"The Maze"

By: Miracle Shining

 

AUTHOR'S NOTE: All the Slayers characters are property of their respective companies and distributions. I'm just a fan, please don't sue me. This is an alternity fic with heavy angst, dark themes, and YAOI, so if you are under 18 or the legal age in your state or country, offended by m/m relationships, or can not handle really dark literature, than leave now!! I won't be responsible for you if you do not! All music lyrics are property of me! Domo arigato, and enjoy the fic!! =^.^=

 

CHAPTER TWO: The Night Dweller

 

Zelgadiss made the last left that led to Ameria's house. He couldn't help but get wide eyed upon seeing the decadent three story house with the huge marble pillars at the end of block.

"That's your house, Detective Saillune?" Zel asked in awe.

Ameria nodded excitedly.

"Uh-huh!! Papa has been talking about getting a new one, but he says this little place will be appropriate for now."

"Little?" Zel choked on that word.

He eased the car around the bend and up the long path to the main gates of the Saillune estate. Stopping at the gates, one of the guards checked them in and opened the huge metal gates. Zel nervously eased his police car through the opening and up the steep incline.

"How much further to your place?" Zel questioned, realizing that the path seemed to be endless.

"Just over this hill!" Ameria answered, her voice full of excitement.

Zel drove the car over the small hill and stared at the huge mansion in front of him. It was three stories, just as one could see from the street, but each story had to have at least twelve windows to them. Zelgadiss awkwardly made his way to the front of the mansion, where a valet offered to take his car.

"Um, no, that's okay. I need to get some stuff out of it."

The valet nodded and went off to do his other duties. Ameria hopped out of the car and quickly took off up the steps.

"Detective Greywars!! Aren't you coming in?"

"I'll join you in a minute, Detective Saillune. I have to get something out of my car first."

Ameria nodded and quickly ran into the house, two servants immediately following her.

Zelgadiss got out of his car and looked in awe about the estate. He had never even stayed in a hotel as fancy as this place. He shook his head and sighed, wondering for a moment what it would be like to have that much money.

Zelgadiss popped open the trunk of his car and began rummaging through a couple duffel bags he kept in back in case of emergencies. He hadn't thought about his own clothes for the undercover assignment, more worried about Ameria sticking out like a sore thumb. After a few moments of somewhat fruitless searching, Zel came across a pair of worn black jeans and an old black leather jacket he used when he still motorcycled.

"Well, it's not quite Goth, but it will have to suffice for now." Zel absently thought to himself.

He looked around the estate, making sure no one seemed to be outside. He had made a habit of changing outside if the necessity called for it. Zelgadiss pulled off his black shoes and undid his brown suspenders and slipped out of his brown slacks. He quickly hopped into the old black jeans before anyone caught an unintentional show. Zel took off his tie and opened up his white shirt down to his fourth button. He pulled on the old leather jacket and stepped back into his shoes. So, he wasn't extremely Gothic, but in least most of it was black. Taking his badge, his gun, and his bullets and concealing them into his new attire wasn't easy, but he managed.

"Okay, let's see what the rookie came up with." Zel mumbled.

Zelgadiss climbed up the huge front stairs and one of the servants opened one of the huge wooden doors.

"Everything in this place is big!" Zel thought.

Zelgadiss quietly slipped in, his feet striking the black marble floor and making a soft echo among the otherwise quiet surroundings

"I'd get so lost in here." He commented to himself.

The butler saw Zelgadiss and motioned for him to go into the study where Ameria would join him momentarily.

Zel walked into the study and stared wide eyed at the rows of bookshelves that graced the little room. Many of the books were from at least the 1600's, if not earlier, and worth a small fortune in themselves.

"Miss Ameria will be with you in a moment, Mr. Greywars." The butler stated coldly and sauntered off.

Zel sighed, feeling very out of class. He began to wander about the study, his eyes studying the many old and diverse pieces of literature gracing the room. He stopped for a moment to pick up a particularly old, and somewhat dusty book, when a voice from the adjacent room caught his attention. Zelgadiss furrowed his brow for a moment, and shook his head, thinking it might have been his imagination.

"...I told you....no, that's not it...leave her out of this..."

Zelgadiss's head snapped up. He knew that time he had heard something. Without any shame or hesitation, he stood there, waiting to hear the rest of the conversation and perhaps know the source of the voice.

"...You'll have the money...Give me a couple days...No, I can't just get it without some kind of support...All right, I'll see what I can do..."

