Road Kill Café

THE IMMORTAL THE NEXT GENERATION SERIES

Episode Two

By Summer

Beta read by: Anona-mouse, and Kathryn Ramage

Disclaimer: I don’t own the Immortal tv series, just playing with it, that’s all.

Writer’s note: Please pre-read the pilot and first episode (City that never sleeps) before reading this episode.

Class: This series contains Slash and Heterosexual content (Both which means it will contain m/m sex and f/m sex.) Same warnings as before, bondage issues and strong language. In this particular episode it also contains non-consensual issues (Though not graphic). No excuses, don’t like, don’t read.

June 1993 12:30 Am

-- Three days after the Pilot episode, twenty hours since Episode one, The City that Never Sleeps.--

Place: Somerset, Ohio- Amos D Fitzgerald Foster Home.

Two shadowed forms made their way through the bushes, and stopped in front of a large glass window. Bending low, the bulkier figure began to examine the windowpane with a small flash light, while the other form looked around the small building, a nervous expression on his face.

“Oh, Jericho, this is, like, so wrong! We could go to prison for this. If I go to jail my mom will ground me for life, provided she doesn‘t kill me first.”

“Shut up, and hand me the screw driver please.”

Sighing, Elijah pulled out the screwdriver in his knapsack and handed it to Jericho. Handing Elijah the flashlight, Jericho began to work on opening the window.

“Jericho!” Elijah hissed worriedly, as a flash of headlights came into view. Ducking, they waited anxiously for several seconds, peering through some bushes, waiting until the car moved on.

“Look, Elijah, we tried reasoning with those stupid social workers for four hours and got nothing but red tape. We have no choice but to break in and get the information we need.”

“But we don’t even know what we’re looking for. My dad just tells us to come here and that’s it, a dead end!”

Finally finding a little leverage, Jericho popped the window open and slowly pulled it up.

“I don't know for certain, and this is just a hunch, but I don't think the social worker, Mr. Reeds, was leveling with us. Do you want to find your dad, or what?

Elijah shrugged, moved towards the window and heaved himself inside. A few seconds later, they entered a long, dark hallway.

“I don’t understand why they changed it from an Orphanage to a foster care facility.”

“Orphanages are obsolete, kid. Foster Homes make it sound more caring.”

Elijah didn’t quite know what to make of that but, finally gave in. He paused at a doorway that read, ‘computer room.’

Jericho tried the door, and found it was locked. Pulling out a small clip, he bent down on his knees, put the clip into the lock, and tried to jimmy it. A moment later, a soft clicking sound was heard.

Entering the dark room, Jericho closed and relocked the door behind them. Elijah moved to the nearby window and pulled down its shade.

“Ok, Mr. Computer expert! Let’s see how good you really are.”

Elijah grimaced and taking sat down by the desk. Turning the computer terminal on, he went to work.

***

Five minutes passed and Jericho flinched every time he thought he heard a noise outside.

“Come on, kid. Hurry.”

Elijah tapped away on the keyboard, then paused when something came up on his screen.

Elijah continued to tap away on the computer trying to get more information.

“According to this, there were no further records on Jason Richards. He just disappeared completely, never to be seen or heard of again. I wonder why my dad and Jason left their foster parents, and where did they go? How did my dad meet my mom? There are so many unanswered questions."

“Well, you said that he worked at Braddock Industries in 1968-1969. That was when he discovered his special blood, and went on the run from Braddock. Wasn’t he engaged with another woman at that time?”

“Yes, but what about his brother? Where is he? Why didn’t my dad ever mention him to my mom?”

Jericho shrugged, having no answer to give. Elijah did some more searching and nodded towards the data on the screen.

“Ian Clay passed away ten years ago, but his wife is still alive and living in a nursing home. West Haven, Columbus, Ohio.”

“That’s not far from here.”

Elijah did a few more checks and shrugged. “Here's something interesting. Back in 1969, the orphanage was contacted by a person named Braddock, and later by a Maitland Corporation. Both of them wanted information about my father and Jason's past history."

Elijah hit some more keys.

“What are you looking for?”

“More information about my biological paternal grandparents. I want to know if I might have any other living family somewhere.” A few moments later, Elijah managed to call up the file.

“Here we go. Ok, according to this my Father’s dad was an only child, and he and his wife died when my dad was still a kid. No other known living family on his side.” Elijah shrugged and scrolled down the screen.

“My grandmother came over from Athens, Greece, in 1920. Her parents died in a boating accident when she was 19 and she was left to raise her younger sister by herself. After she married my grandfather, she moved to America.”

“So you may have living relatives in Greece? A Great Aunt?”

Elijah checked the key board, and tapped a few more words out, and the screen came up with updated information.

“No, it says here that her sister, Stephanie, vanished in 1930. She was working as a research assistant on an Ocean exhibition off the coast of Bermuda…the Bermuda Triangle. Her body was never found. She wasn’t married at the time and had no children. That‘s funny-”

“What’s funny?”

