It Started In Oxnard - How It All Began

by red-jacobson

In several of my stories, I have Xander and Tara meeting and becoming lovers in Oxnard. This is one version of how that could have happened. Crossover with Highlander and other sources as the story progresses

10. Chapter 10

Series TITLE: It Started In Oxnard
Story TITLE: How It All Began
PART: 10 of ?
AUTHOR: Red Jacobson ( )
DISTRIBUTION: , My Yahoo Group, Archive of Our Own
DISCLAIMER: None of the Characters You Recognize belong to me, they all belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, the Dogma Characters belong to Kevin Smith and his company, and the Highlander Characters belong to whoever owns them (sorry, I looked and couldn't find the information), The Veronica Mars characters belong to Stu Segall Productions.
SUMMARY: In several of my stories, Xander and Tara met in Oxnard and became lovers. This is One Possible Version of How It Happened
FEEDBACK: Of course! It Makes Me Write Faster
CATEGORY: Eventual True Poly Relationship
RELATIONSHIPS: Xander/Tara/Harmony/Cordelia/Drusilla/Jenny C
RATING: NC-17
WORD COUNT: 11,683
SPOILERS: None, goes A/U immediately (i.e. a few minutes) After Graduation.
WARNINGS: If You've ever read any of my stories, you know what to expect, Oral, anal, Femme-slash, dom/sub, and multiple partners.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: I am well aware that Tara appears extremely out of character, but that was because she was affected by the Hellmouth in canon, and her fear of being a demon had kept her from truly worshiping Gaea. The personality you see here is her true personality (In story, anyway – I can't afford to buy the rights to the characters so I can make it canon, damn it!)
TRIGGER WARNING: There are references to a character being raped in this chapter. Please be aware.

The Oxnard Inn
Oxnard, California
Xander's Room
At the end of the prior scene

The figure faded away and Dru was the first to find her voice, "What, the, fuck?" Turning to Xander, she said, "Did Dru say that right, Kitten?"

The rest of them, except Ellen, who was sound asleep, burst out laughing, and Xander pulled her into a hug and said, "That was exactly right, Dru, exactly right."

As the other girls prepared to go back to their rooms, Cordy said, "You know, doofus, I thought that it was living in Sunnydale that made things so weird, but I was wrong. It's you who bring the weird with you, where ever you go!" She laughed, "And it's been a hell of a lot of fun, too!"

Dru snickered, "So Kitten's a 'Weird-mouth' instead of the Hellmouth? I can live with that!"

They were still laughing when the girls left the room. When it was just he and Daria in the room, he turned to her with a smile and said, "Well, it looks like we need to wait until Ellen wakes up to continue things, so, what do you want to do?"

Daria looked at him for a minute, praying to whatever God or Goddess that might listen, that he would understand, and she said, "Can we sit down? There's something I need to tell you about me..., about my past, and it's not a nice story, but you and the others need to know it."

The smile dropped from Xander's face, and he looked at her in concern, "What is it, Daria, are you in some sort of trouble?"

She hesitated, "I might be, but I really don't think so, it happened several years ago." Taking a deep breath, she let it out and said, looking at the floor. "I was raised in an orphanage in Chicago, never knew anything about my parents, there wasn't a note or anything, I was just found in the entryway to a church one morning. I grew up there, and, while it wasn't great, it wasn't Oliver Twist, you know? But, one afternoon when I was 15 years old, I was coming back home from school and I was grabbed."

Xander froze, not even breathing, as he suspected what she was going to say.

"There, there were four of them, and I tried to fight them, but there were too many, they all took turns with me, and I heard them talking about getting rid of the body after they were done. I don't know how, but I managed to get the one who was taking me at the time off my body, and I ran away, I got out of the building and was running through the streets of Chicago stark naked, scared out of my mind and so afraid they were going to come after me."

She was crying at this point, and Xander slowly reached out for her, not sure if she would welcome him touching her, letting her make the decision. Daria looked up, and when she saw him, she moved into his lap, letting his arms wrap around her, and she snuggled against him, letting him comfort her. When she stopped crying, she continued, her eyes staring at nothing,

"I don't know how long I ran, but, eventually a police car pulled up, and they got me wrapped in a blanket. I tried to tell them what had happened, and where I thought the building was, but I think I was in shock. One of the officers in the car was a woman, and she got me a cup of coffee to warm me up, while her partner called in on his radio. I realized that they were sending a car to look for the men, and I managed to tell them that a couple of them had guns. The officer nodded, and gave them that information."

"They were all gone by the time the police got there, but they found my clothes and my book bag. The clothes were destroyed of course, when they ripped them off of me, but, I didn't care about the books anymore, they belonged to somebody else, I wasn't her, not after what they did to me."

She smiled bitterly, "They never did find the men, and I think the officers who found me did try, but I was just another statistic, a poor black girl gets herself raped, so what? I started carrying a knife with me, no matter where I went, I wasn't going to let them hurt me again, you know?"

Xander just rubbed her back, murmuring softly, reassuringly in her ear.

"I thought I was doing okay, you know, I had my knife, and I could pretend that I was still the same girl, even if I wasn't. But, a few weeks later, I saw one of the men again, he tried to grab me and pull me into an alleyway. I froze, I couldn't believe it was happening again, but just as he had me against the wall, and was reaching for the gun at his belt, I remembered my knife, and pulled it... I stabbed him, over and over again, until he was dead. I made sure he was dead because I pulled down his pants and cut his shriveled little dick off and shoved it in his mouth!"

Xander just held her tighter, holding as she shook in his arms, remembering, eventually, she was able to talk again. "I didn't know what to do, I ran, he had a bunch of money in his pockets and I took it, buying a bus ticket to anywhere. I managed to clean myself up at the bus station, and, when I got to a stop in Indiana I threw the knife in the gutter. I changed my name, started calling myself Veronica Rawlins, and got lucky enough to find a girl who helped me get some new ID. It wasn't cheap, but it showed that I was 18, and I started working my way across the country."

She shook her head, "It was a bad couple of years, I did whatever I had to to survive, stealing, hooking, whatever, I was just lucky enough that I didn't get into drugs, because it would have been too easy to let it just go away. I managed to survive doing that for almost three years, until I drifted up to Washington state. That's where I got picked up in a club by Fran. Fran was the one who helped me, she got me off the streets, fed me, helped me get legal identification. So what if I had to pay her back in bed? I enjoyed it and she did too!"

