Gilette
Max slowed her motorcycle as she neared her destination. There’d been a couple times on her trip that she’d been tempted to stop and turn around. Just head back to LA and the new life she’d made there. But deep inside herself, she knew that she’d never rest if Manticore existed. It was easy enough to get out of the city. She’d lied to Cordelia about heading to Seattle. She knew there was nothing there for her. And when she returned, she’d tell Cordy that she had mended fences with her parents. Her mother’s illness wasn’t serious. And as a consolation, they’d bought her a new motorcycle, since her scumbag boyfriend had made off with her cash. All of it lies, but that’s what Max’s life had always been. One lie on top of another until the pressure became too great. Then she moved on. She’d learned to accept it long ago.
She was surprised that her plan to get over her mating phase worked so well. She only ever stopped to gas up or eat, occasionally to sleep. And it was easy to control herself for the few days she lived in heat. Controlling the dangerous machine took it out of her, so she was too exhausted to go on the prowl once she finally did slow down. But now that she was only miles from where Manticore had stood, outside Gilette, Wyoming, she felt a strange emotion. She’d felt it before, but never to this depth. Fear.
The life she was leading was contenting. No people chasing after her, intent on putting her in a cage. Good friends that she liked. A job and home, security. It could all be destroyed with one glance of her past. And this fear struck her more intently than any of the other times she’d felt it. But is she didn’t look, search and discover, then the fear would always hang over her. So, gritting her teeth, she continued on.
Cordelia was sitting at her desk at work, trying to desperately write up some invoices that needed sending out. But the constant interruptions were driving her crazy. And it didn’t help that she was worried about her roommate on top of that. But she didn’t want to mention anything. The rest of the staff had been unconcerned about Max’s abrupt departure. All except Angel, that was. And Cordy would have taken that as a good sign as well, if her mind weren’t occupied. She was worried that Max would decide to stay in Seattle, thus leaving Cordy friendless. Well, not completely. She had all her friends at work. But Max was different. She was someone Cordy enjoyed just hanging out with. The fact that Max was comfortable with all the aspects of Cordy’s job and her strange Phantom roommate was a big bonus. Cordy could relax around the other woman. She didn’t like constantly being on guard against letting something work related slip. She often felt that way when she was around the few other friends she’d made in LA. But to be honest with herself, those other people weren’t friends. They were sheep. Cordy had seen enough of life to know that. And the only reason she ever hung around with them was because at times, she could be a sheep too. In fact, she’d been one through most of high school, until she’d woken up to the fact that there were much more important things in life. Things like self-worth, esteem and oh yeah, demons.
So it didn’t bother her too badly when Angel inquired about Max every day. He tried to be casual about it. Make it seem like he knew she was worried and his concern stemmed from his friendship with her. But Cordy was the queen of slaying the male heart and she knew the signs. Angel was definitely interested in this girl. And Cordy would do everything in her power to help him get over Buffy. She turned her attention back to the invoices, but just then the telephone rang. She glanced up, hoping that Fred would answer, but the girl was nowhere around. So she lifted up the receiver and tonelessly rapped out the company slogan. "Angel Investigation. We help the hopeless."
"Hey Cordy," Max chuckled at her friend’s monotone.
"Max, hey, Cordy brightened noticeably. "How are you? How’s your mom?"
"She’s doing better," Max replied. She’d already called Cordelia once, after her first night. She’d already concocted a tale that her so-called mother had gone into anemic shock and had been hospitalized. A transfusion would get her back on her feet and she’d be fine. Cordy had swallowed it easily. "Actually, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to stick around here a little longer before heading home. Check out the old haunts, you know."
"But you’re definitely coming back, right?" Cordy almost panicked. She heard Max chuckle again.
"Yes Cordy, I’m definitely coming back. I like LA."
"Oh good," the brunette sighed I relief. "Well, I hope you have fun. But we miss you."
"We?"
"Yeah, me and the rest of the gang," Cordelia clarified. "Even Angel has been asking about you everyday."
"Really?" Max was surprised. "That’s so sweet. I guess you can tell them all I’m fine and I’ll be home soon. I miss all of you too." They said their farewells and Cordy hung up the phone. As she did, Angel swept into the office.
"Who was that?" he asked softly. He didn’t want to let her know that he’d been eavesdropping.
"That was Max," Cordy shrugged while covertly watching him rifle through some mail. "She just wanted to let me know that she’s going to be in Seattle for a while. But she says that she misses us."
"She does?" he asked, trying to keep the slight tinge of hope out of his voice.
"Uh huh," Cordy nodded. "She thought it was really sweet that you asked after her."
"She did?" he looked bewildered.
"That’s what she said."
"Oh, okay," Angel was grinning to himself. He scooped up his mail and sauntered off, never even noticing when one envelope slipped out of his grasp and onto the floor. Cordy watched him go, shaking her head in amusement. She slipped out of her seat and picked up the piece of mail and was going to give it to him until she noticed the return address. She ripped into it and scanned the invitation inside quickly. A plan formed in her mind and she grinned as she decided to act upon it. Fred walked into the lobby to check if there was anything Cordy had for her to do and found her friend smiling happily.
"What’s that?" the young girl asked, motioning to the invitation. Cordy turned her head and laughed impishly.
"This Fred, is Angel’s ticket to the chocolate factory," she crowed.
Max had hung up her cell phone after talking to Cordelia. She surveyed the road she was on. It was so different from the one she had traveled as a child, but still the same in a strange way. But now, by calling her roommate, she’d committed herself to this journey. She sighed and stuffed the phone in the pocket of her coat and brought the motorcycle to life again. She sped down the road, only to be startled by the sight that greeted her.
In the hills where Manticore had risen up in her childhood, there was nothing but an old, dilapidated farmstead. The buildings were old and sagging. Vehicles, farm equipment and other various machinery sat in the field. There was a herd of cows grazing about aimlessly. And most notably of all, a large ‘For Sale’ sign in the driveway. Max took it all in. She might have believed that she had the wrong place. But the hills, the crop of trees behind the house, she could feel it in her stomach. This was the place. With a small sigh of relief, Max continued on to Gilette. There was still one more thing she had to check.
She ended up in a small bar. She’d already repeated her cover story to the bartender and he’d directed her to a group of locals. She eased her way in and introduced herself. Little Max, looking for her mother’s cousin, one Donald Lydecker. To her amazement, after only buying one round of beer, they were eager to share. The group not only had heard of him, but also was eager to fill her in on the scandal that had rocked their town four years ago. Poor Donald owned the very farm that Max had stopped at, expecting something much different. Five years ago, the Lydecker’s had everything going for them. A good home, happy marriage, a family in the future. But then, Lydecker’s wife had been killed in a drunk driving accident. The poor woman had never had a chance. Poor Donald was heartbroken. He’d begun to drink and after a year, was so deeply depressed that townsfolk despaired he’d ever come out of it. He’d taken a gun to his own head on the anniversary of his wife’s death. The farm had been sold, but no one ever stayed long, swearing that the place was haunted.
Max was suitably stunned when she heard this. She’d always known that Lydecker had lost his wife. Had even turned to alcohol for comfort. But this confirmed her belief that maybe Manticore didn’t exist in this dimension that she’d found herself in. She thanked the group for sharing her mother’s cousin’s fate with her and left. She still had some snooping to do. But now, that fear wasn’t gnawing at the pit of her stomach. She was safe.
The Humanitarian
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