A/N: Hi, for those who are wondering, I'm taking a break on SDH. Not to make you all feel bad for me, but one reviewer really put me out of that story by a really nasty review. As much as I tried to not let it get to me, it really did and so I'm shelving it until I get back into that. For the time being, I'm still going to be working on Murderer Too Young. This story was an idea I got last weekend while driving. It started as a mystery that took place on a ski trip, then developed into this. I hope you enjoy this first part, as I wrote this all in two days. I think it has great potential and could be one of my greater stories. All depends on your reviews to keep it alive.
Disclaimer: Don't own anything except the plot. Joss owns all and always will.
Flashback
1989, 10 miles out of Palm Springs
"Get to bed you two. It's going to be a big day tomorrow," their mother called from downstairs.
"Nothing ever happens here. We're in the stupid desert for God's sake," Connor O'Riley mumbled at his mother's order. His twin sister, Dawn, giggled at his remark.
"Right. Biggest thing to happen here is when it rains," she added. Connor grinned and walked over to his side of the room. That was another thing the teens constantly complained about. They both had to share a room in their small house.
Both siblings automatically said goodnight as they got into their respective beds. Connor flipped the light switch off and settled into his soft mattress.
"What was that noise?" Dawn asked him minutes later. Connor strained his ears and indeed heard something. It was the sound of his mother talking to her fiancée, Lindsey McDonald. Darla had been seeing Lindsey almost five years ago. Connor and Dawn didn't remember their real father. They were told he split when they were two.
"It's just Lindsey and Mom talking on the porch," Connor told his sister. Dawn mumbled something that Connor didn't comprehend. He instead started thinking about the events of the next day.
Lindsey was a lawyer in Los Angeles and he had told the O'Rileys that he was planning on buying a house in the city where they could all live. Connor and Dawn were ecstatic, having lived in the desert for many years. They were all going to drive to LA to look at a couple houses that Lindsey had picked out.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden coppery smell that had filled the room. The back of his mind told him something was wrong, but he tried to ignore it.
"What the hell is that smell Dawn?" he asked. Instead of receiving an answer from her, he felt a hand push his head onto his pillow. He tried to cry out, but the feel of a knife slice over his throat filled him with an immense amount of pain. The knife found itself planted into his back to insure his death.
His last thought before dying was of him hoping that Dawn didn't suffer as much as he did.
Lorne sat is his chair silently as he waited for everyone to arrive. He looked at his desk clock and mentally noted that everyone should have been here by now.
"Mr. Green? The contestants are all here. Would you like me to send them in?" the voice of his secretary, Harmony Kendal, asked him over the intercom.
"Fabulous Harmonica. Send them in," Lorne replied. He heard Harmony giggled at his nickname for her and the door opened.
Twelve men and women slowly walked into the office, all seemed to think that they were about to be shot if they moved far enough. Lorne became ecstatic at the arrival of his contestants. They were all very young, save for an older man with graying brown hair and glasses. Six men and six women. Just the way he planned.
"I cannot tell you all how tickled I am to see you all here. Wonderful," Lorne greeted once they all sat down in his hundred dollar chairs that sat around his board room table.
"What, may I ask, is so bloody important that I had to leave in the middle of my tour for?" came the question of the young, British rockstar. Lorne grinned.
"Ah, Mr. Crawford, Sweetcakes, good of you to make that wonderful sacrifice for my little deal," Lorne thanked the bleach-haired rockstar.
"Sweetcakes?" the rockstar asked. Suddenly, a tough looking brunette spoke up.
"Hey, aren't you Spike? The lead for the band Wrong Way?" she asked. The British man nodded. "Cool. At least we got a hot celebrity on board here."
"He isn't hot. His hair is white. Can you say totally 80's?" another blond woman said while looking at Spike's hair with disgust.
"Darlings, why don't we save the 'who's hot and who's not' conversation for later?" Lorne suggested.
"Who are you?" a redheaded woman asked. Another brunette scoffed, her shoulder length hair shining.
"How could you not know who he is? Lorne Green is the richest man in California. Not only is he a billionaire, but he owns and co-owns dozens of different businesses," she told the redhead.
"No need to be too hard on Ms. Rosenberg, Ms. Chase. Not everyone knows who I am, although you are entirely correct on your little bio of me. But I think all of you want to know why I pulled you out of school, or your jobs, or in Spike's case, tour, for," Lorne said. Twelve heads nodded.
"This better be worth my time. I'm missing out on a huge summer party down in Redondo," the blonde, Ms. Summers, said. Several people rolled their eyes at her.
"I have invited you all here for a private contest. You have all been carefully chosen to take part in this. We've performed checks on you, not too personal, but on your records. Don't want any thieves," Lorne joked. No one laughed, so he cleared his throat.
"A contest for what?" a dark haired man asked. He wore a business suit and a slight scowl.
"For the last three years, I've had a hotel built in the desert, ten miles from Palm Springs. The Hyperion. It has become my pet project and I want to test her before opening day. That's where you twelve come in. Each of you will live in a room, all on one floor, of my new hotel for one week. Test it out. Order room service. Swim in my hundred yard pool. Enjoy yourselves how ever you want. At the end of the week, I want a report from each of you on your opinion of The Hyperion. In the end, no matter how you respond, I will reward you with $5,000 each." The whole table burst into chatter at Lorne's reward price.
