What looked like a human was folded into a squarish case in a back corner of the store. It was writhing in the tiny space, obviously trying to free itself. Del cautiously reached for the latch.

“—fuck is going on here?” Spike finished as he hit the floor with a ‘thud’.

Del closed the case, and then reached a hand down toward the person on the floor. The man took her hand and she pulled him up, studying him carefully.

Spike felt a hand grasp his and used it to stand up. He felt dizzy and nauseous, and his hand hurt from the cuts. What the hell was that? Better ask the demon bint exactly what she’s selling here. The blonde looked around, then spotted the one who’d assisted him. His eyes bugged out in shock.

The person in front of him looked like something out of an anime cartoon. It was slightly shorter than him, delicately built, and appeared to be female, at least by human standards. The rest of its appearance, however, was strange, to say the least. Light, luminescent blue-green skin stood in sharp contrast to vibrant, dark fuchsia hair. A pair of bat-like wings hovered half-open behind it, and a long, whip-like tail curved around one leg. Its eyes were a stormy grey with vertically slitted pupils, and the remainder of its eye was a light, pinkish color instead of white. The ear that Spike could see was slightly more pointed at the tip than a human’s. A delicate hand tipped with purple nails, which Spike was sure were not painted, was offered in what looked like a non-threatening gesture.

The blonde backed up a step. “What the hell are you?”

Del watched the human carefully. She could smell fear and anxiety on him and his heartbeat was much too fast. The scent of blood was also on the man. Something odd had happened with this one. From the expression on his face, he’d never seen a dalhari before. That surprised Del; while her species was certainly not common in towns like this one, neither were they rare, and a human would have to have led a very sheltered life to have never seen one before. Even if that was the case, other species would have been described so that friend could be separated from foe.

“I’m a dalhari. You’ve never met one of my kind before?” She said, her voice very calm.

Spike’s eyes squinted as he ran back through all the demon species he’d heard of. He came up blank. “Can’t say as I have.” He spared a quick glance around the shop, realizing for the first time that he was not in the Magic Box.

“Bloody hell, where am I?” Fuck, fuck, fuck! This is not good. This was most definitely not Anya’s shop. The cases, layout, and merchandise were all wrong.

Where was he? This just gets weirder and weirder. “Atrik’s shop. You were in the display case.” Del considered for a moment. Was he a sacrifice? If so, why would Atrik have him in a display case?

At that moment, one of the other customers noticed Spike in the rear of the store. “Ah! Atrik, I had no idea you were taking live stock these days. I’ve been looking for a sacrifice, and the open marketplace is so overpriced.” A tall, willowy thing with pasty, slimy skin slithered toward the blonde. Atrik, who reminded Spike of a gnome, followed behind, sputtering.

“Sacrifice? I don’t stock sacrifices, not with all the trouble they cause. What on earth are you talking about?” The diminutive shopkeeper ran to keep up with his much taller customer.

Sacrifice? What’re they about, sacrifice? Spike was unaware of the look of confused horror on his face as he backed himself toward a corner.

Del was not so oblivious. It was plain to her that this human was no sacrifice, or if he was, then he had escaped a very long time ago. The t’kth-vaal that had spoken about him, however, and seemed very interested, even though the human had no mark of sacrifice on him. This could be very bad. T’kth-vaali were not known for their scrupulousness, taking sacrifices wherever they could find them.

Spike was unfrozen from his terror when he felt a hand grasp him firmly. The same steady, lilting voice he’d heard earlier spoke again. “Come along, boy.” Del tugged on the blonde’s arm, willing him to follow her lead.

What the hell? Spike saw the creepy demon and the gnome approaching him from the front of the store, and the Technicolor demon tugging on his arm. He resisted the pull, trying to wrest his arm out of a surprisingly strong grip.

“Dalhari, this is your human?” The t’kth-vaal asked disbelievingly. “He looks…rather resistant. Hmm...I have need of one. How much?”

Spike’s jaw dropped. They were going to sell him? He was a master vampire, not some bleeding sheep! Sacrifice? He opened his mouth to protest but was stopped by a warm hand clamped over his mouth.

“Silence, boy.” Del ordered softly, easily controlling the human. Turning to the odious t’kth-vaal, she said, “he is…not on the market.” She said, her voice deadly calm. The tall man opened his mouth to protest, but Del was already dragging the human out of the shop, one hand still clamped over his mouth.