Xander didn't say anything, just let her talk, he could tell that she hadn't let anybody know this, before, and wanted to let her finish. One thing he was sure of, he didn't blame her for killing that asshole, he probably would have done worse to him if he'd been there!

"I stayed with Fran for almost a year, she was the one who taught me how to dance, and helped me get my first job at a club up in Seattle. To be honest, I was amazed at how much I enjoyed dancing, and knowing the power I had over the men who wanted me, but couldn't touch me unless I let them! I started letting a few of the men and women take me home at the end of the night. I liked the sex, but none of them, even the ones who wanted more, ever got close to me. It wasn't a great life, but I was getting by.

"Then I got the job here at Susie's, and met Tara, and, even though I didn't want to, I started to care for her, and I was really worried about her when she was drawn to you so quickly. She'd never had any kind of reaction like that, to men or women, and I didn't want to see her get hurt. But you, you actually turned out to be just who you seemed to be!

"I couldn't handle it, I knew that I wanted to have sex with you, but that was just so I could show Tara that you were a man like any other, but now, damn it, now I'm wrapped up in all this craziness, and the only thing that I have to cling to is the fact that all of you love me, and, god or goddess help me, I'm falling in love with all of you, and I'm afraid that I'm going to lose you all, and be alone again, and I don't think I could handle that!"

Her voice turned to sobs as she was talking, and tears were pouring down her face, her nose was running with all the emotion that she had kept locked up for so long! All through it, Xander's arms held her, rocking her in his lap, helping her to calm down, and, when at last she fell quiet, he placed a kiss on the top of her head, and grabbed some tissues so she could wipe her eyes and nose clean.

When Xander spoke, his voice was soft, "We do love you, Daria, you're a part of our family, and we don't turn our back on family no matter what! I can't even begin to understand how hard it was, what you went through, but I will say that I would have probably done even worse to that bastard if I'd been there. And I want to thank you, for trusting me enough to tell me.

"It's up to you if you tell the others, but I think that they will understand even more than I do, and it might help make all of you closer. I don't think that Dru will mind me telling you this, but, she was a virgin when she was killed, and that monster Angelus took delight in raping her, over and over, twisting her into a monster that even the other monsters feared. She's not like that anymore of course, but if any of them could understand what you went through, I think it would be her."

Daria nodded, finally feeling calm again. "Yeah, she would, wouldn't she." Lifting her face, she kissed him softly, and said, "Thank you for understanding. I feel a little better now. Can we go to bed though? I feel worn out from that, and think that sleeping between you and Ellen will help me."

He didn't say a word, just smiled and stood, carrying her to the bed and laying down with her, holding the shaken girl as she fell asleep.

The Dreamland's
Time Immaterial

Daria smiled happily as she felt the grass under her bare feet. She was well aware that she was dreaming, but didn't care. She still felt more relaxed than she had in years, and the sun on her face, and the smell of the leaves in the breeze just carried her cares away. Looking further up ahead, she saw a natural pond, and the woman she assumed was Gaea was soaking in it, and even from a distance Daria could see her welcoming smile.

There was another woman standing by the pond that Daria didn't recognize, she looked fairly young, dressed in a fancy dress and long dark hair hanging in loose curls around her face. The woman looked at her kindly, but didn't open her mouth. As Daria got closer, the woman gestured for her to get into the pond, and when she did, the woman put her hands on Daria's shoulders, pushing her under the water for a second, before letting her up into the air again.

Daria was sputtering, and about to say something, when the woman touched her on the forehead, and smiled, before she faded away.

She looked at Gaea, who was gazing at her in approval, and then relaxed into the water, and closed her eyes, just drifting as her worries were washed away.

Various Locations
New York City, New York
Reno, Nevada
Seacouver, Washington
16 Beverly Circle, Los Angeles, California
Monday, May 31st, 1999
3 am Pacific Daylight Time

The various groups had all received their orders the night before, and had spent the day making preparations for the attacks. Their orders were surprisingly simple. Burst in to each of the locations, kill anybody they found, and set the place on fire.

The vampires were familiar with the work, they had all worked for Winters for decades, if not longer, and these weren't the first buildings they destroyed, and probably wouldn't be the last. They had experts in the various alarm systems, and knew how to disarm any that they were likely to encounter.

In each of the locations, the team leader watched the timer count down, and, when the clock showed 00:00 gave the signal. The alarms were disrupted and the front door to each of the location was kicked open and one of the living team members ran in and invited the others over the threshold and the vampires swarmed in.

They were disappointed to find each of the places empty, but quickly poured the flammable liquids over the available surfaces and ran out the door. When all of the teams were out of the building, the leaders gave the signal, and a flaming bundle of rags was thrown inside, and all of the buildings were soon burning merrily.

The vampires were long gone by then, back at their lairs, and enjoying the reward that their Master had arranged, each team got to enjoy a half dozen young women for the night, or as long as they lasted.

Sunnydale Arms
Wilkins Boulevard
Sunnydale, California
Monday, May 31st, 1999
7:00 am

Jenny was sitting at the table in her room drinking a cup of coffee when her phone rang. Seeing that it was Adam's number, she picked it up and answered it. "Good Morning, Adam, thanks for calling me back."

The other man's tired voice came through the phone, "No problem Jacqueline, I was in an area that didn't have decent service until late last night, or I would have called you sooner. What do you need?"

"There's a young woman in the hospital here, in a coma, who had lost her path and fell under the influence of darkness. She was a strong fighter against the things like we encountered the other night, and I was hoping that you would be able to take a look and see if you could help her."

Adam paused, but when he answered, the tiredness was replaced by determination, "I'm up in the Capitol right now, if I leave now, I can be there by late this afternoon, I'll have to arrange some things if she's in a hospital. Where are you staying? I've got to make a couple of phone calls and pick up a couple of things, so I'll come to your location when I arrive."

Once he had her location and room number, Adam hung up, and Jenny smiled in relief. If anybody could help this Faith, it would be him. The man knew more about falling into the darkness and finding his way back than anybody else she could think of.

Finishing her cup of coffee, she looked up as Harmony came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body. Standing, she walked over and gave the girl a kiss before grabbing her shower supplies and stepped into the bathroom to get herself cleaned up after the prior nights fun.

She grinned as she brushed her teeth, still amused at how much her life had changed in just a few days. Jenny had never expected to find a family again, especially one that had Xander Harris at the center of it! She had always hidden it, but he, and Cordelia actually, had starred in more than a few of her fantasies before Angelus had killed her the first time.