"That...that sounds like Mayor Saillune." Zelgadiss quietly thought to himself.

"...Just leave us be...I don't care what the deal was...No, I know...Yes...Yes...You'll get the money, just stop calling here, people will get suspicious..."

"Hmm...sounds like the Mayor must be having a rather sordid affair." Zel mused quietly.

"Detective Greywars?"

Zelgadiss was torn from his listening to look at Ameria. The young detective wore a white blouse and a black skirt with a pair of black high heels.

"Will this work?"

Zel frowned and approached Ameria.

"Only if I can make a couple adjustments."

"Of course, Detective, you know what's best!"

"Do you have a scissors?"

Ameria looked at Zelgadiss very confused, but went over to the study desk and pulled open one of the drawers. She dug around and pulled out a pair of scissors. Zel walked over and took them.

"What do you plan to do with those?"

"This."
Zelgadiss cut into Ameria's black skirt, and tore the material until the black skirt barely went past her thighs. He then took the scissors and cut off her long sleeves and popped off two of her buttons. Ameria looked at Zel in horror.

"Detective!!" She shrieked.

Zelgadiss sighed, and took the piece of leftover skirt material and tied it around Ameria's neck, styled like a leash.

"We're going to The Maze, Detective Saillune, not a fashion show. Try and look the part."

Ameria stared at Zel and her bottom lip quivered a little.

Zelgadiss sighed and somewhat awkwardly patted Ameria on the shoulder.

"It's okay, we just need to keep in mind what kind of people we're going undercover with."

Ameria nodded, openly mourning the loss of her sleeves on her blouse.

"We'd better go. Have you said good-bye to your father?"

"That's right!! Papa!!!"

Ameria quickly walked out of the room, Zel following a little ways behind her. She poked her head into a room a couple doors down.

Mayor Saillune was in the middle of a somewhat uncomfortable conversation, the way he was pacing. He looked up to see Ameria standing there, with Zel joining her in a moment.

"Look, I've got to go..." Mayor Saillune quickly clicked off the phone signal.

"Who was that, Papa?"

"What?! Oh, no one, Ameria. Just someone trying to sell me more insurance."

Zelgadiss narrowed his eyes only slightly. He knew the Mayor was lying, but then again, it was none of his business. He was out to find Gourry Gabriev, not bust corrupt officials.

"We're just leaving, Papa, and I wanted to say good-bye!"

Ameria ran over and hugged Mayor Saillune.

"Good heavens, Ameria, with that outfit? Where in the world are you taking my little girl, Detective Greywars?" Mayor Saillune demanded.

"She'll be with me the whole night, sir, and since it's police business I am not at liberty to divulge that information."

Mayor Saillune frowned deeply, but sighed and hugged Ameria again.

"Now, sweetheart, I want you to make sure and stay close to Detective Greywars."

"I will, Papa!!" Ameria squealed happily and then left her father's embrace and headed out the door. Zelgadiss began to follow when he heard Mayor Saillune behind him.

"Oh, and Detective Greywars?"

Zel turned back around.

"Yes, sir?"

"If even one hair of hers if missing, I'm going to turn over my little gift of you keeping your job after your last little incident."

Zelgadiss unconsciously frowned, but nodded.

"I'll keep her safe, sir."

"You do that, Detective." Mayor Saillune stated flatly.

Zelgadiss sighed, stepping out of the room and down the hall. His mind raced for a moment over the bits of conversation he had heard only minutes before. He quickly pushed them out of his thoughts, remembering that he was supposed to find a person, not worry about things that had nothing to do with the case.

When Zel got out of the mansion, Ameria was already waiting in the car. She was more than excited, and Zelgadiss rolled his eyes before he opened the driver's door and got in.

"My first case, Detective Greywars!! I'm so excited! I don't know what's going to happen!"

"Yah..." Zel responded absently.

"So, where to now?"

Zelgadiss looked at his watch. It was around eleven a.m. The Maze didn't start any action until at least nine p.m.

"Well, the Red Light District doesn't go into action until about nine p.m."

"So, what do we do until then?"

"We plan, Detective Saillune. We plan carefully." Zel said flatly.

With that, Zelgadiss turned the police car around and made his way out of the Saillune estate.

"Just wait, Gourry Gabriev. I don't care how long I have to search through The Maze, I will find you..."