•••

Spike struggled against the creature dragging him away, but found himself unable to break its grip. He tried to vamp out, but couldn’t do so. This scared him witless. The thing pulling him along had refused to sell him, but that didn’t make him feel any better.

The blonde was further shocked when the pair exited the store. He blinked as strong sunlight assaulted his eyes. He shuddered, trying desperately to return to the safe shadows of the store, ceasing his struggles when he failed to burst into flames. Huh? Spike looked up and confirmed that there was a sun in the sky. A sun, and no crispy vampire?

Spike mentally shook himself. The gaily colored person dragging him along had gotten him some distance from the pawnshop and was angling toward a large open green. They crossed it briskly, Spike not fighting particularly hard since he was still in shock from not being dead from sun exposure. He resumed his struggles when they stopped under a large tree, quite some distance from anyone else. Spike quickly took stock of his opponent, searching for weapons. The thing was dressed in what looked like leather and fabric, all dyed a deep green he’d mistaken for black in the shop. He could see no obvious weapons from his view, but was strangely confident it was heavily armed.

Del took a deep breath. For some reason, she knew that this was going to be a chore. “Calm down. I’m not going to hurt you.” The human shot her an angry, disbelieving glare. “I’m not going to hurt you. Dalhari don’t deal in flesh, and we don’t sacrifice. You know that.” The blonde cocked an eyebrow, clearly not believing her. “Why do you not know such things? Who were your parents to not teach you friend from enemy?” Del’s voice rose slightly in anger and her accent began to show through in her words.

Spike glared at the winged creature that still had a firm hold on him. She, he’d decided that it was most likely female, was asking some damned strange questions. He tugged his head around, trying to escape the hand that still silenced him. The thing relented, moving that hand to grasp his other arm. He was still firmly caught, but able to speak.

“What the hell are you about? Selling me, sacrifices? And let me go, you bleeding tosser!” Spike ran though a truly impressive string of profanity before he found himself out of breath. Out of breath? How did he get out of breath? “And what the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I not dust? Why do I need to breathe?” Why do I feel my heart beating? Why was her hand not warmer?

Del watched the human. Her feeling that something was seriously weird grew. That or the human was insane. Possibly both. “I was not going to sell you, but the t’kth-vaal back at the pawnshop would have taken you if I hadn’t pulled you away. They’re not known for their…considerateness.” She paused, looking for some sign that the human understood her.

“Right. So you’re playing the white knight, saving my sorry arse? Why don’t you let me go, then?” To emphasize his point, Spike twisted and writhed, still not able to free himself.

“Calm down! I’m trying to keep you off the altars, you flake-brained idiot!” Del spat, annoyed at the human’s lack of gratitude. “You’re an unmarked human wandering around a village full of t’kth-vaali and gupwurs. You won’t last five minutes like you are.”

Spike stopped trying to escape. “Wait a minute. You’re saying humans are like farm animals here?” Shit. Didn’t Red mention something like this happing to Angel and his minions some time back? They got caught in some demon dimension where human were called cows? Thought it was funny at the time…

Once again, Del got that funny feeling. “No, humans aren’t like farm animals. But several other species use them as sacrifices, and as food. In most areas, humans are fairly safe if they’re marked as free. In some places, like here, humans have to be pretty careful that they don’t get ‘accidentally’ mistaken for purchased sacrifices.”

“Back to that sacrifice thing. You can buy humans for sacrifice? Where do they come from?” Spike was getting worried. He was, for the moment, rather resembling a human. He’d get to that next.

Shit, I’m getting a headache. “Yes. People, usually other humans, sell humans at the open market or to a merchant. Usually criminals or unwanted children. Sometimes they’re kidnapped, especially around here.” This guy should know about the flesh business…

“Fuck. I’m in hell.” Spike slumped down slightly.

Del worried her lip, concerned for the human. “Where are you from?”

Spike looked up. “Sunnydale. You know, Hellmouth. California, sun, surf, beach?” He saw no recognition in the alien face before him. Snarling, he continued. “Human dimension?”

“Oh.” Human dimension? He’s from another dimension. That explained a lot. “Well.”

“Yeah, well.” Spike mimicked. “How the bleedin’ hell did I get here? Did you bring me or something?”

