Xander Harris – Carpenter Extraordinaire
Author – mahaliem
Rating – R
Summary – Xander takes on a case to save a girl. Set sometime in the future.
Disclaimer – Buffy the Vampire Slayer is the property of Joss Whedon, Fox, and Mutant Enemy Productions.
Thank you again to Jane Davitt and Alena for beta reading this for me. Any errors remaining are entirely my fault.
Once, in an effort to exact vengeance, I did nothing. That's right, nothing. Instead of giving the jerk physical pain, I left him alone to focus on the fact that by his own actions, he'd lost the perfect woman. It worked okay, he was pretty miserable, but I guess I'm old-fashioned. Nothing says vengeance to me like streaming bloody entrails. (Anyanka – Ex Vengence Demon)
- Good v. Evil – A Territorial Dispute?
by A. L. Harris
Part 3
"I still don't understand why we're here," Grace Mathews stated.
We were sitting outside Judge Feathering's office, as we had been for the last two hours, and I was beginning to wonder why we were here myself. It was getting late, so late, that the Judge's secretary, with one last glance our way and a fairly discreet call to her boss, had closed up her desk for the night, making sure that we heard the locks on all the drawers and cabinets loudly click. Now, the only thing standing between the Judge and us was a little weasel of a clerk named Myers. Well, Myers and a closed door.
"We need to talk to Feathering. If we can get him to maybe meet with the people who are appealing some of his decisions, appease them a bit, then maybe the charmers will decide that they don't need to summon a demon for justice. If there's no need for a demon, then there's no need for Lara."
"And you truly think that would be it? That they'd simply give her up?"
"Um…no. But it's worth the old never-went-to-college try, isn't it?"
I hadn't mentioned Alice Thomas to Grace. I was afraid that if I did, she'd make her way to the spa, and without any proof, because we really didn't have a shred, proceed to try to force a confession from Alice. The gym manager was almost a foot taller, heavier, and without a doubt, stronger than my client. Looking at Grace's quiet determination to get her sister back, I had the feeling, though, that Grace, in a catfight, might give Alice a run for her money. And I so did not want to go there.
I'd called Grace earlier, and asked her to meet me here. I was a carpenter, decent income, but no political clout whatsoever. I figured that Grace's presence might at least give me a chance to talk to Judge Feathering. Also, I figured having someone to back me up might go a long way towards convincing him I wasn't crazy when I started mentioning demons and charmers.
Again, I looked out the window at the darkened sky. Because of security checkpoints at the courthouse, I'd left all my weapons in my car, and I felt naked without them. Naked in a bad way, not the 'oh good, I'm about to have sex' way. An Evian bottle filled with holy water, some sharpened pencils, and a couple of crosses were the only items I had on me for defense.
Finally, Myers the Weasel came out of the office, followed by an older, distinguished bearded gentlemen carrying a briefcase – Judge Feathering. In a flash, I knew talking to him wasn't going to work. I would like to say that it was my keen animal instinct telling me this, but more likely it was the way he sniffed as he looked at us, immediately dismissing Grace and myself as being anyone of any interest to him.
I wasn't going to let that attitude stop me, though. In the past, I'd faced thousands of vampires, hundreds of demons, a dozen apocalypses, and two family reunions…one arrogant bastard was child's play.
He started to walk by us, and Grace turned worried eyes to me. As he and Myers walked down the stately hall, their footsteps echoing in the now almost empty building, I called out to them.
"What kind of wood do you want for your coffin?"
The Judge stopped, turned, and looked at me.
"If that's a threat…"
"No threat. I'm a carpenter. I work with wood. Now, cherry's a nice choice. Oak. Oak is always a classic, but nothing beats the timeless elegance of mahogany. If you're not going to stop and talk to us, you should at least start thinking about how you want to be buried. Your family and loved ones will appreciate it."
Myers and Feathering slowly made their ways back to where Grace and I stood. Drawing himself up to full height so that he could look down on me, Feathering took a deep breath, then began to question me.
"Fine. You have my attention. What's this concerning?"
"It concerns you…and a bunch of people who you've really pissed off with some of your rulings. They want you dead."
"I'm a judge. Death threats are nothing new to me. I will, however, notify security to be on the alert."
Unconcerned, he turned away and headed towards the exit, with Myers at his side. Grace and I looked at one another and followed. I had to make him listen.
"These aren't your ordinary angry citizens, and I don't think security is going to be able to handle it."
Myers held open the door for the judge as they left to building and walked towards the private parking lot for courthouse employees.