“My great-grandparents were sailing in the Bermuda Triangle when they had their boating accident.”

“Wow! The curse of the Bermuda Triangle lives on. So much for immortality. Anything else?”

Elijah looked through the files and shrugged. "I'm accessing the most recent files, but they look incomplete. In fact, I think some of these files have been purposely erased. Damn, I'd love to know what was deleted.”

Elijah continued trying to access other files, but came up with nothing.

“That’s it! I can’t find anything else. I’m going to print all of this out, and maybe we can look it over later. But as far as I can tell, my father left no clues here for my mom to find.”

Jericho thought things through for a moment, trying to come up with a new idea. "Maybe he didn't leave any clues in the computer or in the files, but he might have left one somewhere else. Wait here while I check something." He turned towards the door and made his way out of the room.

Elijah watched him leave, but returned his attention to the computer when it began to print out the information on his family.

***

Jericho made his way to the director's office, jimmied the lock, and entered the office.

Putting on the desk light, Jericho began a careful search of the room, trying to find any clue as to why Ben had pointed Jean in this direction.

He noted an item of interest dated four days previously. A person by the name of B. Richards had dropped by the office and left a letter to Jean Chevalier. Turning the page to the next date, Jericho was stunned to read the next notation. Fletcher Corporation had contacted this office, requesting any information and offering a $25,000 reward.

‘That little bug-eyed twerp!’

Jericho had known that the little weasel had been hiding something from the first moment he’d set eyes on him. He was just too slick, and in too much of a hurry to turn them away. So Ben left a letter, but where was it? Had the Social Worker already mailed it out to Fletcher, or had Fletcher and his men already collected it? Turning the page, Jericho winced when he saw another notation. “1:30 pm, Doctor David Stanton w/arrive for letter pick up.”

So, it was still here, but where? Going through the room again, Jericho left no stone unturned and still came up with nothing. Where could it be? Sitting back down at the desk, Jericho surveyed the room slowly. An oddly placed, slightly tilted picture on the wall caught his eye. Getting up, he moved swiftly to the painting, pulling it away from the wall. Hidden behind it was a small metal vault. “Smoking!”

Flexing his fingers, he started to move the small round dial, listening intently for any clicks.

***

***

Jericho grinned when he heard a final click, and the door to the vault swung open. But the smile vanished from his face when an alarm suddenly sounded. Wincing in surprise at the piercing sound, Jericho reached into the vault as quickly as he could, and pulled out a small letter. Bingo! The name "Jean Chevalier" was written on the envelope. Not bothering to close the vault, Jericho ran out of the room and down the hallway.

Elijah covered his ears as the loud wail shrieked around him. He glanced up just as Jericho ran up to him and roughly pushed him in the direction of the window.

They had just reached the motorcycle parked on the other side of the street, when two police cars pulled up at the entrance of the building. Unnoticed, Jericho started up his motorcycle, and he Elijah made their get away.

***

-The following day-

After a quick shower, a change of clothing and breakfast, Jericho and Elijah headed for West Haven Nursing home.

They entered the building and headed for the receptionist. The elderly woman looked suspiciously up at them through speckled eye glasses perched on the bridge of her nose.

“Yes, how may I help you?”

“Hi, my name is Jericho Richards and this is my brother Elijah. We came to see a resident in your facility. A Joan Clay.”

“May I ask why you wish to see her?”

“Many years ago, she and her husband fostered our father, Ben Richards?”

The woman continued to look at the two of them unemotionally.

“Yes?”

“Well, the thing is, our father disappeared a few years ago, and we've been trying to find him. We were hoping Joan Clay might be able to help us.'

The receptionist seemed surprised. "That's interesting," she said." Mrs. Joan Clay has been with us now for about twelve years, and according to her history she has only one son, Phillip. I'm afraid Mrs. Clay had a stroke a few months ago, and can no longer speak. However, her son happens to be visiting her today. Perhaps he can help you.”

Putting down her glasses, the receptionist stood up and straightened the creases in her white suit. She pointed towards an elevator down the hall, instructed them to go to the second floor, and ask for the head nurse.

Relieved that they were to be allowed to visit Mrs. Clay and possibly talk to her son, Jericho and Elijah stepped into the elevator and punched the button for the second floor.

***

A few minutes later, they entered a sterile, well cleaned floor. Several aides and nurses were busy seeing to the care of its many patients. A floor nurse greeted them and led them down the hallway. She pointed at a closed door.

“Here you go, gentlemen.”

Opening the door slowly, Jericho saw an elderly lady resting quietly in a hospital bed. A middle-aged man, was sitting on a chair beside her, holding her hand as she slept.

Jericho pushed Elijah gently back out of the room. “Wait outside by the motorcycle. I’ll be along shortly.”

Not liking it, Elijah gave in and headed back to the elevators.

