly eating, ignoring the coldness. Walking back into the other room Josh asked, "So, how big is this place?"
Jen smiled, finally a guy who stuck around after seeing her apartment," Technically three rooms. Bedrooms over there, its mine so don't come in and you already know about the kitchen and then there's this room."
Josh murmured inaudibly for a moment, "I assume I'll be sleeping on the couch?"
Jen let out a sly smile, "Only if you want."
Josh smiled back and entered the washroom. He looked at himself in the mirror thinking that this form had finally come in handy. He washed his hands and strode back into the living room. Smiling Jen led him into the bedroom.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Tell me what you think. Sorry there's no Buffy this chapter, she'll appear in the next chapter.