*****

Ameria sighed impatiently, sitting in the other seat of the Zel's police car. They had parked about a mile from the Red Light District. If she knew she was going to have to walk so far, she would have worn flats instead.

Zelgadiss turned to look at Ameria sternly.

"It's around 10 p.m. now Detective Saillune. Many of the local color will be up and about The Maze. We're looking for Gourry Gabriev. He has deep blue eyes, a set of bangs that cover his right eye, long gold hair somewhere to his mid-back, maybe even longer, and he stands around six foot or six foot one. He may have dyed his hair or changed his eye color, we don't know."

"Do you have a picture, Detective Greywars?" Ameria asked.

"I don't need one." Zel stated flatly. That was the truth too. Gourry's image was so burned into his mind, even when he went over the plan for the tenth time with Ameria that afternoon, his face played in the back of his memory.

"Detective Greywars, why do they call the Red Light District 'The Maze'?"

"You'll see. Come on, let's go find The Night Dweller."

Zelgadiss got out of the car, followed quickly by Ameria. He secured the locks on the door and armed the alarm. He took Ameria by the hand and they began to walk silently down one of the streets to the Red Light District.

"Now Detective Saillune, repeat to me what the plan is."

"Again?!"

"Do it, Detective!"

Ameria bit her lip and got a little teary eyed. No one had ever talked to her the way Zelgadiss did, and she was pretty sure she didn't like it.

"Well," Ameria sniffed a little. "You and I are husband and wife. Your name is Jason Canton, and I'm your wife Suzanne. We're both a very sexually adventurous couple who's looking for a male partner to join in a menagie trois. Detective, what is a menagie trois?"

"I'll explain it to you sometime, Saillune. Continue."

"We stay near the bar, keeping an eye on the local inhabitants. If either one of us sees Gourry Gabriev, we ask the other 'Would you like a Bloody Mary, dear?' and that's the indication that we've found the person."

"Correct." Zelgadiss nodded approvingly.

"But, Detective Greywars, what do we do when we find him?"

"We hire him."

"What?!" Ameria was more shocked now than when Zel had cut off her skirt.

"We need to get him alone, away from the crowd. We're trying to avoid showing our badges."

"But, Detective, isn't that unjust? It goes completely against some of the core rules in the police handbook."

"Rule one, Saillune, never pay attention to those rules."

"But..."

Before Ameria could finish her sentence, Zel and her came around the block and was greeted by what seemed like a thousand neon lights all flashing at once. Ameria's eyes grew wide and she unconsciously gripped Zelgadiss's hand tighter.

"Detective Greywars..." she mumbled.

"Welcome to The Maze, Suzanne." Zel said flatly, making sure he said Ameria's pseudonym. "This place earned it's name because if you don't know where you're going, you're not going to get out until some time the next morning. This isn't a place you want to be stuck in overnight, trust me."

Ameria only nodded, scrunching against Zelgadiss closer as they made their way into the crowd. Ameria had never seen so many lights with 'XXX' attached on them. Stores that had leather and chains hanging from the window, and people who were dressed just enough to keep the chill from the slightly cool spring breeze from freezing them.

"Hey there, pretty thing, I bet I can make you sing like a songbird." A young woman with pink streaked hair and a thickly made up face shouted at Ameria.

Ameria blushed and laced her arm through Zel's, almost melding her body to his side.

"Do you know where you're going, Jason?" Ameria was mindful to use Zel's alternate name also.

"Yah, I do."

"How come you know your way around this place so well?"

"Let's just say I've been down here a few times, Suzanne."

Ameria wanted to ask more, but from the look on Zelgadiss's face, decided that it would be inappropriate to push the topic.

They continued in silence down the narrow winding roads, each turn seeming to drag them deeper and deeper into the core of the Red Light District. The farther and farther they went, the more Ameria became disorientated with her surroundings.

"No wonder they call this place 'The Maze!' I'm glad Detective Greywars knows where he's going." Ameria thought to herself.

Finally, the duo made it around the corner and across the street stood a black building with two stone gargoyles on either side of the door. There was a line of people dressed even more bizarre than the ones that had been on the outskirts of The Maze. Ameria had never seen so much black vinyl, leather, black lipstick, long nails, or blood red eye shadow in her life. Even the men wore makeup.

Zelgadiss pulled Ameria, noticing she was hesitating. He didn't bother to get into line, only walked up to the bodyguard in front of the club. He turned and looked Zel and Ameria up and down.

"The lines back there." He stated flatly.