"And what exactly can they not handle? A mob of angry ex-wives writing some nasty letters, making a few obscene calls to my home?" Feathering asked. "No…let me guess," he continued. "They've banded together and hired a hit man."
"Close. They're summoning a demon," I stated.
Myers and Feathering glanced at each other for a moment, before they both began chuckling. The judge was shaking his head in disbelief.
"Demons exist. I've seen them, fought them for years.
I rolled up the sleeve of my left arm, exposing the scars of one of my recent battles that marred my skin. It was mottled and raw looking and, if you studied it carefully, you could still see the imprint where several rows of sharp tiny teeth had sunk into the flesh. The judge had stopped laughing. I had his attention now.
"Demons are real. Real enough to kill you."
Grace stepped forward, as we stood in the parking lot, adding her voice to the argument.
"Most are extremely dangerous. More dangerous than your average vampire," she stated.
Oops. Mentioning vampires was a mistake. I immediately sensed Judge Feathering withdraw, his eyes becoming cold, his teeth, clenching. Myers, on the other hand, was thoroughly amused, considering it all a joke.
It was then that I noticed the small gathering of women at the edge of the lot. In the middle of the gathering were four figures with linked hands. The tallest of the group was Alice Thomas; the smallest was Lara Matthews. Grace let out a gasp when she saw her sister.
"Um…Judge…can I suggest that you get in your car right now, and get the hell away from here?" I said.
Feathering and Myers looked at me, then turned their heads so that they could see the women coming towards us. Myers began to howl.
"That's who's after us? Those women and the kid?" Myers scoffed.
The women were chanting and getting closer. I really wasn't liking this one bit and started backing away, grabbing Grace's hand as I went. The judge, too, took a step back. Myers, the idiot, actually approached them.
"You thought we should be afraid of them? They're nothing. Just a bunch of pissed off women. What can they do?" said Myers, still laughing.
His laughter suddenly became a gurgle as a seven-foot tall demon appeared in front of him. As demons went, it had the whole huge scaly thing going, but I didn't see any fangs, claws, tentacles, or sharp appendages. In fact, at first it seemed to have only one arm. Then, I saw a shimmering in the air. It did have another arm. I could see a gleam of something going from the monster's shoulder and into the chest of a now struggling Myers. It is and it isn't. Got it now.
Myers was clutching at his chest, panicked, trying to remove the hand that was embedded within him. He looked like…like he was having a heart attack. The beast must be grabbing his heart from the inside. The litany of 'oh, crap, oh crap, oh crap' pounded through my brain.
Quickly, I snatched the briefcase out of the judge's hand and pushed Grace aside. With all of my strength, I slammed the edge of the heavy leather case into the back of the demon's neck. I pulled my arm back to do it again when the monster's other arm slammed against the side of my head and sent me sprawling to the asphalt. I heard Alice's voice, then.
"Let's make this one messy."
With a roar, the demon yanked its magical arm from Myers' chest. A gleaming, still beating heart came ripping out, and bile rose in my throat. As the dead body collapsed on the ground next to me, the demon winked out of sight. I scanned the area as I stood, still clutching the briefcase, desperately searching for signs of the monster. I knew it must be around somewhere, for the women were still chanting.
The judge had run to his car and was struggling with his keys, frantically trying to get it open to escape. Grace, however, had headed towards her sister, Lara. Something was obviously wrong with Lara. Your average citizen would think she was on drugs. Me, I figured that there was a spell involved. The other women were practically dragging her along and her eyes were glazed. Crying and begging, Grace tried to reach her, but was blocked by the women. Some of her pleas had to be reaching Lara, though, for I saw the young girl look at her and shake her head as if waking up, then look again.
Grace was being roughly pushed away, so I ran to help my client. Grabbing her, trying to shield her with my body, I heard a scream. Turning, I saw that the demon now had its hand inside of the judge's chest cavity. As Feathering struggled, Grace continued to shout to Lara. Calling to her, urging her to get away from the women who stood between them.
This time, it seemed to work. Lara shook her hand free of the woman next to her, and ran towards us. Some of the women gasped, and I saw that the demon attacking the judge appeared to be hesitating, faltering.
"Get the girl back here," hissed Alice to her followers.
Lara had reached us by then, and as a few women came forward, I swung the briefcase in my hand in an effort to keep them back. Grace was standing next to me with her fists at ready, a mother bear defending her cub, while Lara huddled between us.