***

Outside, Elijah paced around the bike, anxiously wondering what else might be revealed about his family. It was just so much to take in. As of yet, he still hadn’t opened his father’s letter to his mom. A part of him wanted to tear the thing apart, but another part of him was afraid. Earlier this morning, he and Jericho had decided to wait until after meeting Mrs. Clay before opening the letter and figuring out the next step.

After what seemed like an eternity, Elijah looked towards the nursing home entrance and saw Jericho stepping out. That was when all hell broke loose. Two men came out of nowhere and grabbed Elijah in a tight arm-hold, while two other men exited a parked car and headed straight towards Jericho.

Helpless to break free from his assailants, Elijah saw a familiar man exit another black Cadillac and quickly move towards him. He was well-dressed in a three piece suit, and in his hands he held a fluid-filled syringe, complete with very nasty looking needle. Elijah stared in horror, as Doctor David Stanton came towards him.

“NO!”

“Easy, little one, this is just to sedate you. It won’t hurt, -well, just a little.” Confronting the two men, he nodded to them. “Hold his arm out.”

Crying out, Elijah struggled to keep his arms to his chest, but the two thugs were much stronger. They yanked one of his arms down, giving Stanton a clear view of a vein.

“No, p-p-please don’t!” cried Elijah, but Stanton only removed the cap and prepared to push the needle into the pale wrist.

Hearing Elijah’s cry, Jericho stepped back as his two attackers tried to surround him. Without missing a beat, Jericho attacked first. Using all his strength, he kicked the first man hard in the chest. The blow sent his attacker crashing to the ground, crying out in pain, and gasping for breath.

The second man moved in, attempting to strike a blow across Jericho's jaw. But Jericho skillfully evaded the blow, and took out this attacker with a punch under the chin. The man fell unconscious at his feet. Jumping over the two fallen men, Jericho hurried to Elijah's side.

***

“Doctor Stanton, look out!” cried one of the other thugs, as Jericho ran towards them. Stanton turned just in time to receive a solid punch to the stomach. The blow sent him crashing to the ground and losing the needle on the ground. Crushing the syringe with his foot, Jericho confronted the men holding Elijah with an irate expression on his face.

“What’s the matter, you can bully a boy, but can’t deal with a man? Come on, show me what you’ve got!”

One of the men let go of Elijah, and moving into a karate like stand, he moved forward and tried to give Jericho a deadly chop across the neck. Jericho was all too familiar with that particular move. He simply caught the blow, took two steps around, turned, and hit the thug with the back of his hand, right across the jaw.

The thug went down like a ton of bricks.

Click!

"Don't even think about it!" shouted the second thug as he held firmly onto Elijah with one hand. In his other hand was a small pistol, and it was pointed at Elijah's head. "I'll kill the little brat! One bullet is all it will take."

Jericho froze and swallowed hard, uncertain what to do. The madman smiled and moved the gun closer to Elijah's head, obviously thrilled at scaring his prey.

Stanton got to his feet and rubbed his sore stomach; only at this point was he realizing the situation was getting out of control. “No! Mr. Fletcher and Saxon don’t want them harmed. Put that away.”

“That’s not what I remember,” the thug yelled. “he just wants the little brat.”

“But he doesn’t want you.” the thug yelled speaking to Jericho. “That would make you expendable.”

With that, the madman changed the direction of the gun and pointed it at Jericho, giving Elijah the chance he needed. As hard as he could, Elijah slammed his elbow into the thug’s ribs. Crying out, the man lost his grip on Elijah and freed him to run. Jericho wasted no time in delivering a flying punch across the madman's jaw.

Hitting the ground, the thug lost his gun. Jericho grabbed the weapon, and holding Stanton and the rest of Fletcher's goons at bay, he hurried towards his bike. Elijah was right behind him and hopped onto the seat behind him.

“Mr. Jericho, Mr. Chevalier, be reasonable. My employers are willing to give you anything you want, anything you desire. Just name your price?”

By way of an answer, Jericho pointed the gun at the nearby cars and fired a bullet into each tire. When the chamber was empty, he threw it to the ground.

“Jericho, we know a great deal about you. More than you know about yourself. Surrender to us, and I promise we’ll do whatever we can to help you regain your memories. Elijah, you want to see your mother again, don’t you? Come with me now, and I promise to take you to her.“

Jericho shook his head, as Elijah frowned at the man with pure distaste. Starting up the motorcycle and, with Elijah holding tightly to his waist, Jericho spun the cycle around and raced down the street.

Doctor Stanton watched them disappear, and then moved towards his car. He turned to the thug who'd held the weapon to Elijah's head, and without missing a beat, proceeded to yell at him.

“You disobeyed my orders! Orders that came straight from Fletcher and Saxon! You’re fired!”

Getting into the car he shut the door behind him, picking up the cell phone, placed a quick call.

***

“How, how could they have known where to find us?!” cried Elijah, as they entered the main highway and headed north-bound at 70 mph.

“A lucky guess, Elijah. The foster home was broken into last night, and Ben’s letter was taken. It wouldn’t take much to figure out who broke in, and where we might go.”

“But…but how did they know we would come here?”

