"Xander," Cordelia said the next morning, "there's another article in the paper about someone being found dead in a motel room that stinks. The police are again insisting that there's no signs of foul play, don't you just love how they put that, no injuries, no drugs, just a body."
"How many articles does that make?"
"This is the fourth one I've seen since last September when school started. I'm not sure how many bodies total."
"I'm wondering why it's newsworthy. I get why you're reading it, you're curious why they keep writing articles about something the police are insisting is a nonstarter. Why keep reporting on dead bodies found in motel rooms with no signs that they died of anything other than natural causes? Except for noting this smell, which aside from occasionally mentioning nightmares, seems to be the only commonality?"
"Unless the guy writing the articles thinks there's more to it or maybe just wants people to think there's more to it. Hyping sales."
"Or maybe there actually is something to it but the police just don't think there's any reason to look too closely. When I get back to Sunnydale I'll talk to Johnathan, see if he'd be willing to do some checking. Maybe the same person has stayed at each of these hotels or maybe there's more articles. I don't know if it's Wesen related but it is curious."
"It is. Anyway, have a safe trip back, I'll see you on Saturday." She kissed him and he headed out. "Some day." She said softly. "He'll come home every night and I won't just see him on the weekends." She thought over their conversation the night before and the plans and strategizes they'd come up with to help them navigate 'their' life together. And it was 'theirs'. They were building a future.
Once he'd arrived back in Sunnydale, Xander called Johnathan and explained the curious articles and asked him to check for any commonalities that might bear further exploration and he agreed. Afterwards he headed over to Rory's to talk to him.
"You know, you can't always rely on Johnathan to check things for you." Rory pointed out. "In fact, computers are very much a part of the world and you can't avoid them. And investigating anything Wesen related is your responsibility, not Johnathan's. Granted, we don't know if this is Wesen related but I think we can consider learning other methods of investigation something we should also train in. Your future job as a Counselor might help occasionally when investigating things, but having a legal cover for doing investigations is worth looking into."
"A legal cover? You mean like being a private investigator, at least on paper, as an excuse for asking questions?"
"Exactly and we need to find out what all is involved in that. I'll check into it. Tell me what's so curious about these articles?"
"They all say the same thing, no sign of drugs or injuries and the rooms stink, a few times there's been reports of other guests in the hotels experiencing nightmares."
Rory looked thoughtful. "Something about that sounds familiar, let me check my books, I'll let you know if I find anything and I'll get going checking into P.I. requirements. You can claim it's a second job for extra money, the Council would probably even be willing to pay you. Grimms have worked for them officially many times over the years and you've already got contacts of your own thanks to those youth suckers and the fight ring."
"Sounds like a good idea. I'm going to head back to my place, I'll talk to you later, Uncle Rory."
Xander had just started making something to eat when Johnathan called, he had found a few interesting things.
"There's more than the four articles Cordelia's seen, Xan." He reported. "In fact there's a total of eight counting the first one that listed four dead as of that printing. A total of twelve dead. All written by the same writer and I did find something that they all have in common, all of these hotels and motels are serviced by the same cleaning company, All Purpose Cleaners, they have contracts all over the city and are owned by a family, the Athertons. That's all I've been able to find."
"Thanks for checking, Johnathan. I'm not sure yet if it rates further investigation, but I do appreciate the help."
"No problem, it wasn't hard."
Xander was reviewing his homework assignments for his classes the next day when his phone rang. Grateful for a break, he got up to answer it.
"Xan, it's me, Rory. I was right, the description you gave me was familiar."
"A Wesen?"
"Yes, one called an Alpe. They feed on melatonin. They release a gas that paralyzes their victims and feed on them. Survivers have been known to be driven insane from nightmares. That's what Alpe means, literally nightmare."
"If they feed on melatonin, why would they be feeding on people? You can buy melatonin over the counter at the store."
"Rogues don't want to conform, Xander. They choose to do something they know the law says they're not allowed to do because they want to, sometimes they have to because they don't have a choice, but Alpe do have a choice and they know it. If they're feeding on people than it's because they choose too."
"The people who reported nightmares, were they fed on too?"
"It's likely. They don't need to kill, they can keep a victim alive and feed on them nightly if they want, but that has the tendency of driving them insane."
"So they're not just feeding unnecessarily, they're killing unnecessarily. If it's an Alpe, the circumstances fit. We need to investigate more, we have no idea currently who it might be."