After that, she tried to put anything about Sunnydale behind her, so she could go about her life. That was turning out to be a mistake, she was actually happier now than she had been ever since waking up in that damnable morgue with Duncan staring at her.

Of course, she was aware it wouldn't last, they would age and die, but, she wasn't going to worry about that, with the life that Xander lives, and the way the others had gotten sucked into it, the odds were against any of them dying in bed anyway, so why not grab life by the balls and enjoy it while they could?

What was it that Neil Young sang about, oh yeah, "It's better to burn out, than to fade away," well she couldn't see any member of her family just fading away. It wasn't in their nature, even shy Tara had a flame in her that would set the world ablaze in the right circumstances!

She wondered if Tara, or Dru for that matter, really understood everything that Gaea represented? They talked about the motherly, nurturing side of her nature, but what about the storms and the earthquakes, and other parts of nature? Did they really comprehend the destructive power they could tap into if she allowed them to?

Jenny decided that she would have to sit down with the two of them and talk about it, it would be far too easy for them to tap into the destructive side without even realizing it. She also should check and see if Dru had any magical ability, because those who were gifted with visions often had a spark of magic in them, to allow their bodies to handle the visions.

Thinking about it, the way that spells reacted around Xander made her wonder, was it the Hellmouth that was causing the reaction, or something inside him? Best to check while he was away from Sunnydale, don't want to draw more attention to themselves than they have to.

Checking that the shower water was comfortable, Jenny stripped out of her robe and stepped into the water, washing the sweat off her body, although, knowing Harmony, they would certainly be getting sweaty again before the day was out. That girl was insatiable!

Los Angeles County Jail
Los Angeles, California
8:00 am, Monday, May 31st, 1999

Curtis March looked up in annoyance when the feet stopped outside his cell. 'Was that useless cunt coming back to irritate him again?' he wondered, but then he realized it was a man he didn't recognize, but the briefcase and thousand dollar suit marked him as a lawyer. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to be polite he got up off the cot and walked toward the door of the cell. "Yeah?"

"Good Morning, Mister March. My name is Lindsay McDonald, and I'm with Wolfram and Hart and I've been hired to represent you against the current charges."

In spite of himself, March was impressed, he'd heard of Wolfram and Hart, they had a serious reputation in a lot of different places. He stood up straighter and said, "Thank you, I wasn't aware that anybody I knew had the money to hire your firm, but I'm certainly grateful that somebody did."

The lawyer smiled slightly, "Yes, we certainly are not one of the charity firms. But we do earn our fees. To start with, I was able to speak to the judge who refused you bond, and got him to reverse that decision, so if you will step back, I'll have the guard unlock your cell, and you can clean up and change before I get you some breakfast."

March grinned, this was looking better and better. Stepping back toward the cot, the lawyer gestured and the guard came up and unlocked the door. March walked to the door, and, accompanied by the lawyer, went to pick up his personal belongings. Stopping for a quick shower and shave, the now dressed March joined the lawyer as the walked out of the jail, free on bond.

Once they were outside, Lindsay said, "Let's get some breakfast and we can talk about your defense."

Leading him to the car that had a driver waiting, the two of them were seated in the back. When they were on the road, Lindsay raised the privacy screen between the driver and themselves and said, "To start with, Mister March, it wasn't any of your friends who arranged to hire me. I suggested to Russell Winters that it might be helpful to take your case."

March was confused, "Why would a guy like Winters give a damn about what happens to me? For that matter, why would you?"

Lindsay smiled slightly, "Actually, we don't, either of us. However, Mister Winters is extremely interested in a couple of gentlemen by the name of Connor MacLeod and Richie Ryan, and felt that you might be interested in getting some payback on the two of them."

March's grin had more than a touch of the wolf as he said, "Okay, Mister McDonald, you've got my full and complete attention. What do you have in mind?"

Residence Inn, Oxnard
Oxnard, California
8:30 am, Monday, May 31st, 1999

Yvette was laying in bed, relaxing after the early morning wake-up that she and Richie had enjoyed, when she decided it was time to come clean with him.

Sitting up in bed, she said, "Richie? I have something that I need to tell you."

He looked over at her, a half smile on his face, "Hmmn? What's that, lover?"

"First off, my running into you at the club, or what we've been doing the last few days has nothing to do with my assignment, don't worry about that. But, I know you are aware of the Watchers, aren't you?"

Richie sat up in bed, staring at her, "Whose? You're not mine or Connors', are you?"

She shook her head, "No, not at all, I've been assigned to that bastard March, which is why I was able to leave Los Angeles for a few days, since he's going to be locked up the whole time. It was just happenstance that I recognized you and Connor. I'll admit, once I did recognize you, I pointed the two of him, hoping that one of you would take the murderous bastards head!"

She smirked, "Not very professional, is it? But I hated that, that 'swine!' from the first time I saw him. After the problem with Horton and the others, I wasn't about to try and kill him myself, that would have caused all of you to start hunting us down, but, if one of you happened to take his head, I wasn't going to shed any tears."

He looked at her seriously, "Any other secrets you'd like to share? Anything else I should know?"

Yvette shook her head, "No, nothing else that has anything to do with you or any other immortal."

Richie nodded, "What about Colleen, does she know?"

Yvette said, "As far as I can tell, she doesn't, she's basically who she seems to be, except that Colleen is just her stage name, her real name is Alannah Walsh. And no, Yvette is not a stage name, I can show you my birth certificate if you like?"

Richie shook his head, "Well, you don't have to worry about one thing, March is going to be short his head as soon as Connor or I can arrange it. One of us probably would have challenged him the other night if we weren't in a public place. Neither of us had any use for him, even before seeing him hit Colleen." A slight grin appeared on his face, "As for you, I can accept that you weren't planning on seeing us, since we chose the club purely at random, but, you will need to be punished for keeping it a secret for so long."

Yvette looked at him and, seeing the expression on his face, grinned, "Oh? And what sort of punishment are you thinking of?"

"A spanking, to start with, then I was thinking of stretching you out and plowing that pert ass of yours into the mattress!"

She laughed and kicked the covers away, rolling over and pushing her ass in the air.

Shiflett Realty
Los Angeles, California
9:00 am, Monday May 31st, 1999

Kendall sat at her desk, reviewing her appointments for the day, and smiled. There had been several requests for her services from different men who had noticed her with Russell at his party. She wondered how many of them realized just who and what Russell Winters was, and if they would be so eager to be seen in his company if they knew he was a vampire?