"What's your name?" Zel questioned back.

"Valgarv...why, who wants to know?"

"Well, Valgarv, my wife Suzanne and I are very interested in getting into this club. Would five hundred dollars be sufficient enough tip?"

Ameria's eyes went wide as Zelgadiss pulled out his wallet and counted out five hundred dollar bills. Valgarv could hardly keep himself from salivating over the money. He immediately grabbed the cash and opened the door for the duo.

"And you folks have a great night!!" Valgarv shouted cheerfully behind them.

They walked down a small, narrow corridor, flashing with strobe lights. Ameria felt her stomach flip-flop from the motion.

"Jason, you didn't have the money for that!" Ameria shouted over the onslaught of music that was beginning to echo through the passage.

"I know!! They're counterfeit bills I took from the evidence check room!"

"What?! Jason, that's unjust!!"

"Oh, get used to it, Suzanne!" Zel shouted back, annoyed.

Zelgadiss and Ameria made their way out of the corridor and into the main club.

"Oh my heavens..." was all Ameria was able to say.

The club in itself was much larger than it appeared from the front. There was a huge dance floor in the very center. The floor was packed with more people than it should have theoretically held. The air was thick with cigarette smoke and the light scent of marijuana. The tables were packed with people clad in black leather, lace, and vinyl. A girl sauntered by Zel and Ameria carrying a bull whip.

"What kind of place is this?!" Ameria shouted over the music.

"It's a Goth club with some underground S&M services!" Zel responded back.

"What's S&M?!"

Zelgadiss turned and stared at Ameria for a moment, and shook his head.

"I'll explain it to you later!!" He sighed.

Zelgadiss made sure he had his grip on Ameria and pushed through the crowd. Ameria couldn't help but stare at the people they passed. There were women who looked like men, men who looked like women, and some people who looked like both.

Zelgadiss sat down at the bar, pushing a rather large man to the side a little so that Ameria could sit. The larger man gave Zel a dirty look, and Ameria was sure a fight was about to break out, but he only flipped Zel the bird and sauntered off.

The bartender turned around, a tall wolfman clad in leather pants and a leather vest that had the name "Dilgear" engraved into the material.

"What can I get for you?" Dilgear asked impatiently.

"I'll have a Queen Royale."

Dilgear nodded. "And what about your lady friend, mister?"

"Wha?...oh, um, I'll have whatever he's having."

Dilgear nodded, narrowing his eyes for a moment at Zel and Ameria.

"So, that's two Queen Royales?"

"Yah." Zel responded flatly.

Ameria turned a little in her bar stool, watching the people on the dance floor. It didn't seem much like dancing to her. More like a bunch of people grinding into whomever was conveniently nearby. She sighed, finding herself even more out of place than she felt back at the beginning to The Maze. She was very grateful that Zelgadiss was there to keep her safe.

"Two Queen Royales." Dilgear set two tall glasses of creme styled liquor and rum with a shot of cola in front of Ameria and Zelgadiss.

"Busy night tonight." Zelgadiss mentioned casually as Dilgear was about to turn away.

"Why do you ask?" the wolfman questioned, turning back suspiciously.

"My wife Suzanne and I are looking for a little help, Dilgear...is that correct?"

"Yah, that's my name...what kind of help?"

"Well, we're a little new to this S&M scene, and we thought we'd try a menagie trois with a pretty young man. Rumor has it that there are some exceptional ones that hang around this particular nightclub."

"I'm a ladies man myself, mister, but yah, there's a few pretty guys around here."

"There's one in particular we're looking for. My wife and I were told that an unusually long golden haired boy with blue eyes comes here a lot."

Dilgear immediately changed his attitude.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, I think you do, Dilgear. Perhaps I could refresh your memory." Zelgadiss took out a couple more counterfeit hundreds and laid them on the table. Dilgear stared at the money and quickly scooped it up.

"Something's comin' back to me, now! Oh yah, I know who you're looking for. You're looking for 'Bleu.'"

"Bleu?" Ameria turned around quickly and asked.

"Yah, pretty young man with golden hair down to his butt, and bangs over one of his eyes. Has really bright, almost sapphire colored eyes."

"That would be him." Zel stated. "What can you tell us about him?"

"Don't know...mind's getting a little fuzzy right here..." Dilgear began to wander.

Zelgadiss fetched another one of the bills from his wallet and slapped it on the bar. Dilgear grabbed it quickly, and stuffed it into his vest pocket with the other two.