"Five grand?" the tough brunette asked. Lorne sat back in his chair and sipped his Seabreeze.
"Yes Faith. Five grand." Everyone looked stunned.
"Let's get this straight buddy. You want us to stay at your hotel for a week, for which we each get $5,000?" Contestant #4, Xander Harris, verified. Lorne nodded.
"I need to know now if you are all in. If so, you will all be given three hours to head back home to gather any items you wish to bring with you," Lorne said. A shy woman raised her hand. "Yes, Ms. Maclay?"
"N-Not that I want to turn this down, but I-I have five classes in the next seven days that I just can't miss," she said. They redhead, Ms. Rosenberg, agreed.
"No worries Babydoll. It's been taken care of. All of your employers are aware of your absences and you will be excused and still paid. As for you students, your Deans have been notified and you will be excused from misses classes," Lorne replied. Several people smiled.
"What about employers? I have a full law firm that could go haywire in my absence," the dark haired man asked. Lorne took another sip of his drink.
"No need. You can run your business from the hotel. We have fax machines, dozens of computers with Internet access, and plenty of phones. I assure you Mr. O'Connor, Wolfram & Hart will be fine."
"I think it's safe to say that I'm in," a dark man, Charles Gunn, said, raising his hand in the air. Lorne practically beamed.
"Wonderful! Since we're all in, I would ask that you all look at these contracts and sign them. Also, lets introduce, shall we? Why don't we start with you Muffin?" he said, pointing to Ms. Summers.
"Ok, I'm Buffy Summers. I live in Santa Monica and I love to shop." Everyone was silent, except for Lorne, who was clapping away.
"I'm Spike Crawford. I'm a member of the band Wrong Way. I sing and play guitar. Oh, and if you all haven't noticed, I'm also British," Spike said, before sitting down and lighting a cigarette.
"Hi everyone. I'm Willow Rosenberg. I'm a sophomore at USC and I like computers. I'm currently dating a bass player from Dingoes Ate My Baby and...that's about it," she said. Spike nodded.
"So you're Oz's bird yeah? I know the bloke pretty well. Say hello for me a'right?" he told her. The next contestant stood up.
"My name is Xander Harris. Uhm, I'm co-owner of Harris&McNally Construction down in Sunnydale. I like to make people laugh, but standup comedy just wasn't my calling. I hope to have a great time on this little adventure."
"H-Hello. I'm Tara Maclay. I'm an art student at UC Davis. I have a cat, Miss Kitty Fantastico. I guess you'll find out that I'm pretty shy." Tara sat down and another women stood up.
"Hi! I'm Winifred Burkle. Everyone calls me Fred though. I grew up in Texas, so please mind my accent. I came to LA to study at UCLA to become a physicist. I love science. All those molecules that existed for millennia that we didn't discover for millions of years. I'm also excited about this contest, I've never been in a contest in my whole entire life, so it's very exciting, well except for that one time in second grade where my teacher entered me in a little drawing to win a science kit-"
"Thank you for that Cupcake. You're a doll n' a half. Who's next?" Lorne interrupted, and motioned for the chipper Texan to sit. The older man stood up next.
"I'm Rupert Giles," he introduced. Spike chuckled.
"Rupert," he teased. Giles cleared his throat and continued.
"I'm a librarian at Sunnydale High School. I'm probably the oldest person here, but that doesn't mean that I'm old. Just wanted to clear that up. And stop laughing at me," he said to Spike, who was still grinning like an idiot at Giles.
"Sorry Rupes," Spike apologized, before chuckling again. Giles sighed at sat down.
"Yo, I'm Charles Gunn. I work at a martial arts center here in LA. I'm adventurous and fun to be around. I think we're all going to have some fun this week." He sat down and the owner of Wolfram & Hart stood up.
"I'm Angel O'Connor. I live here in Los Angeles. I part-own Wolfram & Hart, which is one of the top running law firms in the world." He sat back down. Cordelia Chase looked at him in awe, but then realized it was her turn.
"Hi, I'm Cordelia Chase. I am currently a designer for Gucci, which is almost my dream. I'm actually hoping to become a famous actress someday and then start my own clothing line."
The next person who stood up was the last man. He was probably the second oldest of all twelve contestants. In his late twenties, he cleared his throat and took off his glasses.
"I'm Wesley Wyndahm-Pryce. I am from England, but you might have been able to figure that out. I have a small occult bookstore in Burbank," he said, accent very clear. Lorne gave him a skeptical look.
"Occult? You believe in that stuff?" he asked. Wesley nodded.
"Yes, I do actually." Lorne nodded once and motioned for the last contestant to stand. The tough brunette, Faith, stood up.
"Yeah, I'm Faith Wilkins. Yes, I'm tougher than these other chicks here, I'm not a little girly girl who paints her nails. I own a small bar here in downtown LA. I like to dance, party, and I like guys. Anyone got any beef with me, I'd advise you to take it up with me, not behind my back." Everyone was quiet for a moment before Lorne stood up.
"Okay then! Everyone, go home and get all packed up. If you all stop by and talk to my secretary, Harmony, she'll give you all directions to the hotel. Also, a pass you'll need to get past the front gate." Everyone nodded and started walking out, talking to each other excitedly. Lorne finished off his Seabreeze and walked to the window. Things were on track.
That's the end of part one. Hope you all like, otherwise I'll just stop it before I put anymore time into it. It's all up to you!