She didn't think that Russell had realized she was aware, but, like she told him, she was a professional, and she didn't do anything without all the information necessary. He had hidden his tracks extremely well, but, once you knew, the clues were there to be found. The bodies drained of blood that showed up within a few blocks of his businesses? The thugs who disappeared, but then were seen later, changed dramatically from what they had been before? The fact that Russell Winters had just appeared, as if from nowhere 30 years ago, supposedly around 40 years old, but still looks like he's in his early 40's when he's seen in public?

Yes, there were several things that pointed out what he was, but most interesting was a painting she had seen, of a nobleman in pre-revolution Paris, a Comte De Winter, who supposedly disappeared after visiting a brothel. The suspicion was that he had been killed and his body thrown in the sewers, but Kendall suspected something very different had happened.

Kendall had known that it was dangerous approaching him, but, she needed the cash, and was willing to risk the danger to get to her mark. Of course, she didn't go in without defenses, the tiny crosses she had implanted in her fingernails were just her last resort, she had several bottles of perfume in her purse, and one of them was filled with holy water she had taken from a church before going to Ceilo Drive.

It was a bit of an unpleasant surprise that he had figured her out as quickly as he had, but, it had worked out. She hadn't been lying, she had absolutely no intention of doing anything to get him angry with her, and stealing from him was a very good way of doing that!

Besides, she enjoyed what he had her doing, seducing that silly cow Anne was pure pleasure! The girl tried to play the reluctant virgin, but once Kendall had her naked, and the girls' face at her pussy, it was obvious that the virgin wasn't much of one, either that or she was just naturally talented at pleasing a woman!

She had even enjoyed the gasps of shock when she stripped to her skin at that lawyers house. His trophy wife was still young enough to be attractive, and she certainly didn't object when Kendall had pulled her panties down! And Holland was actually nicely hung, and she enjoyed having him in her mouth, although it was funny how he tried to maintain his composure while taking a phone call from the Mayor!

The looks of disappointment on the other guests faces when she put her dress back on still made her smile smugly. She realized instantly what he was doing by making the comment about them not inviting him to their homes, she wondered how many of them would wind up disappearing?

The phone rang, pulling her from her memories, and she glanced at it. Not recognizing the number, she picked up, "Shiflett Realty, Kendall Shiflett speaking, how may I help you?"

A cultured woman's voice came over the line, "Yes Miss Shiflett, my name is Rebecca Lawrence, and I'm calling from Richard Casablancas' office, and I'd like to congratulate you on qualification for the Diamond Retreat scheduled for the first week of July. Do you have a moment to confirm your details?"

With a wide smile Kendall said, "Absolutely, Miss Lawrence, what would you like to know?"

Denny's
Route 66,
Oxnard, California
11:30 am, Monday, May 31st, 1999

It had been a very busy morning already. Ellen had woken up, fairly bemused with what she had learned, but insistent on finishing what the three of them had started the night before. Daria was happy to go along with that, if only to push back the memories that her confession to Xander had brought on, and Xander was more than happy to oblige both of them.

Ellen started things off, with kneeling in front of him, saying she was so out of her mind the night before that she didn't really get to enjoy what she was doing, and wanted to correct that! Of course Daria had to show off that she was learning to deep throat, which meant that Ellen was going to talk to Susie to learn it as well. She said that she wasn't going to be the only girl in the family that didn't know how!

The competition between the two of them was driving Xander out of his mind, and he ended up flooding Daria's mouth before he could even try to warn them. The girls took it in stride, and were soon kissing passionately, sharing what he had given them.

The kissing turned to a full blown make out session between the girls, and when they ended up on the bed in a 69, Ellen took her mouth away from Daria's pussy long enough to tell Xander to fuck her pussy, she'd waited long enough! Daria chuckled, but Ellen's tongue prevented her from saying anything, and once Xander buried himself into Ellen, she wasn't saying much that was coherent either!

By the time the three of them were sated, the other women were pounding on his door, saying that they were hungry and he needed to hurry up. When Xander struggled off the bed and to the door, the four women took one look at him and started laughing, before telling them to go and get a shower.

Daria had muttered, 'better get it over with' and asked Xander if he could take his shower and let her talk to the rest of the family. Xander realized what she was asking, and kissed her softly and went into the bathroom.

Daria said, "Xander already knows what I'm going to tell you, I talked to him last night. I've been keeping it from you, but, now that we are part of the same family, strange as it is, you deserve to know. You see, I grew up in Chicago, in an orphanage, and, one afternoon when I was fifteen..."

By the time she finished, all the other women were in tears, and had her wrapping in their arms. Dru had been the first to move, and, Xander was right, Dru absolutely understood what she was going through, and did her best to comfort her. Daria relaxed in the comfort and support that her sisters were giving her, and, when Xander came out of the shower, she jumped up and hugged him, before heading into the shower.

By the time that Ellen finished her shower, they were all ravenous, and piled into Jenny's jeep and Susie's car to get some breakfast. By unspoken consensus, they spoke of anything but Daria's confession to them,

Xander had been a bit surprised when he glanced over at another table and saw Connor and Richie sitting there with the redhead and the black haired girl from the police station. The two of them had looked over at their table and smiled when they saw him and the others. Susie looked at the two girls speculatively, and excused herself to walk over to the other table.

When she got to the table, Susie said, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I speak to the two ladies for a moment?"

Colleen smiled and said, "Sure Susie, have a seat. I didn't know you were still working."

Susie grinned, "Hey Colleen, I was pretty sure it was you, but, no, I'm not still dancing, except for special occasions. I actually have my own club here in town. Do these gentlemen know?"

Colleen laughed, "You could say that, we met at the Spearmint Rhino the other night, and Connor and Richie beat the crap out of my ex-boyfriend when he slapped me and then pulled a knife on me! That's how Yvette and I ended up getting together with them."

Susie looked at the two men approvingly, "Good job, always hate to see a guy think he can use his fists on a girl. Anyway, my name is Susan Walsh, but everybody calls me Susie, and I own a mixed strip bar here in town. I thought I recognized Colleen from when we danced together a couple of years ago, and wanted to say hello."

Connor smiled at her in a friendly manner, and said, "So how do you know Xander, Cordy and the other's lass? We know them through a mutual friend, Jenny, who introduced us the other night."

