The Slayers Ch. 01-02

Have you ever had this feeling before?" Jian asked.

"Once- and I ain't talking about it now you best scoot on home. It's safe enough at the moment."

No matter how he pressed her, she wouldn't say anymore. "Now go on; it's safe."

It was safe. He felt it too. The anxiety that led him to take a walk was gone. The air felt as it normally did. He wished the old woman a good rest and walked the half block to his own house. Before he went in, he stopped and looked toward downtown. The words about a darkness coming reverberated through his head. He stepped inside, locked the door and changed into his workout clothes. Brittney would be at his door in less than five hours. By the time she got there, he would have already been at it for several hours.

*****

Xavier took his time. He had all night and no place in particular to go. After he left his South Philadelphia penthouse, he walked through his neighborhood. Those who didn't really know him smiled, nodded and moved on. Those who knew him made themselves scarce and were for the most part unsuccessful. If he really wanted to find someone, he found them and without help. Tonight however, he was in a generous mood. He looked for no one and if he saw someone that he needed to see, he gave them a free pass for the evening. Tomorrow was another day. Tonight was all about him making his presence known and by morning everyone would know that he had arrived. They would know that they had a limited amount of time to make sure that all was as it should be.

His walk took him from South Philadelphia to the west side to the Roosevelt Boulevard area then back to the pent house. He walked in just as the first rays of sunshine hit the windows of the penthouse. As always, the heavy drapes were pulled tight, the bathtub filled with fragrant water and a woman lay unconscious and nude on his bed. He barely spared her a look as he went to begin his bedtime routine. He stripped letting his clothes fall to the floor even though he was more than capable of hanging them himself. It was beneath him-menial labor; that's why he had servants.

As he soaked in the tub, he planned what he should do next besides partaking of the lovely dark haired morsel on his bed. "I've only just arrived," he said out loud as he slid down in the tub so that the hot water covered his pale shoulders. He caught sight of his reflection and practiced smiling and then he frowned. He still wasn't pleased with his performance. Before he did anything else, he would have a few more sessions with his acting coach. But until then...

He felt himself harden in anticipation of the nourishment that lay on his bed. He never asked where they came from- it didn't matter as long as they met his perimeters and they couldn't be traced back to him. He had no preference as to race or size, but they couldn't be underage, diseased, addicts or handicapped in any way. But most importantly, they couldn't be connected. The same guidelines applied to his people who partook of humans. Anyone who violated those guidelines paid dearly for it- usually with their lives.

The last person to break the rules was skinned alive in front of his brethren. It had been a slow, painful death, but the word had been spread and it hadn't happened again. Xavier stood up and allowed the water to run off of him before stepping out of the tub. Just as he liked, the woman that had been on the bed was now awake and waiting with a white fluffy towel to dry him off. He never asked for their names-it didn't matter. He only spoke to them when he gave instructions on how he was to be pleasured. Within the hour, her lifeless body would be lying in front of the door waiting to be taken away.

****

Brittney rolled stiffly off the couch and cursed Jian. She had finally gotten into a deep sleep and the alarm went off. She thought about calling him to see if they could put their run off for a couple of hours, but she decided against it. She was already up and wouldn't go back to sleep anyway. Still cursing, she got into the shower and turned the cold water on. The contact of the cold water against her warm skin made her yelp. She added the hot water and finished her shower. By five forty-five, she was on her bike and headed to Jian's house. The streets were quiet making her wonder why she had been so anxious the night before. She shrugged it off and began to mentally prepare herself for training even as she swore. She arrived at Jian's with ten minutes to spare and carried her bike into the house.

"Good morning, Brittney," Jian said with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," she grumbled as she began her warm-ups. "Tell me again why we do this at six am? Oh yeah- something about the air being the freshest and the traffic."