Del shook her head. “No. I just heard a noise and saw you folded up in a display case. Um…did you do anything before, well, you ended up here?”

Spike shook his head, then stilled. He remembered the crystal, how it had gotten all warm and glowing. “There was this crystal. It started glowing and got hot, and then I’m here.”

Magic. Should’ve known. “Ah. Do you remember anything else?”

“Yeah, lots. Let’s see, for one, I wasn’t human before I got here. I was a vampire, a demon, the undead, evil, bloodsucking fiend. I cut my hand on some bit of glass and now I’m here and I’m human.”

Del tried to make reason from what the human had said. “Wait a minute. You were one species in your dimension, and you’re another species here?”

Spike shook his head. “Well, yes and no.” The aqua-colored woman cocked her head in query. “Look, vampires are made from humans; the demon turns humans into vampires.” A look of dawning comprehension crossed the woman’s face.

“I understand. From a bite?”

“It’s more complicated than that, but yeah, pretty much. Are there vamps here?” He looked around hopefully.

“I’m not sure. They might have a different name here. Several species, mine included, can reproduce by changing humans as well as by giving birth—“ She stopped when the human shook his head vigorously.

“Nope. Vampires can’t do that—they’re not completely alive. No heartbeat, no getting knocked up. Can’t get humans pregnant either. The only way that vampires can reproduce is by turning other humans. Vamps can’t live in sunlight, so they’d always be inside or underground.”

Del shook her head. She’d never heard of a species like that. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think that there are any vampires here. You also mentioned evil and bloodsucking?”

“Right. Vampires exist on human blood.” Again, the brightly hued woman shook her head negatively.

“Some species drink blood, but none live entirely on it. But you’re not a vampire here—you are definitely human.”

“I noticed. Odd, that. When I cut my hand on the crystal, it didn’t heal up right away, like it should have. Then the crystal soaked up my blood and started getting warm.”

“You probably activated some sort of enchantment on the crystal that brought you here. It must have gotten changed you back into a human at the same time.” Del looked at the human, who had almost completely relaxed. “I’m going to let you go. I’d recommend you not run off.”

Spike immediately took several steps back, getting out of reach. “Right. Someone might want to kill my luscious self, hmm?” He looked around. It was still daylight, the sun nowhere near setting. “Where do humans go around here to get back to their own dimensions?” And get their demons back?

I am going to regret this soooo much. “It’s not that easy. I don’t know about your dimension, but we don’t have many witches here capable of locating and opening portals to other worlds,” She sighed. “I might be able to help you with that, however.”

Spike looked at her warily. “How and why?”

“How? I know some of the witches that can do those things, and they might know more about the specifics of what got you here. Why? I’m just that kind of person.”

“I see. And how do I know you won’t just be sacrificing me or selling me off to someone else?” Spike asked, sneering.

Del snarled back, and then realized that the human really didn’t know that dalhari never dealt in flesh. “As I said before, dalhari neither sacrifice nor sell and trade flesh. The only reason the t’kth-vaal asked me to sell you is because he was particularly nasty. He probably knew that you didn’t actually belong to me; dalhari never own others. That’s why I got you out of there—if you’d stayed, he would have tried to cart you off.”

Spike considered what she’s said. He didn’t trust her, but then he didn’t have many options. While his attention had been pretty well focused inward earlier, he did remember not seeing anything remotely human in the village when they’d rushed through it. “You’ll help me? What do you want for it?” Nothing was free.

“What do I want for it? Nothing.” It wasn’t that Del would refuse compensation, but the human had nothing to offer her. His clothes were extremely odd, but probably normal for wherever he was from. He didn’t have any obvious possessions, and she doubted he had a trade or specialty that would benefit her or those she knew.

“Right. Help for free? I don’t think so.”

“If you had something to give, we could barter for the assistance. As it is, I doubt you do,” She said baldly, not softening the truth.

She had a point. He probably didn’t have anything to offer her; his money was useless, she was stronger than he was in his current state, and most of his skills involved stealing and plotting bad things. This woman didn’t look to be the ‘mischief and mayhem’ type. “You’re probably right. Still…”

“Don’t worry about it. We need to get going, though. I’ve got things to do, and it’s a long journey, made longer by your presence.”