Susie laughed, "Well, Xander, Tara, and two of the other girls are dancers at my club, and Cordy is helping out serving drinks while they are in town. Jenny and Harmony are up in Sunnydale for a few days, getting Harmony packed up for school."

Colleen grinned, "So, Susie, did you just come over to say hello, or are you recruiting? Because I'd love to see these guys in posing pouch!"

Connor gave a rumbling laugh, while Richie grinned and shrugged, "Hey, wouldn't be the strangest thing I've ever done to make a few bucks."

Yvette raised an eyebrow, "Do tell? Is this the story that ended up with you wearing a cowboy hat and a g-string riding a bronco at the Fort Worth Rodeo?"

The table exploded in laughter, and Richie grinned, "Actually no, that was another time, although Adam was involved both times. This time Adam, Duncan, Connors' cousin, and I ended up in this little town in Illinois, Arcadia if I remember correctly, and Duncan challenged this huge bear of a guy to a wrestling match, and one thing led to another, and there ended up being bets involved, and well, I'll admit we were all more than a little drunk at the time, and as a result, I ended up having to ice skate naked down the main street of the town at noon the next day!"

Connor roared with laughter, "Is that what happened? Duncan never would tell me how he ended up with that tattoo on his butt, and Adam just grinned whenever I asked him!"

The whole restaurant was looking at them, so they lowered their voices, still laughing, until Susie, wiping her eyes, said. "Actually, if any of you want to come in tonight and take a turn on the stage, you'd be welcome. Even if you are here just for a break, it never hurts to have a few bucks in your pocket while you are here."

Colleen glanced at Yvette, who shrugged, and said, "We might take you up on that, don't want to get out of shape after all.

Susie smiled and said, "Great! If you decide to come in, we open at 4:30, so come in by 3:30 so we can find costumes for you, and Connor and Richie can audition."

Connor was shaking his head, but Richie just grinned, "Come on, old man, where's your sense of adventure?"

With a glare, Connor said, "I'll remind you, Richie, that it was your sense of adventure that ended up with us in jail the other night? Granted, what happened after we got out was fantastic, but I'd like to avoid getting arrested again for a least a couple of months!"

When the others laughed, Susie looked interested, "Now this is a story I'd like to hear!"

With a grimace, Connor said, "Well it all started because this idiot decided he wanted to hit the strip clubs in Los Angeles the other night..."

Oxnard Inn
Oxnard, California
Xander's Room
12:30 pm Monday, May 31st, 1999

Xander looked around the room, feeling a bit strange that he was alone for the first time in over a week, and realized that he didn't much care for the feeling. He understood though, the girls were continuing to comfort Daria, and he wouldn't be able to help. He had a feeling that Anya would approve of the girl's conversation, as they would be describing exactly what they would like to do to the remaining bastards that hurt Daria.

Shaking his head, he really didn't want to know, that much he was sure of. Deciding to take care of at least one item on his to do list from the day before, he grabbed his wallet and found the number for Shamar and Corey Construction. Picking up his phone, he dialed, and when the receptionist picked up, he identified himself and asked to speak to Jess Corey.

"Jess Corey," the man's voice came through clearly.

"Hi Mister Corey, this is Xander, Alexander, Harris. Sorry to bother you, but I'm hoping you can give me some suggestions."

The man chuckled, "Okay, what sort of suggestions? If you're looking for stock tips, I'm afraid you're out of luck."

Xander chuckled, "Sorry, that was not the best was to phrase it, no, what's going on is that I've decided to move to Las Vegas, and I remember you mentioning that you had a fairly busy office there, and wanted to know how I could transfer from your office to Las Vegas?"

"Oh, that's not difficult at all, but are you looking to go full time now that you are out of high school, or stay part time?" The man paused, "By the way, I happened to be in the crowd on Sunday, and saw how you had those kids organized. Damn fine job!"

Xander's jaw dropped, "You, you knew? About Sunnydale, I mean?"

"Of course I did, Xander, several of us do, and if it wasn't for the fact that I left part of my leg in Iraq I'd have been out there helping you. As it is, about all I could do was turn a blind eye to the lumber that would occasionally go missing when you needed to make more stakes, and discretely not mention when you had to leave work early at times. Are you going to be involved in the same sort of thing in Las Vegas?"

Xander was stunned, but managed to say, "I'm not planning on it, but if I see it happening, I'm not going to stand aside. Just because I'm leaving Sunnydale doesn't mean that I'm going to stop helping people. Oh, and I was hoping to go full time, try and move up the ladder, I've got some responsibilities that I didn't expect."

There was reproach in the man's voice, "Xander, have you gotten some girl pregnant?"

Xander laughed, "No, not even close, but I can see why you would ask that. No, we've been very careful every time. No, it's that my ex and I have gotten back together, and we are going to be getting a place in Las Vegas while she takes classes as UNLV and I needed the job so I can support us."

"Oh, okay, that's different. I was about to be rather disappointed in you Xander, I was sure you had more sense than that. I'm glad you were being sensible about it. Anyway, give me a number that I can reach you at, and I'll make a couple of calls to the Las Vegas office and see where they need people the most. When are you looking to be there?"

"Probably around the last half of August, we're doing some post graduation traveling, to see more of the country than just California. Of course, Cordy has seen a lot of the resort areas, so we're going to be doing different things."

"Cordy? Cordelia Chase? Damn, I'd forgotten you were dating her!" He paused, "You know, I was a friendly acquaintance of Randall and Margaret, and something about that tax thing doesn't seem right. The IRS doesn't usually work that way, there's a lot of court proceedings that they have to go through to even attach somebody's paycheck, let alone what they did to Randall. I've had to fight them a few times over the years, and it sounds like somebody was pulling some strings to get him out of the way."

Xander blinked in surprise, "Huh! Hadn't thought about that. Something to look into when we can, but I don't know what we can do, even if it's true, but it doesn't mean we can't try."

Corey snorted, "Tilting at Windmills, Xander? There are worse ways to spend you time, I guess. But, at the risk of sounding like Hal Holbrook, if I were you, I'd try to follow the money, find out who would benefit most if Chase Investments went under."

Xander had no idea what the man was talking about with the Hal Holbrook reference, but said, "Okay, thanks, I think. But, you asked for my number, it's 805..."

After a few more minutes of conversation, some of which left Xander even more confused than ever, the call ended. "Crap! I've got to talk to Cordy about this, she knows more about her father's business than I do."