"If you want Bleu, you gotta' find him first. He tends to get picked up right away during the night, so if you haven't missed him already, you probably will soon."

Ameria sighed, tuning out some of the conversation. She was taken back by most of the action on the dance floor. Then something, or someone caught her eye. It was the gold she saw among the black. After a moment, a couple of people moved, and a mane of waist length hair was right in her view. The person turned around, moving with a panther's grace. Even in the dim light, Ameria could make out those deep blue eyes. He was dressed in a strange romantic styled blue shirt, with the shoulders and elbows cut out. The shirt barely came below his pecs. His legs were clad in skin tight leather pants with small holes cut out of the side and from his knees down, a pair of wicked leather boots.

"That's...that's..." Ameria's mind was racing.

She quickly spun back around, trying to find the words to tell Zel she had found their person.

"So, why do you call him Bleu?" Zel questioned Dilgear.

"Why? Oh, 'cuz unlike most of the locals, he never wears all black, he's usually got something blue on, like a shirt. It's his trademark."

Ameria began to pull on Zel's shirt. Zel, annoyed, finally turned to her.
"What, Suzanne?"

"WouldyoulikeaBloodyMarydear?" she barely spat out.

"What? Slow down!"

Ameria took a deep breath, and nodded.

"Would you like a Bloody Mary, dear?"

Zelgadiss blinked and Ameria spun his barstool around, and his eyes fell upon the young golden haired man. There was no mistaking it. They had found Gourry Gabriev.

"Um, excuse us, Dilgear. Here's a hundred." Zel threw down another bill.

"Hey, you didn't even drink."

"Consider it your tip."

Dilgear laughed wildly and slugged back the two Queen Royales and grabbed the bill, stuffing it into his pants.

Zelgadiss grabbed Ameria by the hand and made their way onto the dance floor. After a lot of pushing and shoving, they finally made it within a few feet of where Gourry was dancing with one of the male patrons. He was the same large man that Zel had pushed off the barstool only a little while before.

Zel pulled Ameria against him, dancing slow. Ameria's face flushed, but she reminded herself that they were just acting, and she would have to accept whatever came along with the case. No matter how humiliating it was.

Zelgadiss watched Gourry with the large man, keeping track of his every movement. Then again, it was hard not too. The young man was like an angel among a bunch of devils. Innocence among lies. Zel pushed those thoughts quickly out of his head. There was no time for that.

The song ended, and another heavy bass song began. Gourry began to walk away, when the larger man grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, pretty boy, I ain't done getting my dancing yet."

"Lay off, Vulun, you got what you paid for."

"Damn cheap hooker...I'll show you..."

Vulun raised his hand to hit Gourry when Zelgadiss quickly pulled away from Ameria and stepped between them. He caught Vulun's hand and held it in a grip not seeming possible for one smaller than Vulun.

"I think the young man here said you got what you paid for. Now, why don't you go ahead and let someone else enjoy his company." Zel's words were like ice.

Vulun blinked and growled, pulling his wrist from Zel's hand and rubbing it gently.

"Yah, just watch yourself, Bleu." He growled and stomped off through the crowd.

"Hey, thanks." Gourry said.

Zel turned around and nodded.

"You want to dance...Bleu, was it?" Zel questioned.

Gourry bit his lip.

"Well, if you got the cash...but...but you did save my butt a couple minutes ago, so I guess this can be a freebie." Gourry responded.

"Is that a 'yes' then?"

Gourry nodded and Zelgadiss reached behind him, pulling Ameria up.

"My wife Suzanne."

"Hi..." Ameria could barely squeak.

Gourry nodded at Ameria.

"My name is Jason, we're looking for a young man to accompany us home tonight."

Gourry suddenly grinned, a set of keyboard white teeth shining under the dimness.

"Well, in that case, I guess it's not a freebie dance, then."

Ameria blushed slightly, and pointed to the bar.
"I'm going to get a drink, Jason." She put extra emphasis on Zel's pseudonym.

Zelgadiss frowned, but nodded, and Ameria returned to the bar, sitting uncomfortably.

"Your wife seems a little awkward."

"It's her first time in here. Dance with me."

Gourry smirked as Zel pulled him close. They began to grind against each other, the rhythm of the music heavy and slow.

"Come on baby, you got what I need, come on baby, I'm just an animal on a leash. You got it right there, child, spread your legs and let my monster in. You know it, baby, I'm the Original Sin..."

