Tormanixon watched with concern, yes they were heading in the right direction but it seemed that there was a problem of sorts. The alpha male seemed to be in two minds about the whole thing, the tenuous control Tormanixon had developed was waning fast and the young man's will seemed to be exerting itself. This had never happened to the demon before and he was more that a little concerned at this new turn of events. A puzzled frown crossed his face, causing freshly healed sores to once again crack open and ooze viscous fluids. He tried to tell himself not to worry, that at least they were heading in the right direction, what could possibly go wrong?

On impulse he decided to ensure that they found their way to him immediately. Glancing around he caught sight of his newest creature stirring in its cage. She was beginning to wake up. Tormanixon swept towards the girl and grinned evilly as she scrabbled back trying to get away from him. She knew she was prey; he'd done well with this one.

Opening the cage he grabbed her by the scruff of the neck, tearing free a handful of long bleached white blonde hair as he did so. The girl gasped and immediately went rigid, her eyes darting each and every way; but there was no escape from his grip. Effortlessly he lifted her with one hand and dragged her towards the centre of the chamber to where the crystal ball still rested on the makeshift pediment. Waving his free hand over the glowing sphere he watched as a portal began to form around it. Wind began to whip through the chamber despite the subterranean nature, and lightning sparks grounded themselves on the rusty bars of his captives' cages. The smell of singed hair and burned flesh began to fill the air, confirming to him that these mortals really were as stupid as they looked. Without speaking a word he held the girl/rabbit over the portal and dropped her through. Instantly the portal snapped shut and he again hunched over the crystal ball to see what difference he could make.




A storm seemed to have built up from nowhere, making Xander more nervous than usual. The rational part of his brain told him that being in a car was the safest place to be should lightening strike. However, the rational part of his brain had to shout to be heard over the other part, the hyena part, which was screaming in fear and demanding that he run for cover as soon as possible if not sooner. Luckily for them both the rational side seemed to be winning out at the moment. Of course, that then raised all sorts of questions like: if that part of him was winning out then why exactly was he on the road to Chicago with a boy who had bullied kids for years and who he had always had an intense dislike for? Xander shrugged that question away and concentrated on the road. The last thing they needed was for them to be a hit by a tree blown down by the sudden gale.

He glanced across to the passenger seat to see Kyle apparently taking a nap. The boy was curled up bonelessly in his seat, apparently oblivious to the danger posed by the storm. It had been this way for the past couple of days, Xander doing all the driving and Kyle 'relaxing'. Frustration and anger started to build in Xander, almost more than he could control until he looked back out into the road, swore and swerved. A girl was lying on the blacktop.

The tyres on the old Chevy squealed in protest at the emergency stop, but somehow Xander managed to stop the car ending up in the run-off ditch at the side of the road. Luckily he had his seatbelt on and as inertia dragged him forwards it locked tight, pulling against his chest in a way he knew he was going to be feeling for days.

Kyle hadn't been so sensible however, and the former bully ended up sprawled in the foot well on the passenger side of the car, mewling in obvious pain. Xander couldn't stop the laugh that came automatically from his lips, nor did he especially want to; after everything that had happened Kyle deserved every ounce of pain he got.

Remembering the girl who had caused him to nearly crash the car he couldn't afford the repair bill on, Xander looked around for her wildly. He caught sight of her still lying in the same position as before. After 18 years in Sunnydale, he considered himself pretty much prepared for anything, but something made him take extra care approaching her. The rational side of his brain was again yelling at him; something was definitely wrong with this picture.

She was just lying there, her eyes were open and she was watching him approach. There was something akin to terror in her expression and he paused briefly to wonder at that. The feral part of his mind shrugged it off however; she was prey nothing more. That thought made him stop at the halfway point between the car and the girl. Prey? What made him think that?

Seeing him stop with a look of bewilderment on his face the girl took the opportunity to make a run for it. She didn't get far, however. Unnoticed by either of them, Kyle had snuck around to cut off the most likely escape route. He grabbed wildly at her and she tried to kick out at him in between his blows. She suddenly went limp and Xander felt his heart stop at the thought she might be dead, but then her head dropped to the side and he could see her eyes. She was still alive but clearly petrified; she looked like a rabbit caught in the glare of oncoming headlights. The thought came to him by instinct and he knew that the choice of phrasing had been no mistake.

He looked up to see Kyle looking at him expectantly. Racking his memory he dredged up the question the other man had asked, what next?

"Follow the white rabbit," he replied enigmatically, as Kyle carried the motionless girl towards the car.

Once she was safely bundled inside, Xander slid in behind the driver's seat once more. The storm seemed to have abated somewhat and it seemed safe enough to move on. He couldn't help but think the girl's arrival and the freak meteorologucal events were connected but he seemed to be finding it more and more difficule to follow a through to it's obvious conclusion. The hyena was getting stronger; he could feel it.