Pulling out the 'to do' list, he checked off the Shamar and Corey task, and took a look at the next item, finding out more information on the filmmaker project. "Damn, that's going to have to wait until I can get somewhere that I can get on the internet!" He paused, looking at the time, "Okay, it's just 1 o'clock, I don't have to be at Susie's until four, that gives me a couple of hours. Now, where is the local library?"

Checking the phone book, he found the number for the library and called them, making sure they were open and had computers available, he got directions and left the room. Stopping at Daria's room, he could hear the girls laughing, so he knocked on the door.

When Cordy opened it, he gave her a smile and said, "Just wanted to let you know that I'm heading to library to find some more information on the Filmmaker Project. I should be back within a couple of hours."

Cordy nodded, "Sounds good, we've gotten the rough part out of the way, now we're just getting to know each other. See you when you get back."

Summers Gallery
Carpinteria Highway
Sunnydale, California
1:00 pm Monday, May 31st, 1999

Joyce Summers was talking to a customer when the front door of the Gallery opened. She looked over to greet the new customer with a smile, and saw that it was Paige McGuire, she and Rupert's occasional lover. She called out that she would be with her soon, and turned back to the customer in front of her.

Finalizing the sale and arranging delivery of the painting to the customer's office, she turned to greet the young woman. On closer inspection, she saw that there were lines around the girl's eyes, and her hands were wringing nervously. 'Uh oh, this doesn't look good,' Joyce thought, as she walked over.

"Are you okay, Paige? You look like something's bothering you. Do you need to talk?" Joyce asked in concern. Paige smiled weakly, and nodded, "Yeah, something really strange happened last night, and I need to talk to somebody about it."

Joyce relaxed slightly, whatever it is that is bothering her lover, it didn't seem to be about their relationship. "No problem, let me get my assistant to cover the front, and we can go into my office and talk, okay?"

A few minute later, the two of them were sitting in Joyce's office with the door closed. After making them each a cup of coffee, Joyce said, "So what's happening, sweetie? What's got you so upset?"

Paige took a sip of her coffee and started, "Well, I was studying in the library on campus, trying to do some research for a paper I'm working on, and lost track of time. I'd meant to leave before it got dark, but I was following an interesting thought and, well, it was almost nine o'clock when I noticed the time. I was annoyed at myself because I'd decided to walk to the library and not drive, since it was such a nice day. So I gathered up my books and headed out toward my apartment. I was nearly there, walking down a stretch of road a few blocks off campus when out of nowhere I got jumped!"

Joyce gasped, and pulled the girl into a hug, "Are you okay? Did you manage to get away?"

Paige nodded, shakily, "Yeah, I'm okay now, but, when I managed to twist around to get a look at who had jumped me, it was some kind of a monster! It looked like a man, but his face was all deformed, he had these ridges on his forehead, and there was something wrong with his mouth! I started to scream, but the thing suddenly started shaking, and I was able to break his grip and started to run. When I got away, I looked back, to see if it was following me, but there were a bunch of guys in these military looking uniforms shooting tasers at it, before a van came up to them and they threw the thing into the back!"

Joyce looked at her curiously, "Military units in Sunnydale? That's odd!"

Paige looked at her incredulously, "You're worried about the military units? What about that thing that jumped me, what the hell was that?"

"That was a vampire sweetie, they're all over Sunnydale," Joyce said, absently, before she blinked and realized what she had just said. Taking Paige's hand, she said, "I'm sorry, I should have phrased that better, but, yes, vampires exist, I found out about them at the end of last year. I was shocked, needless to say, but I guess I've gotten used to the idea by now."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Honestly, would you have believed me? It took me seeing one of them dusted to really accept the idea, and I'm afraid I didn't handle it all that well, I'm afraid." Joyce said, shaking her head. "I was more shocked about the military being in Sunnydale, because they aren't supposed to be operating like that, it's against the law. And capturing a vampire? That's insane, you dust those things, you don't capture them!"

Paige shook her head, "Vampires? That's insane! But, it does make sense, all these reports of 'bar-b-que fork' accidents, or wild animal attacks, those are vampires aren't they?"

Joyce nodded, sadly, "Most of them, believe it or not, and I didn't want to believe it myself, there are worse things than vampires out there."

The younger woman just closed her eyes, "I don't want to know, do I?"

"No, you really don't, I'm sorry, sweetie."

"Okay, how do I protect myself? There's got to be ways to protect yourself, aren't there? Otherwise you'd have to be insane to stay here!"

Joyce actually smiled, "Yes, there are several ways to protect yourself. First, be indoors, preferably at home when the sun goes down. Second, never, never, I don't care who it is, invite anybody into your home, just open the door and stand aside, if they can come in, they aren't vampires. If they can't come in, you don't want them inside, trust me!"

Paige nodded, "I can see that! I certainly wouldn't have invited that thing in for a drink!" She laughed slightly, "That's what he was after, wasn't he? A drink?" The laughter was slightly hysterical, and Joyce just held the girl again, letting her calm down. "What about if I'm outside, like last night?"

"Your best protection is to travel with a group of friends, or, if you can't do that, and if you find yourself in a situation where you have to be out after dark by yourself, call Rupert or I, we will come and get you, no matter what time of the night it is, okay? Please, promise me you will call?"

Paige said emphatically, "I promise! That thing last night scared the crap out of me, and I don't ever want to see one again!"

Joyce got a slightly pained expression, but nodded. "I would also recommend you start wearing some sort of religious symbol, it doesn't have to be a cross, but a lot of people wear them, it just has to be something that you believe in. The power of faith repels the demon that inhabits the body and will drive it away."

The redhead stared at her, "Joyce, how do you know all this? It can't be common knowledge, can it?"

She shook her head, "No, it's not really common knowledge, but, please understand that some secrets aren't mine to tell, but, Rupert and my daughter and some of her friends have known about these things for several years, and they have been doing what they can to stop them. I'll try to get an okay to tell you more, but, for now, please don't ask, okay? I'm sorry."

Paige looked at her for a minute, before she said, "Okay, I guess I can understand that. But, please, try to get permission, I don't like the idea of secrets between us, and this is a pretty damned big one. Do you have anymore secrets that you can share?"

Joyce thought for a bit, "Nothing that isn't related to the main secret. Everything else is just things that we haven't gotten around to learning about each other yet, nothing we are holding out on."

Paige relaxed slightly, "That's normal, and we'll find these things out as we get to know each other better, with our clothes on anyway," she grinned, "And before you ask, I can't think of any secrets that I have either."