“I feel loved.”

“What? You can’t fly, and I can’t haul you that far. We have to walk.” Del stretched her wings in emphasis.

“Oh. You can fly with those things?” Spike was impressed. It almost made up for the coloration.

“Coming?” The woman gestured with her hands. Spike took one last look toward the village, and then fell in beside her as they walked briskly towards a dense forest.

“Do you have a name?” Del asked.

Spike looked over quickly. He’d never introduced himself. “Spike.”

“Spike.” Del tried it out. Odd, but considering… “Del.”

“Del. Where are we going, Del?”

“First, we’re going to retrieve my gear. Then we’ll cut through the forest to a village in the next hold. It’s much more human-friendly, so we’ll get supplies there instead of risking it here.” Del paused, thinking for a moment.

“Supplies?” Spike asked curiously.

“Food, clothing, weapons. You’re not outfitted for travel, and we have a lot of distance to cover. I have a couple of places I have to go to before we get to the witches that might be able to help you.”

“How long?” Spike was anxious to get this freakish nightmare resolved.

Del sighed. “Even if he went straight through without stopping we couldn’t make it before winter. There are mountains to cross that are impassable for the entire season. We will have to winter somewhere, then cross them at spring.”

“And it’s late summer now? Hells, that’s half the year!”

Del looked over at Spike. She hoped he wouldn’t take her next words to badly. “You realize that there is a chance that no one will be able to get you back? That you might be stuck here?”

Spike swore. She would bring that up. “Yes, I realize. I just don’t want to consider the possibility. This place is in the dark ages. No electricity, no cars, no television. Probably no booze either. I need a smoke. I don’t suppose you’ve got tobacco?”

Del had no idea what he was talking about, so she just shrugged. When they’d been walking through the forest for about an hour, she stopped at a cluster of tall, thick trees.

“What?” Spike asked, jolted out of an internal whining session by her stopping.

“Stay here.” The woman crouched down, wings folded tight to her back. She shot up suddenly, jumping straight up into the air more than ten feet. She snapped her wings open and quickly ascended to the canopy high above. Spike watched in awe. Wish I could do that. He tried to find Del among the thick greenery above him, but failed to spot her. A soft thump behind him made him jump and whirl, instinctively crouching to ward off an attack. Luckily, the figure behind him was Del.

“Hells, don’t sneak up on me like that, woman. How’d you do that, anyway?” He saw that she now had a knapsack, a bundle of cloth, and a staff with her.

Del grinned impishly. “Just did. Flying’s…well, flying. It’s hard to explain if you don’t have wings.” She shouldered the pack, which was designed to not interfere with her wings so she could still fly while carrying it. She began to tie on the bundle when Spike reached for it.

“I’ll carry it.” He slung the bundle over one shoulder before she could complain. She retrieved a small box from a pocket, gesturing for Spike’s hand. “What?”

“You’re hand is wounded. This will keep it from festering.” She smeared a dark ointment on the sores. It hurt much less than Spike figured it would. She quickly replaced the box in a pocket on her pack, then retrieved her staff and resumed walking. Spike quickly followed.

“You do know where we’re going?” Spike asked. He certainly saw no path, but then again, he no longer had vampiric senses. For the thousandth time, he cursed being human again.

“Yes, I know where we’re going. And no, there isn’t a path.” She anticipated his question.

Spike looked over at the woman. “Sorry.” She smiled back, and he jerked at the sight of her teeth. They were a bright pink-purple, similar to her hair but lighter, with fangs—smaller than vampire’s fangs, but still noticeable. “Fangs?”

Del’s grin widened. “What? No one has fangs in your world?”

Spike barked his laughter. “Oh yeah, we’ve got fangs; well, vampires do. It’s just, well, they’re pink!”

“Oh yeah. Humans’ colorations are so…limited and consistent. All white teeth, earthy skin and hair. The only thing that varies much is eye color.” Del smirked. Spike had quite a shock coming to him when they reached the freehold.

“I’ve seen my share of demons, in all colors. Most aren’t quite as bright as you, though.”

“Demon?”

“Yeah, you know, not a human.” Spike smirked.

“What do demons look like?” Del was curious. Perhaps there were demons here—something to make Spike feel more comfortable.

“What kind? There are thousands of kinds of demons—vampires are just one of them.”