Jericho shrugged. “A hunch, they’re probably pretty good trackers…don’t worry--we’re safe now.”

Elijah wasn’t so sure. “Are we?”

***

They drove for what seemed to be for quite a long time. Slowly, cities and smaller counties grew further apart and all around them was a stretch of highway and desert. Spotting a restaurant ahead, where a sign proudly read in neon ‘Miranda’s Café’, Jericho pulled into it. Parking the motorcycle in the back and away from the road, Jericho and Elijah headed into the small café.

It was still early in the day, and Jericho spotted only a few customers eating their meals and two waitresses who looked to be in their thirties standing behind a counter, listening to music and gossiping the latest news.

Seeing the young men enter the café, the red haired woman left her blond friend and hurriedly walked over with two menus, smiling at them.

“Hi, my name is Miranda. Here you go.” She handed each a menu. “Would you like anything to drink before your order?”

Jericho nodded. “I would love a tall glass of ice cold water.”

She winked and turned to the younger boy, who had the most stunning blue eyes she had ever seen.

“And you, sugar?”

“A coke please, with ice.”

She nodded at the two of them and hurried away to get their drinks. Alone, Jericho finally was ready to fill Elijah in on his findings with Mrs. Clay’s son.

“I talked to Philip Clay and he told me quite an interesting story.”

All ears, Elijah leaned back.

“Well, according to his mom, Ian and Joan had just gotten married and weren’t even sure they could have children, so they tried to adopt through the Fitzgerald Orphanage. They remained with the Clay family for several years but when Ben was thirteen and his brother Jason was 17 they ran away. Philip told me, it seems his dad was a bit, well let’s just say, strict.”

“He abused them?”

“You have to understand, Elijah, back in those days punishment was dealt out by the father and ah, sometimes, they could be brutal. That was just the way it was.”

Elijah shook his head at the thought of his father being beaten up by a man who was suppose to be a parental and loving figure. At this point, Miranda came back with their drinks.

“Ready to order?”

Jericho nodded. “Yes, I’ll have a cheeseburger, medium rare, and fries.”

Elijah then cut in. “I’ll have the same, only two cheeseburgers, well done please.”

Miranda quickly took up the menus and hurried away to comply with their order.

“Ok, so that explains why my dad and his brother left. But where did he go?”

“Philip said about fifteen years ago, a woman came to see him. Her name was Carol Carver and that she was looking for Ben to inform him that her father, a Joe Carver, had died. Apparently, they had gone to live with this Joe Carver when they left the Clay family. Which was quite unheard of back in the 1940’s.”

“Why is that?”

“They were black.”

Elijah blinked. “Oh. Did Ben or Jason ever come see Philip?”

“No, he was born shortly after they left. He never knew of Ben or Jason, only what his mother told him about them.”

“I wonder if this Carol Carver is still living and if she ever made contact with my dad?”

“Philip said he never saw that woman again and of course Ben and Jason never contacted him or his mother either, even after Ian Clay’s death.”

Elijah sadly lowered his eyes and stirred his straw around his drink.

“All the pieces are coming together, Jericho. But still so many holes. It almost reads like a daytime soap.”

“The days of our lives!” Jericho laughed and leaned back against his own Seat, and shrugged. Then, after a thought, he pulled out the white letter and with Elijah’s nod, tore it open. Pulling out a small slip of paper,

Elijah took it and read the note.

“I’m sorry, Jean, for putting you through all this, but I have to be careful and cautious with every move I make. The men that are after me are desperate, capable of doing anything to get what they want. Me. Please, find

Sylvia Cartwright Hiller, she will have the next clue to my whereabouts. You can find her living in Everwood, Michigan. No matter what happens, remember that I love you. Ben.”

Elijah looked up and at once pulled out his knapsack and began to rummage through it.

“What is it?”

Elijah shook his head and, finally finding what he was looking for, pulled out a small old newspaper clipping. “Look at this.”

Jericho took the old newspaper clipping and saw a picture of Elijah’s father with a blond young and very beautiful-looking woman. Underneath were the names Ben Richards and Sylvia Cartwright.

“Very pretty. Your dad’s ex-girl. Your mom would have been impressed.”

Elijah only snatched the clipping back and threw it into his knapsack without looking at it.

“He has a lot of audacity to do that to my mom, sending her to that woman! A woman he obviously was in love with and was going to marry.”

“Give the guy a break would you, Elijah. If you were being chased, what and who would be the last person they would think Ben would send the woman he loves a clue to find him.”

Elijah didn’t reply and, fortunately, their meals arrived and Elijah dug in therefore ending the conversation.

He put down the binoculars and, re-opening the car door, got back inside.

“Well?” Dominic looked up from reading a book entitled ‘In The Way of the Samurai.’

“He and Jericho are in the café, and the best part is there are only a few people inside.”

“Shall we move in?” asked Dom, closing the book and putting it aside.

Vincent turned and smiled.