Joyce smiled, "Good to know, so, care to come over for dinner tonight? Rupert won't be there, but I'm sure that the two of us can find something to keep ourselves occupied."

Paige snorted, "Naughty, naughty, Joyce, scheming to get into my panties again, are you?"

Joyce looked at her innocently, "Now why would I do that? Didn't you tell me that you don't wear panties when you come over?"

The two of them stared at each other before starting to laugh.

Allen and Harriet Doyle's Apartment
Los Angeles, California
1:30 pm, Monday May 31st, 1999

Doyle stood there staring at the phone in his hand, an incredulous smile on his face. He had his teaching job back! Granted, it was probationary for the first term, but still! He'd been skeptical when he ended up back in Asteria's temple last night, but when the temple had faded away and he was standing in his old classroom, with a whole new group of smiling faces looking at him, he decided to take a chance.

He didn't know exactly how it happened, but, once he explained to the principal of his old school that he had quit drinking, and was attending meetings, as well as back with Harry, the woman's attitude had thawed quite a bit and he had an appointment the next morning to take care of all the paperwork.

"Harry, got to tell Harry the news!" Quickly dialing his wife's phone, he waited impatiently until she picked up.

"Harriet Doyle," his wife's calm voice came over the line.

"Harry, it's me! You won't believe what just happened! It's amazing!" He quickly said, before taking a breath, "I just got off the phone with my old school, and I've got my job back! I'm on probation for a few months, but I start with the beginning of the new school year!"

Harry's delighted laugh was music in his ears, "Oh Allen that's fantastic! How did you do it? I thought that Mrs Langston wasn't ever going to let you come back?"

"Well, to start with, I had one those dreams last night, and I saw meself standing in the classroom again, with a new bunch of students. I'll admit, I was nervous, but we haven't done badly by me following the dreams, have we? Anyway, I called Mrs Langston a little while ago, and, at first she wasn't very happy to hear from me, but, once I explained that I had quit the drinking and was going to meetings, she actually sounded pleased for me, and when I told her that you and I were back together, it was like the sun came up and the whole conversation changed!"

Harry's smile came over the phone in her voice, "Well that's great news, whatever the reason, and that will let us have the time to help Angel and Wesley in the evenings. Although I hope they find a better place to work than Angel's apartment. I swear, I saw a cockroach there that was bigger than my moms poodle the other night!"

Allen laughed, "I think they are working on that, Wesley is working on getting them some office space. I can call them and see how that's going, and maybe we can go give them a hand in picking out a place tonight?"

"Well, we could do that, or I could stop on the way home and pick up a couple of inspirational videos and see if we can learn something new..."

He didn't even have to think about it, "You know, I'm sure they can handle picking out an office without us!"

Harry's laugh took on a different tone, and she said, "I thought you'd see it my way." Her voice changed to her professional voice, and she said, "My appointment is here, so I'll see you when I get home, okay?"

"Looking forward to it!" Doyle chuckled, and ended the call.

Hotel Armand
Phoenix, Arizona
3:00 pm, Monday May 31st, 1999

Bethany knew she was dreaming, but she couldn't wake up, and it worried her. It wasn't so much that she was dreaming, but what was happening in the dream that bothered her. She was standing outside in the sun, and, instead of being burned to ash, she just felt a comforting warmth all over her body.

Looking around, she didn't recognize where she was, but it was on the border of a forest, and she was walking on a path into the trees. The trees looked strange to her, nothing she could ever remember seeing before, they were obviously old, since the trunks were very thick, and they towered above her. But, as she walked further into the forest, she thought she heard whispering all around her, she tried to understand what they were saying, but it was very confusing, she heard some whispers saying that she was going to have to choose, and others were saying to turn back, before it was too late.

For the first time since she'd woken up in the Gorch brothers bed, Bethany felt frightened, and she hated that feeling! She was the predator, not the prey, others should be afraid of her, not the other way around! She hadn't even been scared of Lyle or Tector, even though they tried to frighten her into submission when she was a fledgling. The two of them had been ridiculously easy to manipulate, they thought with their dicks 95 percent of the time anyway, and Bethany already knew everything she needed to handle men like that, even before she was turned.

But there was a power in these trees that was beyond anything she'd experienced, and she didn't like it at all! She tried to move off the path, to get out of the forest, but her feet just kept moving forward, and she could distantly see a fork in the path.

"Oh great," she muttered, "this is one of those kind of dreams!"

"Of course it is, you foolish child," A voice from beside her said, "did you think this was just your subconscious sending you strange images?"

Bethany whirled around in shock, there hadn't been anybody there a minute ago, she would have noticed. When she saw the figure who was walking beside her, she collapsed in shock, falling to the ground and trying to scramble away. The being looked like a man, but she could see the wings over the top of his shoulders, and the power radiating from him made her want to curl up and hide, hoping it would go away!

The figure just stared at her impassively, before saying, "The demon inside you is already condemned to an eternity in the pit, it's up to you and the choices you will make if your soul ends up in the pit, or in paradise. Choose well."

With those words, the figure disappeared, and she found herself staring up ahead at the different paths, before the forest faded away and she woke up in her bed again.

She just lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering what she was going to do now?

Sunnydale Memorial Hospital
Sunnydale, California
5:00 pm, Monday May 31st, 1999

Doctor Peter Brocton, Chief Administrator of Sunnydale Memorial looked up in annoyance as his secretary opened the door. He paid her a good salary to ensure he wasn't disturbed, damn it!

"I'm sorry sir, but these people insist on speaking to you. I tried to get them to make an appointment, but they..."

She was interrupted by a man shoving passed her, accompanied by a good looking blonde with a decent figure. Brocton stood up at his desk, a frown on his face,

"What is this? Who are you people?" He demanded, staring at the two of them.

The man just looked at him silently, while the blonde smirked. Brocton glanced at the man's lab coat, seeing the name on the tag, 'Dr Lafayette Hubert'? Why did that name sound familiar?

Neither Hubert or the blonde said anything, so Brocton growled at them, "What sort of game are you two playing? You don't work in this hospital, so what right do you think you have to barge in here and disturb me when I'm working."

He was starting to find Hubert's unblinking stare unnerving, but the woman drew his attention by pulling a folder out of the storage case on her clipboard. "Take a look at this, Doctor Brocton, and then we will discuss why we are here."

