This chapter has some good banter and friendly pestering which I enjoy lol. Special thanks to bitbyboth who agreed to continue beta reading for me! When I have a reader it makes me write more often which is a good thing.
I hope that you enjoy and please don't be shy if you want to review...because you know you want to ;-)
At hour five Nero was getting very annoyed.
'What the Hell was he thinking driving instead of flying this trip?' thought an agitated Nero to himself. 'Knowing the old man he just wanted to save some money…'
Nero crossed his arms and continued to stare out of the window. Hour after hour the world outside began to change. The hustle and bustle of the city that he was use to, along with all of its tall buildings, were fading into less dense areas with fewer buildings. It was only going to get worse he assumed.
Dante leaned back coolly in his chair thoroughly enjoy the long drive himself. He didn't mind the open road and getting lost in some good tunes. All that was missing was a babe in the passenger seat. Instead he had a moody teenager with a short fuse.
"Don't look so down kid, we've only got about fifteen hours to go." Dante threw a grin in the younger's direction before returning his gaze to the road. It was a little stagnant for his taste so he needed to liven the mood.
"Only fifteen!" Nero snorted hotly. He knew that it would be a long drive but not that long. With furrowed brows he looked in Dante's direction.
"If you weren't such a cheap ass then we could have just taken a damn plane!"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. And it only costs a couple hundred per ticket. I could take it out of your cut of the pay. Hmmm."
Nero pursed his lips slightly and considered this. "Well, I'm sure the pay for this mission is good so it wouldn't have been that big of a deal…"
"Well, what about our weapons? We can't exactly roll up into an airport packing the kind of weaponry that our jobs call for. Did you think of that?
Nero froze at the realization. He closed his eyes and let out an angered breath. It burned him up when Dante put him in his place. It made him feel so childish and small; something that Dante was an expert at.
"Whatever," was the great comeback that Nero supplied. They both knew he had been beaten….again.
"Can we at least change the music, there's only so much Def Leppard that a person can take."
Nero reached his hand to the CD player in an attempt to change the music. Dante immediately swatted his hand away from the dash.
"No way kid, first rule of driving, the driver always gets to pick the tunes." He snickered, very amused at himself.
'Fuck the mission, kill me…' Nero crossed his arms and stared out the window once again.
At hour ten Nero was exhausted, starving, and ready to murder someone.
He felt like he knew every word that was ever sung in the 80s. When one CD had ended Dante simply reached under his seat and pulled out a new one to switch. The old CD was placed back in its case and tossed into the backseat, bound to resurface again in the future. It was a vicious cycle.
"Okay Enter Sandman, can we stop and get some food already?" Nero asked with little tolerance in his tone. His stomach gave a small gurgle. They had been on the road since nine that morning with only a few fast food tacos to hold them over.
"Yeah, guess it is about chow time," replied Dante. He had ditched the shades when the sun had become less intense. Nero had heard the elder's belly growl a handful of times as well.
They were somewhere in Tennessee now. With about another ten hours to go the pair decided to eat and crash for the night. Despite sitting all day a road trip can really take it out of a person. They stopped at a local diner and grabbed a bite.
The duo ordered their meals and sat in silence as they scarfed down their food. Utensils scrapped over ceramic as they feasted. They were eating as one would expect two men to eat. After a few minutes of blissfully devouring food Nero spoke up.
"So, what details do you have on this mission?"
Dante looked up from his half-eaten plate. "Some guy called from a small village outside of New Orleans and said that young people have been going missing from around town." He took another bite of his food recalling the details. "The ages range from infants to early twenties. They just up and leave without a trace."
"What do you think it is?" questioned Nero intently.
"I'm guessing it may be a Blade, Wendigo, or even a simple Will-O-Wisp. Those things are known to lead idiots astray. The only thing that gets me is that all of the victims are young. Most demons don't have a preferred type I guess you could say."
Both continued with their meals while they thought a bit longer on the upcoming events. Nero was very intrigued by the information that Dante had supplied. Whatever it was, it seemed that it was a big problem.
"Let's finish up here and find a place to stay for the night."
Nero nodded in agreement. He was looking forward to a hot shower and (hopefully) clean bed for the night. Tomorrow things would unfold and hopefully they could gather some more information once they reached their destination.
They checked in at a reasonably priced motel. Nero gave the woman working the front desk a strange look at hearing her accent. It kind of sounded like she was slow- like a lot. Apparently that was just a thing because even the waiter at the restaurant sounded that way.
After receiving their room keys they gathered their traveling gear to head inside. The two hunters shared a room with matching queen-sized beds. Overall the room looked decent enough. It had a TV, lamp, and a few complimentary bathroom items on the table.
After throwing his stuff on the bed Nero hastily ran for the shower, not wanting his partner to steal all of the hot water.
Dante arrived in the room after Nero was already locked in the bathroom. He heard the knobs squeak and the water begin to flow.
"Dammit kid I wanted the first shower." He tossed his bag on the bed next to Nero's.
"I bet you did old man, but if you snooze you lose," Nero barked back through the closed door. He was going to take a long hot shower and enjoy every relaxing minute of it.
The elder slayer sunk down onto the bed and rested his back on the headboard. Mindlessly he flipped on the TV and began channel surfing for something good.
Nero emerged from the steaming shower with his nighttime attire: a fitted tee and flannel pants. He rubbed his hair with a towel before grabbing a complimentary comb and sweeping it through his hair. The teen looked in the mirror at his hair pushed back.
"Hey Dante look, do I look lame or what haha," Nero amusingly laughed at his reflection in the mirror.
The elder hunter casually glanced over at him and froze for a moment. Nero was smiling at him with his white hair swept back in a familiar manner. It took him back, and he continued staring at Nero.
"Uhh, Dante…?"
"Don't ever do that!" Dante snapped at him.
There was a strange tension in the air for a moment.
"What gives? If this is about me taking the hot water then my bad." He ran his human hand through his hair and messed it up in its usual fashion.
"…Sorry kid, it's been a long day." He really didn't feel like explaining it, so he left it at that. He hadn't meant to snap at Nero but when he saw him looking like that it was like he had seen a ghost. Something he would rather not think about right now.
Nero nodded understanding where he was coming from. It was rare to see Dante get snappy though, especially over something as ridiculous as his hairstyle. Before turning to gather his things from the bathroom Dante spoke up.
"Hey look what's on TV. It's VH1's hits of the 80's!"
And just like that he was back again. Dante shot Nero a sinister smile and began air-guitaring to the music on the TV. Nero's face scrunched up in repulsion as he turned around to pick up his dirty clothes. This was going to indeed be a Hell of a mission.
I've been doing small bits of research for this story which has led me to read some interesting things, hmmm.