Del was slightly confused. “So all species that aren’t human are demon?”

“Well, that’s how humans look at it. There are some nonhumans that don’t consider themselves demons, but humans generally clump them in together. Some humans say anything without a soul is a demon, but some demon species have souls,” Spike explained, growing more confused with the classification system as he attempted to explain it.

“It doesn’t make much sense to me. We’ve got several species here. You could call them human and nonhuman, but you could also call them dalhari and nondalhari, or t’kth-vaali and nont’kth-vaali, and so on.”

Spike smiled. “Yeah, but here, at least from what I can tell, the different species live together and know each other exist, right?” Del nodded. “In my dimension, the planet is dominated by humans, and almost all of them don’t even realize that the other species exist. And humans don’t really like things that are different from them. So when they do find demons, they usually try to kill them. Of course, the demons are usually trying to do something bad.” The last statement made Spike smile more, remembering some of the truly evil things he’d done. Odd, but those memories didn’t make him as happy as they used to. Hate being human. With the demon gone, and probably a new soul, Spike couldn’t claim to be evil, or even bad. Least I’m not feeling all guilty like Angel. Thank the gods for small blessings. He patted a pocket on his duster, automatically searching for a pack of cigarettes. Hells, I was out before I got thrown over here. He suppressed a curse and gave up. Oh well, he’d just lost another bad habit.

“I see. But what controls the human population? Humans reproduce much more quickly than other species. At least here there are a large number of predatory species that feed off the weak.”

Spike was beginning to really like his newfound companion. “Nothing controls it, and they’ve severely overpopulated the planet. A long time ago, vamps controlled the humans, as did illness and such. But they got technology and modern medicine, and learned how to get rid of vampires and the other species that fed off them. Now there are so many that millions starve to death because there’s no food, and the land, water, and air are polluted.”

Del shivered. “Why? Isn’t the land sacred? Even humans worship the earth.”

The human laughed. “Maybe here they do, but there? The earth is just where they go for stuff they want. Don’t even pay for it.”

That sounded nasty. “Ugh.”

“Well, no place is perfect. It’s certainly more comfortable there—don’t knock technology. We wouldn’t be spending months walking our feet raw in my dimension. It wouldn’t take but a few hours.”

“And you probably don’t have to worry about brokering complex treaties between species as well as between holds, or becoming a meal to some other species.”

“Not by and large, although some of that does occur. It’s just that the average human who’s not involved in magic or living near something like the Hellmouth will never see any of that. That’s why it’s so easy for them to be oblivious to the nonhumans.”

•••

The two travelers continued their discussion for several hours, trekking through the dense forest. When the sun had fallen low enough to make seeing difficult, Del called a halt near a small creek.

“We’d better stop for the night. Neither of us has eaten, and you’re exhausted.” Spike didn’t bother to argue. He was very tired and ravenous to boot. He pulled off the cloth bundle, laying it down carefully before kneeling down to the creek for some water. Remembering a little about humans, he drank slowly so he wouldn’t get sick. The water was clear and icy cold and very refreshing.

The blonde stood up, sated, and saw that Del had cleared a spot for a small fire and was busy preparing their meal. He walked over, crouching down near the fire.

“What’s that?” He asked, pointing at the collection of foodstuffs. He thought he recognized bread, but the rest was alien to him.

Del looked up briefly. “Mostly dried fruits and vegetables, and some cakes.” She picked up a metal pot, walking to the creek and filling it with water. Soon the pot was balanced on a metal tripod, simmering the vegetables while Del split the dried fruits between them. She handed Spike a flat cake, the fruit balanced on top.

Spike studied the food warily. He’d expected stark rations while traveling. The fruit was dried and the cakes looked fresh enough, but it had been a long time since he’d actually had to worry about the quality of human food. Sanitation had improved considerably in his home dimension since he was last human. Of course, most food poisoning came from rotting meat, and there didn’t appear to be any meat at all here. He wondered at that, and then remembered something that Del had said earlier…dalhari never dealt in flesh. Maybe they were vegetarians. But her clothes looked like leather…

“Del?” The woman looked up from the pot she was stirring. “Um, you’re vegetarian, right?” Del looked at him in confusion. “You don’t eat meat.” She nodded. “But you wear leather?” He pointed at her boots. Del nodded again.

