Hotel California

A/N: Hmm. This song was played over and over. You know what that means, right? ::grins:: Not so much a songficceh as a ficceh inspired by song. Beh grateful I didn't use Peter Gabriel. ::snickers:: Shock the Monkey... This oughta beh fun. Plus I'm reading Clive Barker right now, which -always- makes for good horror stories. For the most part it's kinda AU, so I hope that doesn't throw anyone off.

Warnings: Shounen-ai and a borrowed cast. 58, 39 and maybeh some one-sided 38 (sorry Pai!). Violence, language, horror and FUN! Hotel California c/r The Eagles.

Chapter One: On a dark desert highway...

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A car sped down the road, most likely over the current speed limit. The driver inside, aware of this, didn't care. It was late and he had been alone on the road for quite some time, so he didn't see much use in slowing down.

Gojyo frowned, flicking the filter of a spent cigarette out the open window. He hated to be out driving like this on cloudy nights. The rain hitting the windshield was that sputtering kind, when the clouds couldn't decide whether or not to actually shed their moisture. Not enough to impair driving as of yet, but enough to piss the redhead off.

As it was, aforementioned redhead was already quite pissed. The rain was only making things worse. He didn't want to be driving right now, especially when there were better things to be doing. Or better people for that matter. But there had been a slight discrepancy at a card game, and he had happened to make an enemy or two that weren't good to have. Not that any enemy was good to have, but these were some of the worse ones. And these worse ones just happened to know where he lived.

So, upon coming home to a ransacked apartment (though one would be hard-pressed to figure it out, with the man's lack of cleaning) to find some very unfriendly faces waiting for him, he did what any smart person in his situation would do.

He ran like hell.

That had been a couple of hours ago. Since then, Gojyo had driven straight out of town, and onto various country roads. Roads so slight and meaningless they didn't even get names. He didn't have the best sense of direction, and he wasn't trying to get anyplace in particular, so he soon found himself lost on the back streets. The scenery had changed from city to town, and finally to desert. He was going nowhere pretty fucking fast.

He pulled the car over to the side of the road, scanning carefully behind him in case his pursuers had decided he was worth following this far. Confident in his safety, he reached over to the glove box, hoping to find a map. His luck wasn't –that- good

Gojyo let his hands fall into his lap as he stared blankly out the windshield. What the hell was he going to do? He couldn't go home, -that- was for sure. He could either try and find his way back to town and get a room somewhere, or he could continue on and try to find something. Either way, there was most likely a lot more driving to be done. He looked at his watch. 3:29am. He wasn't going to make it very much further, not on what little sleep he'd gotten the day before. Maybe he should just sleep in the car...

His eyes caught a flash of light on the horizon. He squinted, trying to see it better. After its initial flash, it had grown dimmer. But it was constant, an artificial light that advertised some kind of business. Which gave Gojyo hope that there was a town close by.

Making up his mind, he eased the car into gear. He would drive to this town, find someplace to stay and call the bar where he worked. Maybe one of the other bartenders had a place he could stay for a while, but at least he could explain the situation to them. All he had to do now was to keep driving towards that light.

Easier said than done. The clouds above finally decided it was time to let go, and the rain began to pound on the car. Gojyo cursed it, flicking on the windshield wipers and taking out another cigarette. It was hard to keep sight of the dim light, without adding the rain to his disability. Fortunately the road was one-way for the most part, giving him little actual decision making in the process. Assuring himself that he was going to get there soon, he turned on the radio for some distraction. Moving the dial through whiney country, crappy pop and angst-ridden alternative, he settled on a rock station, clicking the volume up a few notches.

Another hour or so later, he came across an exit ramp. He took it, and it led to a dead end in front of a large house. It was an old house, complete with its old-style creepy atmosphere. It was ancient. It would have looked scary enough in the daylight, let alone in the darkness, accompanied with a heavy rainstorm. This was where the light had led him; there was no doubting that. Small spotlights placed at the ground, pointing up to shed light to its seven or so stories, lit up the house. If anything, it made the building even more eerie. There was a neon sign at the front, advertising it as a hotel. Hotel California. An odd name, seeing as they were nowhere near the state.

But this was his only hope for a room for quite some time, so he drove in. Even though the parking lot was right next to the door, Gojyo was drenched with rain by the time he made it inside. Wringing out his hair a bit, he looked around. The entry room was large, with a staircase leading to a long hallway and two other large rooms to either side.

A desk stood beside the staircase. It was empty as Gojyo walked up to it. He didn't see a bell, so he called out.

"Hello?" His voice echoed through the room, and he winced. But it seemed to do the trick, because a woman entered from one of the side rooms.

"Good evening! Welcome to the Hotel California. Are you here for a room?" she went to the desk, leaning on the counter. She had long wavy black hair, held up in a high ponytail and calm hazel eyes.

"I guess so," Gojyo held up his arms, "Sorry about being wet."

"It's no problem," she replied coolly, pushing a book facing him on the edge of the desk, "I just need you to sign here."

He signed the registry book and paid for his room. Luckily he had had the foresight to cash his last check before he went home.