***

The highway was empty as the five motorcycles sped down the long stretch of road. The speed limit read 55 they were doing 80 mph. Each of them wore an identical jacket, a skull in flames.

One of the men pulled out a beer bottle from his pocket and drank the last gulps of it before throwing it behind him, just missing one of his buddies and hitting the ground, shattering into a thousand pieces on the road.

***

“I’ll be right back, just going to use the facilities.” replied Jericho, getting up from his now-empty plate of food and heading toward the back of the room to the men’s room. Elijah slowly got up from his seat and put on his knapsack.

“I’ll go pay the bill.” Being sure to leave a good tip, Elijah hurried over to the red-haired woman behind the counter.

“Was the food all right?”

“It was excellent, Miranda. Thanks.”

She smiled at the young man and nodded. “Summer vacation?”

Elijah shrugged. “You could say that.”

“When I was a young girl, I dreamed of traveling the countryside too.”

Elijah sadly lowered his eyes and shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose. But I look forward to going home sometime.”

Giving her the money, Elijah watched as she checked it off and counted it into the cash box.

“Well, as Dorothy always says --'there is no place like home.' You take care of yourself, sugar.”

Elijah didn’t argue and turned to head out to the motorcycle, when he stopped dead in his tracks. Two very familiar men walked into the café.

Not even missing a beat, Dom laughed and hurriedly moved forward, taking Elijah into a warm embrace.

“ELIJAH!” Making sure to keep that part of his voice loud enough for all to hear. “Fancy seeing you here! What a small world!” Then lowering his voice, he spoke into Elijah’s ear. “Don’t try anything. We have this place surrounded. You don’t want to frighten the patrons? Do you?”

Elijah gasped and pulled slightly away from Dom, not liking how close Dom was to his face and body.

“Don’t you dare touch me!” Elijah hissed, keeping his voice low and out of earshot from the others in the café.

“Oh, still upset? Well, why don’t we have a seat and have some…homemade apple pie? Or perhaps some chocolate cake? They say chocolate is a great mood enhancer…it might help with your moods.”

“How did you find us?”

“We’re trackers, Elijah. That’s what we do. There is no place you can go or run that we won’t find.”

Elijah allowed himself to be pulled into a nearby seat and table. Vincent moved with them taking an opposite seat. Keeping his voice low, Vincent gestured under his jacket with his eyebrow. “Let’s all behave like gentlemen. We'll wait for Mr. Jericho’s return and then we will quietly walk out of here.”

Elijah pulled his hand away from Dom’s tight grip and gritting his teeth, he looked out of the nearby window to see five motorcyclists pull up. They all wore identical jackets, a skull in flames. They appeared to be drinking and they didn’t look very friendly.

“I could scream for help right now! They will call the police and both of you will be in big trouble.” Elijah gestured to the waitresses behind the counter. Vincent only smiled.

“On the contrary, please do. Call for help, Master Elijah. You will be surprised to find when the police come they will be on OUR side.”

Elijah stared at him in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Dom, who was seated next to Elijah, continued to keep himself close to Elijah; his hands every now and again would come up and gently touch Elijah’s body parts. His shoulder, hair, cheek. Each time he did, Elijah would flinch a bit.

“It’s simple, Elijah. You are a very sick young man.” Dom grinned and gently traced his fingers upon Elijah’s jacket. “Who needs medical attention.”

“What?” asked Elijah, who batted Dom’s hands away and then stared at Vincent for confirmation. Vincent only shook his head.

“Fletcher is very desperate. I have worked for him for many years. He takes no unnecessary risks. You’re very important to him. We wouldn’t want you toget into anything that might harm you.”

Clenching his fists, Elijah felt the rage boil in his blood.

Seeing Elijah’s quiet and solemn look, Dom turned to look at the entrance to see several biker men come into the room. They looked big and up to no good. Two of the men stayed by the entrance, while the other three moved to the counter. As the motorcyclists entered, the customers and the waitresses, looked slightly nervous at their arrival.

“Wait here with Chevalier, Master Dominic. I will go see what is taking Mr. Jericho so long in the restroom.”

Getting to his feet, Vincent hurried and disappeared into the back room.

Alone with Elijah, Dom pulled his weapon out from under his jacket and kept it level to Elijah’s stomach.

“What? No, how are you doing Dominic? Are you feeling better after that…fire incident? You know the one that got me twenty five stitches in my leg?”

Elijah looked down at the table and shrugged helplessly. Lowering his voice even more, Dom scooted his body closer against Elijah’s.

“Vincent said you didn’t want to leave me. Is that true?”

Elijah could hear the seductive and warmth in Dom’s voice and found he couldn’t speak. He swallowed instead.

“Come on, Elijah. It’s been several days and I want to know…I poured my heart out to you. You know how I feel about you…Tell me you feel the same? I know you do.”

Turning, Elijah glared coldly at Dominic and was just about to speak when suddenly several of the biker men pulled out a gun and the leader, who had a spiked hair cut, fired a shot into the air.