The lyrics echoed through Zel's mind, his body and soul being entranced for that moment with the young man grinding against his body slowly. He stared into Gourry's visible eye, seeing the passion that seemed to be inflamed by the music.

"Man...he's beautiful..." Zel thought, and quickly banished it. "And he's also the person you're after."

The music ended, and the strange spell it had cast was broken. Gourry pulled back, and rested his hands on his hips.

"So, are we going to go now?"

"Wha?..." Zel shook his head. "Yah, that's right...Gourry Gabriev."

Gourry's eyes went wide upon hearing his name.

"How did you know who I was?!" He demanded loudly as the next song started blasting through the speakers.

"My name is Detective Zelgadiss Greywars, Mr. Gabriev. I'm not Jason and the young woman with me is not my wife. Her name is Detective Ameria Saillune, Worthing police. We would like you to come with us, please."

Gourry began to back up, trying to get to the nearby exit door.

"I didn't do anything...I haven't even sold myself tonight...is this a bust?!"

Zel shook his head and grabbed Gourry's wrist.

"We're not here to arrest you, Mr. Gabriev, we're hear to discuss with you a series of murders that have occurred recently."

"I haven't killed anyone!"

"We know that, but they were associates of yours."

Gourry tried to pull out of Zel's grip.

"I don't have any associates."

"Do the names Garv and Martina ring a bell?"

"Who cares?"

"Mr. Gabriev, they're both dead and we have suspicion to believe that you may be next."

Gourry stopped struggling immediately.

"What did you say?"

"I said that both your associates are dead, they were shot to death. We believe you may be next, and if you have any information that could be vital to us catching whomever is doing this, we'd appreciate it."

Gourry stood there, staring at Zel. Zel could tell that everything was slowly sinking into his mind. He began to tremble a little, and it looked as though he would faint.
"Mr. Gabriev?" Zel questioned.

"I...I don't have to go to the station...do I?..."

Zelgadiss was thoughtful. This was breaking the rules majorly, but he nodded.

"We can go somewhere that you're comfortable."

Gourry nodded.

"All right, I'll come with you, but the moment I get the suspicion you've got more than talking to me on your mind, I bolt."

"Deal."

Gourry walked in front of Zelgadiss, and the chimera followed silently behind him. They only stopped to grab Ameria, who had made the mistake of drinking a Queen Royale that Dilgear had given her on the house. She was pretty unsteady on her feet, and had to be supported by Zelgadiss.

The trio made their way out of The Night Dweller and into the streets of The Maze. The local color were out in full force now, and the trio blended in well with them, especially since Gourry was accompanying them.

Zel was grateful now for Gourry, because the young man knew his way better around The Maze than even he did. Within ten minutes, they were out of the Red Light District, and walking on the street that lead to Zel's police car.

Gourry was silent, his eyes downcast and watching the dark sidewalk. Zel watched him silently, as he continued to support a very drunk Ameria.

"Where do you want to go, Mr. Gabriev?" Zel asked quietly, now that they were out of the din of The Maze.

"Sam's Cafe." Gourry responded flatly.

They reached the car in silence, and Zel opened the back door, flopping Ameria on the back seat, letting her fall asleep. He opened the front passenger's door, and motioned for Gourry to get in.

"Hey, aren't I suppose to be sitting in back?" He asked sarcastically.

"I remind you, Mr. Gabriev, you are not under arrest. We're just getting some information."

"Yah, and if I say one thing wrong, you'll throw the 'cuffs on me." Gourry spat back.

Zel sighed and closed Gourry's door, walking over to his and opening it. He climbed in, relaxing in the seat. Gourry stared at him coldly, and Zelgadiss just glared back.

"Where's this Sam's Cafe?"

"On the corner of West and Jackson." Gourry mumbled, crossing his arms and frowning deeply.

"Okay..." Zel rolled his eyes. Gourry might have been good looking, but he was stubborn. Zel wasn't in the mood for those kind of antics, but he kept his opinion to himself.

"He's a street brat hooker...but, damn, what a body..." Zel shook his head and sighed.

"He's pretty hot for a cop..." Gourry absently thought to himself, but frowned and pushed the thought out of his head.

Zel eased the car out of it's parking space, and the trio drove in relative silence, that only being interrupted by Ameria's occasional hiccups.

On to Chapter Three or Back to The Maze or Back to Worthing or Back to the roses?