“Dalhari don’t need meat in our diets, and can’t digest most flesh well. We don’t have anything against other species using animals for food, though. Our leather comes from the animals other species raise, or from the dairy stock we keep.”

Spike nodded. “So it’s a diet thing and not a moral thing?”

“Yes. There are some dalhari that object to benefiting from the death of another animal and won’t consume dairy food or wear leather. But then, there are humans and members of other species that feel the same way as well.”

“So that’s what you meant by dalhari not dealing in flesh,” Spike concluded.

“Sort of. There are some dalhari that will raise and sell domestic animals, but dalhari never deal in the trade of selling humans or any other sentient, intelligent species. Even the species that require the most meat in their diets don’t have to eat humans, and the faiths that dalhari practice never use sacrifice.”

Spike took in the information, nodding silently. He picked through the fruits, nibbling here and there. They were surprisingly good, though tart and chewy.

Del watched the human gingerly eat. At first, she thought that perhaps he was used to richer fare, before remembering that he was used to drinking blood for sustenance. “Do you want to know what you’re eating?” She asked lightly.

Spike looked up. “Sure.”

Del picked up her own meal, moving to sit closer to the human. She selected one dark berry-like fruit. “This is po’infal.” She then picked up several other, similar berries. “These are ush’infal, regu’infal, and e’infal.” “That,” pointing at what Spike held in his hand, “is yimkia.”

“Thanks. I won’t remember them, though. What’s in the cake?”

“Grains and vegetables, mostly. I’d try it with the vegetables, when they’re done.” Spike smiled briefly as Del returned to stirring the cooking pot. He gathered up the remaining fruit, storing it in a pocket of his duster, while Del split up the now-hydrated and cooked vegetables, spreading them over their cakes.

Spike watched Del pick up the cake, eating the bread and vegetables together. He followed her lead, hissing softly as the steaming food burned the top of his mouth. He yelped at the first taste. Both the bread and the vegetables were spicy. Very spicy, as though they’d been smothered in hot peppers. Tears filled his eyes.

Del started, concerned. She’d been sure to use foods she knew humans could easily digest, but Spike looked quite ill. “What’s wrong?” She stood and rushed over to him. Spike stood as well, but ran to the creek and took in several deep gulps of water.

After a moment, the stinging pain abated. Spike glared at Del, softening at the obvious concern on that uniquely colored face. She probably had no idea just how spicy the food was. Hell, she probably thought it was bland. “It’s ok, just a little spicy. I wasn’t expecting it.” Spike stood, walking back to the fire. He picked up his food, resolved to finish it. He didn’t have much choice; he’d starve if he didn’t eat. The next bite was less painful, and by the time he’d finished the cake, he was accustomed to the spiciness. Actually, the food was excellent, just stronger than he was used to.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that…” Del didn’t really know what to say. She’d lived around humans before, but they’d eaten pretty much like dalhari. Had their food been blander? She tried again. “I guess I’m used to stronger food.”

Spike smiled, enjoying her guilt. “Don’t fret, luv. Really.” He fished the remaining fruit from his duster, then leaned back to enjoy the dwindling fire, wishing he had a smoke. Del drank the vegetable broth, apologizing that it was much spicier than the meal had been. She made a mental note to stock up on other foods at their next stop.

The blonde former vampire spent the remainder of the evening processing what had happened to him. In a matter of seconds, his entire life had been turned upside down. He was in a strange dimension that was in some ways similar to his own, but markedly different in others. Moreover, he was human. He was certainly pleased that his return to humanity didn’t involve guilt and pain from remembering what he’d done as a vampire; those memories were wrapped in a film, as though they were appropriate things to do once, but not now. The lack of anger and violent tendencies made him feel almost peaceful.

And then there was Del. He wasn’t sure what to make of her; he’d lived so long as a vampire that people just helping was an anomaly. The Slayer and her gang certainly put conditions on his continued existence; he bent over for them and they spared his miserable life. He supposed, though, he was lucky to have appeared where and when he did—had she not been there, he would have been sliced up and left to bleed for some foreign religion.

Spike curled up on his side, enjoying the warmth of the fire. He had plenty of time to think about these things, since he wasn’t going anywhere. Exhaustion soon took over and he drifted off to sleep, listening to the sounds of the forest surround him.