Jian didn't reply. He wasn't expected to. When they first began training together, her constant grumbling at the beginning was nerve-racking. Now that he was used to it, he found it humorous. It was also an indication of how she was feeling. About six months after they had become friends and began training together, she came to his house for their Saturday five K run. He greeted her and waited for the usual grumblings. When it didn't happen, he let it go thinking that she had things on her mind. When she still hadn't said anything by the time they finished the warm-ups, he knew that something was wrong.

"Brittney- are you alright?"

"I- I..."

And then she vomited all over the living room floor. He still teased her about being her nurse but the truth was he enjoyed it. There were other times when she didn't grumble and sometimes the reason was something far more important than the stomach flu. As long as she was grumbling, he was happy.

When they reached the magical two mile mark, Brittney stopped grumbling. They finished the run in a comfortable silence and began their martial arts training.

"You are becoming quite proficient in Krav Maga," he complimented when they were through.

"Yeah well, I have a good teacher- how about practicing some mixed?"

Jian chuckled and shook his head. The woman was a wonder. He knew of no one with the exception of himself that worked so hard to perfect their skills. She was every bit as good as he was and he would trust her with his life-but would she trust him with hers? Yes he thought as they began to spar. They already had the bond of deep friendship. The rest would follow.

After the workout, Jian handed her a bottle of water and a peach yogurt. He believed in eating healthy too, but yogurt in his opinion was disgusting no matter how it was flavored. While Brittney ate her yogurt, he sliced an apple and munched on it. Not for the first time did he notice how beautiful she was and wondered if she was aware of it. He knew that there were rumors circulating about them, that there had been from the beginning, but he didn't care and apparently; neither did she. As they ate, he remembered the first time that he and Brittney met.

He had just arrived from China and had spoken very little English. The truth was, he spoke English fluently it just hadn't suited his purpose to reveal it. He wanted to experience how Americans treated those different from them and he wanted to be left alone. He arrived In America two weeks before he was to start his job at Pennsylvania Hospital in the IT department, found the house that he was currently living in and started work three weeks later.

The first week in his new surroundings was interesting. He found that people reacted to his presence in in one of four ways, interest, resentment, indifference or acceptance. For that first week resentment was the primary reaction. He made himself known so that people would begin to acclimate to his presence. Four times in the two weeks he had been accosted, but it wasn't long before the word spread that he was much tougher than his five feet six inch wiry thin frame looked. The word was that he could "kick ass".

He showed up at work two weeks later pretending to be lost when he probably knew the building better than the people who worked there. He had studied the blueprints of the building just as he had studied the blueprints to the row homes that he lived in. He knew every possible escape route there was and a few that no one knew existed. He wandered around the building until someone stopped him and asked him if he was lost.

"I am looking for the IT department," he replied careful to thicken his accent. It was a little thing, but it was usually the little things that mattered.

"Well, you're in the right building, but on the wrong floor," The woman whose name according to her ID was Nan. "See that elevator sign way down the hall? Get on one of those and go down to the basement. The IT department is down there."

Jian thanked the woman for her time and went to the elevators. He was early, but he wanted to slip in to watch and listen. The hall to the department was empty and he saw no one as he made his way to the IT offices. From halfway down the hall, he heard voices. Two males were discussing him.

"What do you know about the new guy?" One asked the other.

"Nothing except that he's a foreigner-Japanese or something like that."

"My question is this," the other voice said, "why hire a foreigner? There are plenty if qualified Americans. What's so special about this guy?"

"First of all, by qualified Americans you're talking about your cousin Vince. I mean no disrespect, but the man is a fucking idiot. He doesn't know an usb port from an electric socket. He'd have the entire system down and wouldn't know how he did it or how to fix it. As far as this guy's qualifications, Matt told me that this guy can run circles around us and that he isn't here to join the team per se, but to run a check on our systems to fix the bugs and all of that."

"But a foreigner..."

"Joe, listen," the other lowered and said, "Watch that attitude of yours. It got your ass hauled into Susan's office last month..."