Irritably he took the folder, and opened it. When he saw the front page of the documents, he suddenly felt weak in the knees, and fell back into his chair. Hubert leaned forward and softly said, "Now, Mister Brosious, we don't care about your expulsion from medical school, or the fact that you created Peter Brocton and his credentials out of thin air. You know and I know that you only kept this job as long as you have because Mayor Wilkins was protecting you, in exchange for you turning a blind eye to certain things that the Mayor did not want 'officially' noticed."

Brocton looked up, "Okay, what do you want?"

The woman spoke for the first time, "It's quite simple, Doctor Brocton, you have a patient here that we have an interest in. Faith Lehane was brought in by the Mayor just over a week ago, and is not healing, even though your staff has done an excellent job of treating her. We believe that it's the influence of the town itself that's interfering with her healing. I see you know what I'm talking about?"

He nodded, sourly. He'd found out about that damned portal the first night he arrived in down, when that insane vampire Nest tried to break free.

The woman continued, "Very good. Now, if you look at the last few pages in the folder, you will find authorization to transfer Miss Lehane to the Carpinteria Regional Medical Center, under the treatment of Doctor Hubert, as well as a final payment for all outstanding charges accrued for Miss Lehane's treatment. You will sign those authorizations releasing her into our care, and then you can go about your life, knowing that you quite possibly saved that girl's life. Do you have any questions?"

Brocton flipped to the pages she indicated and read them, he was surprised that they actually were legitimate, he recognized the signatures of the Carpinteria staff. Scribbling his name in the appropriate places, he kept copies for himself and handed the originals back. He also set the payment to the side.

The woman gave him a smile, "Thank you Doctor Brocton, we will require a couple of your orderlies to assist us in getting Miss Lehane loaded into the ambulance, so, if you would be so kind?"

Brocton would have done anything to get the two of them out of his office, so he called and had two orderlies meet them at Lehane's room, and was very glad to see the intruders leaving the office. Once he shut the door behind them, he sighed in relief, until he remembered just what 'Hubert' had said, about being protected by the Mayor. But, the Mayor is dead now, and so is the protection!

"Shit! I've got to get out of here!"

Calling his bank, he arranged to transfer all of his funds to an account in New Mexico, and called his secretary, telling her he wasn't feeling well, and would be leaving early.

No one in Sunnydale ever saw him again.

Rupert Giles Apartment
Sunnydale, California
6:30 pm, Monday May 31st, 1999

Giles didn't like it, but he was a bit worried about the news Joyce had called him with. Not just that Paige had been attacked, although that was frightening in and of itself, but the idea that there was apparently a military unit in Sunnydale that was actively capturing vampires! He didn't even want to think about why somebody would think capturing one or more of those demons would be a good idea!

He wasn't like some of contemporaries growing up who thought that the military was the root of all evil, but he was also not so naive as to think that there weren't people who would want to use vampires as soldiers, either because they didn't understand what they truly were, or just didn't care.

He would have to warn Buffy and the others to keep a watch out while patrolling, and see if the denizens of Willy's or the Fish Tank had heard anything.

Giles grimaced, the Summer was supposed to be a lull in activity, but this one was shaping up to be just as active as the rest of the year! And now Joyce wanted to let Paige know about Buffy, and he really didn't know what he thought about that. Granted, Paige had become important to he and Joyce over the last few months, but the identity of the Slayer was meant to be a closely guarded secret. Lives could be in danger if the wrong person found out!

He sighed, this was something that he and Joyce would have to discuss with Buffy, since she was the one who would be impacted the most. He really wasn't looking forward to the girl's reaction to meeting his and Joyce's lover, especially when she realized that Paige was closer to her and Willow's age than their own.

He put it aside to talk to Joyce in the morning, nothing was going to be resolved tonight, and he still had a lot of work to do with getting the Magic Box restocked, and storing the research materials. He actually wished that Xander were still here, because he would have been a huge help with moving.

Of course, considering who Xander was spending his summer with, and what they were doing, the young man probably wouldn't have been as eager to help as he had in the past. He still had a hard time believing the Drusilla had been restored to life, but apparently it had happened. He grinned at Xander's description of the living version preferring to feed on ice cream, and had to agree that it was a major improvement!

The grin dropped when he thought about who else would be joining Xander's family. He had no idea how Jenny could possibly be alive, her neck had been completely broken, and there hadn't even been the slightest sign of a pulse, or any other sign of life, and he had checked!

And, what was even more troubling, was how did he feel about her? It was apparent, from the way Xander and the others had described the dreams, that all of the women were Xander's lovers, as well as loving each other. He didn't have any problems with that part of it, he wasn't that much of a hypocrite after all, but how would he react if the time came and he saw her face to face?

And what about Joyce? She had become extremely important to him since the night on the top of the police car, but was it just sex, or were there deeper feelings? He needed to figure that out before worrying about what he would do if he met Jenny again.

He was still thinking as he locked his apartment and headed to the Magic Box with a car full of boxes.

1227 Holiday Drive
Ventura, California
8:20 pm, Monday May 31st, 1999

Adam pulled his car into the garage, grimacing with tiredness. It had been a long, nerve wracking drive after he and Jenny had dropped of the ambulance and transferred Faith into the back of his car. At least she had started showing signs of healing not long after they got away from the Hellmouth, and had stayed asleep for the remainder of the drive.

Closing the garage door, he unlocked the door into the house, smiling slightly as he imagined Connor or Duncan's reaction to seeing him living in the middle of suburbia. He checked to see that Faith was still asleep and nodded in satisfaction. Going into the house, he opened the door to the guest room and turned down the bed covers before heading back to the garage.

Reaching for his cell phone to call Jenny and let them know he had arrived, he swore when he saw that he had powered it off at some point. Turning the phone back on, he saw that he had multiple voice mail messages.

Punching in his password, he lifted the phone to his ear, only to hear Jenny's strained voice coming through, "Adam, damn it! Pick up the phone! I've heard from Richie, Connor and Duncan, as well as my housekeeper, all four of our places were burned to the ground late last night, Richie and Connor are already in Oxnard with Xander and the others, and Duncan, Amanda and I are heading there. Get here as soon as you can, and bring Faith, we'll have to do what we can here!"

Just as he was starting to call her back, Adam heard a voice from the garage, "What? Where the fuck am I?"

End Chapter Ten

Hey Folks: I know you are getting tired of seeing this at the end of every chapter, but I'm really in a tight situation and asking for help any way I can think of.

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Red