***

Part three

Vincent entered the restroom with his gun drawn. Pausing for a moment, he could see several stalls, but no Jericho. Keeping a careful stand, he began to check each stall. The first one, empty. Second one, Empty…the third-

The Door kicked forward and Vincent felt the full force of the blow sending him flying backwards against one of the cold sinks. Keeping his gun firmly in hand, he regained his balance in time for Jericho to come in swinging.

Catching the first blow in his chest, Vincent ignored the pain and, bringing up his arm, he swiped a blow to Jericho’s face with the side of the gun. Catching it on his cheek, Jericho backed away, but pulled back, his fist ready to fight to the finish.

Vincent held his gun out and, leveling it, he aimed and was about to fire the dart into Jericho's chest, when the loud sound of a gun going off was heard. Pausing in mid strike, the two stared at each other. Putting the gun away, Vincent and Jericho carefully moved to the restroom door and looked out to see what was happening.

***

“Ladies and Gentlemen!” The head biker with the spiked hair faced the room with his gun spanning each and every figure, including Elijah and Dom. “If I may have your attention. My name is Digger and you are now my hostages. Why, you ask? Because I have the weapons and the man power at my beck and call. If you try anything, I will shoot you and you will be very, very dead. Do I make myself clear?”

A moment of silence followed, then a low voice spoke by the counter. It was Miranda.

“What do you want?”

The biker laughed and stared at the woman. “Well, all the money in that little box will start.”

Miranda nodded and, moving forward, she opened the cash box and took out all the money and handed it to him.

“Fine, take it and go.”

Chuckling, the biker tossed the money to one of his men and shrugged. “And everything your customers have. Including jewelry.”

Several of the biker men with guns in there own hands took out several bags and made there way to the customers who stared in fear at the men. All the customers quickly pulled out their wallets and purses, and placed them into the bag.

One of the biker men moved toward an elderly woman and shook his head. “And that lovely ring of yours, my dear. Put it in the bag.”

The elderly woman, who was seated at the near end of the room, began to weep in fear. “Please, not my ring. It's all I have of Henry’s. He died a few years ago and I don’t have anything of value. Besides, it's not worth all that much...it's only two carats.”

Before she could go on, the biker raised his hand to strike her.

That was when Elijah leaped to his feet. “NO! Leave her alone!”

Dom grimaced, but putting his gun aside he rose and nodded. “You heard him--leave the old lady alone.”

The head biker stared at the two youngsters and laughed as the other biker moved to hit the woman anyway. The leader caught the hand and shook his head. Walking over to the two young men, the Leader grinned at them.

“A damsel in distress, two very young and very stupid hero want-to-be’s.”

Without missing a beat, Digger swung his fist and hit Elijah across the cheek, sending him falling back against his seat. Stunned only for a second, Dom hurried to protect Elijah, when he too received a harsh blow, but in his stomach, sending Dominic down next to Elijah’s side, wincing and gasping for breath as the pain went through him.

Menacing his gun in Dominic’s face, the leader shrugged. “One more hero-play and I will kill you. Now give me your wallets and that very nice Rolex watch you’re wearing.”

Dominic glared up at him, but silently took out his wallet and handed it to Digger, followed by his watch. Elijah grudgingly followed suit, giving over his wallet.

Once everything was collected, Digger pointed his gun at the back of the restaurant. “All right, everyone together. I want you all in one place so I can see you.”

As they hurried to comply, the fearful elderly woman started to become hysterical. Crying, she muttered over and over again that they were going to be killed. Elijah, seeing this, hurriedly took the woman aside and helped her to sit on the floor, consoling her softly in his arms. Dominic followed, seating himself on the opposite side of the woman and putting a hand on her shoulder, all the while eyeing the seat he had vacated that still had the gun that was loaded with one sleep dart and was out of hand's reach.

“What are you going to do with us?” asked Miranda as she hugged her fellow co-worker, a blonde waitress, in her arms.

“What do you think?” said Digger. Seeing their fear, he laughed menacingly at the small group. Two young boys, a middle-aged and chubby business man, an elderly woman, three young teenage girls and the two female waitresses.

“We're going to have some fun.”

***

“What do we do?” asked Jericho.

Vincent checked his gun. “I have one shot and it's loaded only with a sedative. That won’t take out five very armed and very dangerous men. I need to get to my car and get some more weapons to make it a little more even.”

Looking around the restroom, Vincent saw one small window high above the stalls.

“You think you can fit through there?”

Vincent shook his head. “No, but you can.”

Jericho let out a frustrated breath and moving to the window waited for a hand up by Vincent.

***

“You first!” The Leader grabbed the blond-haired waitress from the group.

The woman screeched in alarm, trying to get back to Miranda. “No, no!”

Trying to get to her, Miranda was thrown back against the wall by Digger. Still holding the blond with his other hand, he threw her to one of the bikers. “Here you go, George boy, I know how much you just love blonds.”