By the time the two men had reached that part of their conversation, Jian had heard enough. He walked past the office where the conversation was taking place and continued his tour. The day shift began to trickle in somewhere around seven. He slipped into the break room and sat in a corner watching each person as they walked in. Another conversation caught his attention.

"Who gets to orientate the new guy?" A woman asked.

"I don't know, just so it isn't me," a man replied. "Me either another voice chimed in. I hate orientating- it slows me down because you have to do everything by the book. Didn't Matt assign him to someone?"

Jian watched and listened as the growing group argued over who was going to orientate him. Finally someone in the group made a suggestion. "Give him to Brittney- she's such a good little soldier always waiting for Matt's next command."

The group murmured its approval and waited for the shift to begin. That morning, Brittney and Matt both happened to be running late. That started another round of discussions about Brittney and Matt possibly being in a relationship. "That would explain a few things," someone said. Matt rushed in red faced and huffing a few minutes later followed by a very composed Brittney.

"Sorry folks," Matt said as he tried to catch his breath. "As you know, we have a new employee joining us. Technically he isn't an employee, but a consultant. I'm surprised that he isn't here yet... oh there you are!" Matt exclaimed spotting Jian in the corner."

Several pairs of eyes turned as one to see who Matt was looking at. The white faces turned beet red and the black ones darkened in embarrassment as they wondered how they hadn't seen him. They knew that he had heard their conversation, but the question was – what was he going to do? If he said anything, all of them would be written up. Matt was big on respect for each other as colleagues and as people.

"Everyone, meet Jian Bo. He comes to us from Beijing, China. I didn't assign him to anyone because I was hoping that one of you would want to pick his brain to learn all that he has to offer." When no one stepped forward, Brittney raised her hand.

"He can work with me."

A collective sigh of relief filled the room- a sigh that Matt didn't miss. He knew that his group could be cliquish and that was the reason that he started watching how they treated new people more carefully. Brittney, although she had been with him for more than a year still hadn't fit in so it came as no big surprise that she was the one that offered. That was a good thing- he would have chosen her anyway. She was one of the best IT people he had ever worked with and that was because when she was at work, she focused on her job and not weekend plans or vacations. They both knew that everyone considered her an ass-kisser, but what impressed him was that she didn't care.

"Thank you Brittney- why don't you show Jian around while I conduct an impromptu staff meeting."

As it turned out, Jian wouldn't have had to say a word. Matt already knew what was going on. In fact, he already knew about the conversation between the night shift techs and was planning to meet with their supervisor after he dealt with his own people.

"We don't need to stay?" Brittney asked surprised.

"Not this time," Matt replied his eyes still on the group and his tone cool.

Jian met Brittney at the door and smiled at her. He took in her small frame- she made him feel tall in comparison.

"Thank you," he said politely.

"You're welcome... I'm going to ask a question and I don't want you to be offended, but didn't you take English classes before you came?"

"I-yes," Jian replied not changing his heavy accent. "I seem to understand English better than I can speak it."

He remembered how she looked at him. She believed him-but not quite. She called him on it a few days later at lunch.

"Why are you pretending that you aren't fluent in English?"

Caught. He had no choice but to fess up. He was actually impressed that she had caught on. Usually he could continue the ruse for weeks and no one ever caught on. They complimented him on the speed in which he mastered the language and it was forgotten. Jian realized something else about her. Whatever she did, she gave it everything she had. They had been working together for about a month when he found out that she was into the martial arts. From there their relationship progressed to a deep friendship.

"What are you thinking about?" Brittney asked bringing him back to the present.

"That it has been four years since we first met," Jian replied. "The time has gone quickly."

Brittney gave him a sharp look, "are you going somewhere?"

"No-it was just an observation," Jian assured her. "I have no immediate plans of going leaving."

Brittney felt a sense of relief that she didn't understand nor did she want to. She finished her snack and gathered her things. She had no plans for the rest of the day or the evening. The next thing she had planned was for Sunday dinner with Amanda and Paul. Her next training session with Jian was on Monday- he was on vacation too. That was something else that had tongues at work wagging- they always took vacations at the same time. During those times they worked out every day for hours. They never socialized other than to train together. It struck Brittney as strange that they were such good friends but they never really socialized.