They still must have had some control of the demon, for the judge's body was now falling to the ground, and unlike Myers, with no apparent damage to him. He would seem to be a victim of a heart attack. Again, the demon disappeared.
Grace and I had managed to hold off the women trying to reach Lara when Alice approached us, her eyes glittering madly.
"Give her up, Alex. There's too many of us. You'll never win."
"Hey, overwhelming odds, darks forces arrayed against me…I grew up on this stuff. Hell, I live for this."
A dark smile flitted over Alice's face.
"And you're going to die for it, too."
This time, when the demon appeared, he was right in front of me, and it was my chest he was reaching into. Sweet Jesus, the pain!
"You should have stayed out of it, Alex. This wasn't your fight," sneered Alice.
Despite the agony, I did my best to glare at her. Through gritted teeth, I snarled.
"Everything is my fight."
With a cry of rage, I once again swung the briefcase. Not at the demon squeezing my heart, but towards Alice. I let it fly through the air. It was a glancing blow; aim was a bit off, circumstances being what they were. But it did what it had to do. It broke her concentration. It broke her control of the demon.
The pain in my chest eased then, and I almost passed out as blood rushed through my system. I looked up at the demon's face to see what could only be a grateful smile from the creature. It was a smile that would haunt me for weeks. Then he disappeared, only to reappear seconds later with his hand inside of Alice. The woman only had time to let out a short exclamation of pain, before he ripped her insides out.
Grace was holding Lara, tears in her eyes, and she began to reach out to me, to thank me. I stopped her.
"Go! Now!"
She looked at me in confusion. I turned to glance back over my shoulder where the demon was already working on another woman. Blood was flowing in streams around it.
"He'll be after Lara, too! Anyone that controlled him. Get her out of here!"
Her eyes widened in sudden frightened comprehension. I pushed her and her sister towards the other lot, where her car was parked.
"But where should we go? Where will we be safe?"
There was a shaman on Lincoln Way, but he was more the 'Go, Evil' type, so he couldn't be trusted. A trio of witches lived together in a house only a few miles away, but they weren't very powerful. They mostly did spells to make freckles, scars, and warts disappear – my girlfriend referred to them as 'Compound W. I. T. C. H'. That wouldn't work. Lara was going to need some real firepower to protect her.
"Devon. England. Witches…powerful witches are there. They should be able to help."
I stayed and watched as her car sped off, away from the destruction. Around me, the remaining women of the Erinys group were scattering, running to hide from the vengeance they'd called forth. Within minutes, I was the only thing still living in the parking lot. Many women had escaped…for the time being. I knew that the demon would hunt them down, kill them for daring to enslave him. I hoped Grace and Lara made it to Devon in time. I didn't pray. I'd given up on prayer a long time ago.
So, I stood there, alone, the darkness of the night enfolding me while the stars mocked me with their distant light. Once again, I was a survivor in a battlefield littered with broken bleeding bodies.
- - - - - - - -
It was almost afternoon by the time I managed to drag my ass out of bed the next day. My girlfriend was flying back after her meetings in St. Louis and Chicago, and I needed to pick her up. Hell, I needed her now. Needed her with me, holding me, making me feel that life was worth living, that the fight was worth fighting.
I still had a few hours to spare before she arrived, though, so I spent some of that time searching the Internet for an old-fashioned doll, one dressed in silks and petticoats, with ribbons in her hair. When I managed to find one fairly close to that description, I ordered it, making sure it was sent Federal Express to Drusilla. She'd helped me out, and I wanted to do something nice for her. Since I didn't feel the desire to bare my neck, I decided that this was the next best thing. Afterwards, I showered, dressed, cleaned up the house a bit, and then headed towards the airport.
As the passengers disembarked the plane from Chicago, I waited for my girlfriend, flowers in hand, a big smile on my face. She'd told me that I really didn't have to drop her off and pick her up at the airport for her frequent business trips, but I never listened. I loved her. Completely, desperately, drowning in it, and by God, I was going to show her, even if it occasionally irked the hell out of her. I'd almost lost her once before, and it wasn't going to happen again. I'm not a genius, but I knew if she ever came to her senses and dumped me, I'd die. Not in the curl up and die way, either. More likely in a loud, flashy, explosion.
She came through the gate, and her eyes found me and a smile lit her face. She kissed and hugged me, then accepted the flowers with a questioning arch of an eyebrow. It was only after we'd retrieved her luggage, stowed it in the trunk of the car, and were driving away, that she spoke.
"Xander, tell me about your week," said Dawn.
The End