Slapping the hysterical woman in the face, the biker with a long beard and stringy hair threw the woman to the other side of the room, pushing her towards the kitchen. Giving the others one more look, he threw her inside and followed her, already unbuttoning his pants.

Sitting where he was Elijah and Dom listened as the woman continued to scream, getting louder and louder until they heard a loud thudding noise and silence.

A tear fell from Elijah’s eye. Dom gently placed his free hand on his back.

Vincent remained by the door seeing what was happening. Cursing in Japanese, Vincent shook his head and keeping low he went down on his knees and made his way slowly across the floor. He could see the counter to his side and was grateful that the corner was open to allow someone to get to the back of it. Swiftly, he went behind and crawled quickly towards the kitchen.

***

“Now let’s see, who shall we do next?”

A large and bulky biker, going bald, whispered into Digger’s ears. Laughing, the leader nodded.

“No problem, Vasa, we have quite a selection…just take your pick.”

The bulky man reached down and, to Dominic’s horror watched as he grabbed

Elijah, and pulled him to his feet.

“I like mine with a small tight ass!”

Elijah became alarmed and cried out, swinging and kicking in every direction, but the blows only rolled off Vasa, who simply pulled the boy towards the kitchen.

“No! Don’t!” Dom tried to get up, only for Digger to send down a fist, giving Dominic a bloody nose. Ignoring the pain, Dom got up again only to receive another blow across his jaw. Unwilling to be stopped, Dom got up again a third time to have a gun pointed in his face with its hammer clicking back.

“One more move and it will be all over for you.”

Helplessly, Dominic watched as Vasa, finally having enough of Elijah’s resistance, gave him a hard blow across the neck. At once, Elijah crumbled to the floor, out cold.

***
He had his pants off and drew the unconscious blond’s skirt up to her waist. Spreading her legs wide, he prepared to thrust his member deep into her body when a dark shadow came from above him. Two hands wrapped around his neck and pulled. A low cracking sound followed.

Laying the dead man on the ground, Vincent bent down to look at the blond and checked her pulse. She was still alive. A red mark was on her cheek, obviously where she had been struck. Pulling her skirt back down, Vincent pulled her gently into his arms and carried her to the back of the kitchen next to an exit doorway. Setting her down away from the dead man, Vincent covered her up with his jacket.

Getting to his feet, to try the exit door, he saw that it was locked. He returned to the kitchen doorway just in time for the doors to open.

Vasa carried Elijah into the room and was about to have his own fun when he saw his buddy lying on the ground. Not seeing the woman, he was about to yell out when he felt something metal hit the back of his head. He dumped Elijah onto the floor. The biker paused for a moment and then turned around to see his assailant.

Vincent pointed the gun in his face. “One word, and I will kill you like I did with your sick buddy. Believe me, killing you will be nothing but pleasure. No extra charge for my boss.”

A short time later, Vincent found a nice meat freezer to lock him in.

***

“Now, who’s next?” asked the leader. Digger looked down at Dominic and grinned. “I think it's perhaps time I made an example out of you. Perhaps you would love to have a nice hard cock thrust into your ass.”

Dominic only glared back at him. “Fuck you!”

Digger only laughed again. “No, perhaps I should teach you a lesson instead. Make that mouth of yours find something better than talking to occupy it.” Pausing, he grinned and, putting his gun aside on the counter, he started to unbuckle his belt. “What will be even better to show these wonderful people how it should be done. So they will be ready for it when it's their turn.”

Crying and clinging to each other, the others turned away.

Dominic only looked back at him with eyes that promised to bite his precious family jewels if they came near his mouth. Digger shrugged. “If he bites me, shoot the old lady!”

One of the two bikers moved away from the entrance and, with a gun in hand, pointed it at the woman’s head. Cringing, the old woman put her hands together and began to pray to God.

Dominic swallowed and watched as Digger finally undid his pants and lowered them.

“Come on, little boy, let’s use those lips and tongue of yours to good purpose. Suck me!”

Dominic, swallowed again and then, rising to his knees, started to draw closer to the hard flesh before him when, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a head staring at him from the kitchen. Vincent. How? Looking around, with only his eyes, Dominic saw something else: Outside, he could see a figure coming out of Vincent’s car and was making his way towards the restaurant. Jericho, and he was armed.

Smiling lightly, he put his hands on Digger’s hips and brought his head up and opened his mouth.

***

Jericho, seeing the tense situation, reacted as he knew best. Taking up the firing arm, he shot at the one biker by the window. The bullet, went threw the glass and found its mark.

All heads turned at the sound of glass breaking, and then the remaining biker by the entrance sagged forward and hit the floor. A spot of red blood covered his back.

The biker who was holding a gun at the old woman’s head turned and, seeing where the shot had come from, spotted Jericho. Growling, he took aim but he never got a chance to fire. The doors to the kitchen opened and a whizzing sound hit the air. A large dart hit his chest. Surprised, the biker stared at the stranger by the kitchen door and re-aimed his gun to shoot him, when the entrance doors opened and Jericho entered, firing a shot into the biker’s shoulder. The biker dropped his gun and slowly followed his fellow biker to the ground.