"Hey... are you doing anything tonight?"

"No-why do you ask?" Jian replied his heart beating a little faster.

"I was just thinking that friends do things together and we ... well it isn't that training isn't fun-it is, but I was thinking that maybe we could you know- have dinner or something?"

The question surprised him although he had been thinking along the same lines for quite some time. He had never said anything because he didn't think she was ready for more than what they were doing.

"I would enjoy that; will you allow me to prepare dinner?"

"Oh... I didn't mean..."

"I know you didn't," Jian assured her. "It would be my pleasure to prepare a meal for my friend."

"What can I bring?" Brittney asked.

"Nothing," Jian replied. "Is six too late for you?"

"Six is perfect- are you sure that I can't bring anything?"

"I am sure- Britt-can we make it five?" Jian asked. A feeling of disquiet had settled over him and for some inexplicable reason, he needed Brittney with him before six.

"Sure- are you alright? You look a little pale."

"I'm fine- I will see you at five."

Jian walked her to the door, watched her leave and then went to make a phone call.

Chapter 2

Xavier slept the sleep of the dead and woke up feeling refreshed. The woman who had been in bed with him was long gone and a carafe of spiced wine sat in a gold bucket filled with ice. He glanced at it, got up and went to the bathroom to begin his evening routine. It never changed and he was never to be interrupted. If he was, it had better be for an emergency of some sort. To save confusion, he had compiled a list of things that he deemed to be an emergency. Among those were unexpected visits from certain people although they knew better than to interrupt him. If they showed up unannounced then it was urgent. A disruption in the flow of his product was another valid reason for an interruption. That could have catastrophic consequences if he wasn't immediately informed. It had been several years since he had been interrupted. A fact that pleased him immensely. It meant that was being recognized for the power that he was.

Memories of being poor, hungry and cold crossed his mind and were quickly pushed away. That was the past. He had made his way to the top by kissing ass, lies, betrayal and by using fear and death when it had become necessary. Along the way, the once decent being that he had once been had slowly died and was replaced by a cold, calculating being that everyone feared. Even his family as poor as they were had turned him away. The memory of his shunning was the most painful memory of all. It was the one memory that he could never push away no matter how hard he tried. It was the one memory that came unbidden- as it did now.

His family was starving. He had already left home to find a way to help them. He was finally on his way back with the nourishment that they needed it wasn't much, but it would keep them from starving. That he had to steal and eventually kill for it didn't matter-the end result did. He had started as a runner for the Devereaux's and was now the controller of a small section of Washington D.C. He had been keeping tabs on his family, helping when he could by leaving small parcels at the door. He always stayed until someone from his family came out and picked the package up. He never made himself known; he wanted to be further up in the organization before he showed himself. He wanted them to be proud of him. He wanted them to look at him with respect.

The day had finally arrived. He packed up the supplies that he bought for his family and loaded them into the new wagon that he had purchased for them. He changed into his best clothes and drove to his childhood home enjoying the clip clop of the mule's hooves as it hit the hard ground. His sister Alana was the first to see him. The sight of her small, thin frame tore at his heart when he saw her. "She's so pale," he thought as he looked at her.

"Xavier!" She screamed excitedly and then called for the others. "Mama! Papa! Xavier is home!"

His mother Helena came from the back of the small house and his father Alberto and his brother Francisco came from inside the house in a rush. All of them were thin and pale. Their clothing hung off of them.

"Xavier?" His mother called as she ran to him, "Where have you been? Are you alright? Look at you!"

Her warm reception warmed him. He jumped down from the wagon ran to her and hugged her and then Alana. His father stood back and watched taking in the loaded wagon and the mule. Francisco looked nervously at the wagon and then his father. He recognized the set of his bony jaw and winced.