"You don't have any bags?" she asked, putting the book back under the counter.

"No. This wasn't exactly a planned trip."

"I understand," she offered him a calm smile, "I'm Kanzeon. But you can call me Kannon. Everyone else around here does."

Everyone else? It seemed too quiet for there to be other people around here. But it –was- late.

"Feel free to call if you need anything," Kannon continued, handing him a key, "You'll be staying in Room 15. It's up the stairs and to your left."

Gojyo nodded his thanks and went upstairs, taking care not to drip too much water on the carpet as he passed. He found his room easily enough and unlocked the door. The room was quite big, as far as hotel standards go, with a full bed taking up the center. A small table and two chairs were off to the side, and a doorway led to the bathroom. There was no television, but there was a radio on the nightstand. He spotted a radiator on one of the walls and began to peel off his wet clothes, laying them there to dry.

He was tired as hell, but he decided a shower would be best first. He padded into the bathroom, swinging the door shut behind him. The water was warm and helped Gojyo relax a bit. After getting out and wrapping a towel around his waist, he went back into the main part of the room to check his clothes.

He must have been in the shower for longer than he realized, because his clothes were fully dry when he touched them. He slipped back into them, leaving the vest on the radiator, and threw himself on the bed. He hated driving at night so much because it made him tired. He was ready to sleep well into the morning and call in work tomorrow.

Gojyo had just closed his eyes when he heard a noise from the hall. It sounded like a muffled thump. Passing it off as just one of the other guests out for a midnight stroll, he turned on his side. It sounded again. Much to his body's protest, he decided to get up and check it out.

Sticking his head out the door, he didn't see anything. The hall was deserted, both up and down. Shrugging, he turned to go back to bed, when a blur of white turned the corner and zoomed his way. Surprised, he stood still, and the white flash flew into his room through the crack in the door.

"Shit!" Gojyo yelled, jumping backwards. Leaving the door, he turned to inspect the room. The thing was nowhere to be found.

He heard the thump again, directly behind him. He whirled around to see a boy lying on the floor, doubled up after tripping on the rug. Looking up, he noticed Gojyo, eyes widening in surprise.

"Oh! I didn't know anyone was here! Sorry!'

Gojyo reached a hand out to help the boy up. "What the hell was that white thing?"

"He came in here?" he ran into the room, looking around.

"He? What is it?"

"Oh, sorry," The boy blinked, turning to face Gojyo, "You must be new. I'm Goku, and the 'white thing' is Hakuryuu. He's Hakkai's cat."

"So why are you running around trying to catch it?" the redhead asked, kneeling under the bed to help the boy look.

"Well, Hakkai let me see him, and I took him to Sanzo. But Sanzo's allergic to cats. I didn't know. He got really mad and made me drop Hakuryuu. I guess he's just trying to find Hakkai's room."

All these names he didn't know were confusing him, added to Goku's fast speech. He didn't reply, instead reaching under the bed and pulling out the cat.

Goku smiled gratefully. "You found him! Thanks! C'mon, let's take him back to Hakkai!"

He grabbed hold of the redhead's arm, pulling him out the door. Gojyo kept a tight hold on Hakuryuu, not wanting him to escape and start the chase all over. He tried to calm the cat down, scratching him behind the ears. Goku led him down the hall a bit, to Room 12. The boy knocked once, and then barged in. Gojyo followed awkwardly.

"Hey Hakkai, we brought back Hakuryuu!" Goku said, a bit loudly for three-thirty in the morning.

"We?" a soft voice asked. A man walked out of the bathroom, folding a towel. He stopped short upon seeing Gojyo. "Oh. Hello. I didn't realize Kannon had new guests."

"I just checked in," Gojyo muttered, "Goku chased your cat into my room."

"He did?" Hakkai looked at Goku, taking Hakuryuu from Gojyo's arms. "My apologies."

"No problem. I was just helping the kid out."

"I didn't know Sanzo was allergic to cats!" Goku said in his defense.

Hakuryuu climbed on Hakkai's shoulder, calming down. "It's okay Goku. No harm done."

Goku seemed relieved at this. "He calmed him down a lot on the way here."

Hakkai smiled at the redhead. "Thank you..."

"Gojyo."

He nodded. "Gojyo. "

"We were just about to play cards," Goku grinned at him, "You wanna play with us?"

He smiled, liking the kid already. "I would, but I need some sleep. I'm leaving tomorrow."

Goku 's smile faded as he and Hakkai shared a look. Gojyo noticed this and raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, it's just that—"Goku began.

"Goku," Hakkai interrupted, smiling once again, "I don't think this is the time for that."

"Time for what?" Gojyo crossed his arms.

"It's not my place to say," Hakkai replied, "I'll ask you kindly not to push the subject."

That's odd. But he said nothing. Instead he nodded, eager to have some likable company for a change. "I suppose a few games wouldn't hurt. What are you guys playin'?"

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End of chappeh 1! Whatcha guys think? It's gonna get scarier later on, as well as the couples coming into play. Comments are appreciated more than a day off! ::grins::