Reacting, Digger went to grab for his gun on the counter, when to his horror he saw that it was gone. He looked down to see Dominic smiling up at him and pointing the gun right at his crotch.

***

Vincent locked the bikers into the trunk of the car, properly tied up, drugged and at his mercy.

Inside, Dominic, after reclaiming his own gun, was trying to calm the ex-hostage group. He paused in his movements to see Jericho heading to the kitchen.

“I’m going to check on Elijah.”

Figuring they had nowhere to go, Dominic let Jericho go. He was worried himself about Elijah.

“Bring him in here so I can look him over.”

He did not see Jericho snatch up a jumble of keys hanging on a nearby peg.

The elderly woman now sat quietly by the table, holding tightly onto her returned ring. Miranda was nearby, holding and comforting the blond, which Dominic now knew was her younger sister.

Meanwhile, the teenage girls had already hurried out the door, no longer intending to run away and go to Washington D.C. to find some boys. They were going home back where they belonged in Missouri.

Vincent entered the restaurant and watched as Miranda finally moved to the phone.

“What are you doing?”

“I’m going to call the police.”

Vincent took the phone from her hands and shook his head. “It's all right--we are the police. FBI.” Without missing a beat, Vincent pulled out his wallet and quickly flashed his badge, which he and Dominic only knew was fake.

Miranda nodded. “I should have guessed. Thanks. You guys really are heroes!” bending over, she gave Vincent a kiss on the cheek and shrugged. “Well, I will clean up and take care of the others. Hey, where did my keys go?” Miranda stared at the empty peg, then stared out the window to see two figures making their way quickly to a nearby bike. “Oh, if you don’t hurry, your friends will beat you to the reports. I am sure you are going to have to fill out over all this.”

His face falling, Vincent turned to the window to see Jericho and a rather pale Elijah already on the highway, disappearing into the desert.

Dominic raised an eyebrow at Vincent.

“Let them go for now. We'll catch them, sooner or later.”

Dominic folded his arms, but said nothing.

***

“Are you sure Dominic was all right?”

“Don’t worry. I’m sure him and that Vincent Price…”

“Caesar. His name is Vincent Caesar.”

“Whatever, will be back to cause us grief. Are you?-”

“I’m fine, just a few more bruises…”

“Next stop?”

Elijah nodded. “Everwood, Michigan.”

Jericho picked up his speed. “Here we come.”

***

Slowly, he placed each cemented brick into place. One by one, by one. As he placed each brick, he hummed a little tune. Nearby, Vincent stood in the front of his limo, looking over several maps and totally ignored the screams coming from within the layered brick hut. They had found it a few miles from the restaurant, on a dead end road with nothing around for miles but a few vultures.

A quick call, and they got the necessary equipment. The bikers would never be found.

He had one brick left. He held it out and waited.

“Come on, come on, man! We were only having some fun. You’re gonna call the police and have them come get us and put us in jail right? Come on, man! You aren‘t going to bury us alive?”

Dominic smiled. “Sure, don’t worry. I’ll call the police.” He then put the brick in place as the last of the screams were muffled. Getting to his feet, Dominic brushed himself off. “In about ten or twenty years.”

Joining Vincent by the car, he nodded. “Sweet revenge. Ready.”

Getting into the limo, they closed the doors and slowly drove away.

***

-Somewhere in Washington D.C. Two days later.-

He put the papers down on the desk. The seated man in the shadows looked the papers over. All that could be seen of him was the golden signet ring with a lion on his finger.

The man standing over him spoke with a slight British accent. “They were last seen here, at Miranda’s Café in Fume county. We believe they may be heading towards Michigan.” Dropping a photo on the papers, the figure with the ring picked it up to study the photo. It was a picture of a young man in his teens with dark brown hair and big bright blue eyes.

“His name is Elijah Richards Chevalier, and we’re still getting data on him, but we believe he may be the son of Benjamin Richards. Jason Richards' brother. We don’t know how they got together and found each other; as far as we know, Jericho still has amnesia. But it's possible he may remember who he is and what he is, he’s slowly beginning to remember.”

The dark figure put the photo down and waited.

“We have reason to believe that two very powerful men are after them. That somehow they know about the…Richards…and their special blood. Steel Fletcher and Nigel Saxon the Second.”

The figure did not move or speak, but his hand curled into a fist.

“We have to find them before they do. It's vital. Do whatever it takes. Do whatever you must. But the agency wants them…all of them. You think you can handle it?”

The figure still didn’t speak, but raised his fist and opened it with a slight wave.

“There is more at stake than we have thought. We need more information about this blood. Your goal is to keep them safe and away from Fletcher and Saxon. It's possible we may be able to collect all the Richards clan in one shot. The agency also wants to know where they got this blood, how they came to be so gifted. Learn everything you can, before we close the lid on them forever.”

The figure got to his feet and with his back turned walked out of the office, closing the door behind him.

THE END!