As promised, here's the sequel for Chosen.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 1 – The Start
Rachel looked around her room; she couldn't remember where she put her new notebook, and if she didn't find it soon, she was going to be late. Not only had she misplaced it, but she had also lost both her phone and her shoes that morning. She knew it had to be from nerves. She was usually excited about the first day of school, but not this year.
Okay, she was a little excited, but mostly nervous. She hadn't seen Quinn in weeks, hadn't spoken to her in months, and she didn't know what it was going to be like to see her today. The last time she had actually spoken to Quinn was the last day of school when the blonde asked her to give her space and to essentially leave her alone over the break.
So that's what Rachel did. She gave Quinn her space and hadn't talked to her all summer, only seeing her when they happened to run into each other while in town.
Rachel hated it, though. She hated that she hurt Quinn and she just wanted the other girl to forgive her. She knew she did a terrible thing by lying to Quinn and had apologized countless times, begging for Quinn to forgive her. But Quinn hadn't, and every time they happened to catch each other's eyes, Rachel could still see the hurt. It was almost a relief when the school year ended and she didn't have to see that look five days a week.
"Are you ready?"
Rachel looked at her father, who was standing in the doorway. "Almost, Daddy." She opened her desk drawer and rummaged around. "I just need to find my notebook."
"Do you mean the purple one that's sitting on your bed?" Leroy asked.
Rachel looked at her bed; sure enough, the notebook was sitting right on top of her comforter in plain view. "Oh, I didn't see it there."
"Are you okay?" Leroy asked, his eyebrows furrowing in concern.
"I'm fine," Rachel absentmindedly replied.
"Is it about Quinn?" Leroy asked.
Rachel sighed. "Yes."
After the whole ordeal at the cemetery with Shelby, Rachel couldn't exactly lie to her father anymore. He had seen everything and there was no way of explaining it except with the truth. He was less surprised about everything than she thought he would be, but he told her he always thought there was something off about the town.
"I just wish I could fix everything," Rachel continued after a few moments of silence.
"Well, sometimes you can't," Leroy replied. "Sometimes it just takes time, but other times—other times you just can't fix it. Sometimes things are irrevocably broken and there is nothing you can do about it no matter how hard you try."
Rachel hoped this wasn't one of those times; she didn't know what she would do if Quinn never forgave her. At the time, Rachel really thought she was doing the right thing, which only made it feel worse. She thought she was protecting Quinn, but it only messed everything up.
"Have you spoken to her lately?" Leroy asked.
Rachel shook her head. "I saw her a few weeks ago at the movie theater, but I left her alone like she asked."
Leroy walked over to Rachel and gave her a hug. "For what it's worth, I think everything will work out in the end."
"Do you really think so?" Rachel asked with a sniffle.
"I do," Leroy replied. "I think she would have forgiven you already if she no longer loved you, and if she still loves you, I believe there's hope."
Rachel looked down, thinking about what he said. She wanted to believe him, but the longer Quinn continued to ignore her, the more she began giving up hope for some sort of reconciliation.
"Are you ready to go?" Leroy asked as he pulled away.
Rachel nodded as she threw her notebook into her bag. "Ready as I'll ever be."
As she followed her father into the hall, she glanced toward Quinn's empty room as she always did. Other than Quinn actually breaking up with her, one of the hardest parts had been watching her move out. She had begged the other girl to stay, but Quinn still left and moved into Brittany's house. Luckily, despite the fact that Quinn was keeping her distance, Brittany was in regular contact with Rachel. It helped ease her mind a little bit to know how the slaying was going because she often worried about it.
The car ride to school was mostly silent. Rachel was lost in thought, wondering if she would have any classes with Quinn and how soon she would run into her. She knew she would see her during Glee at the end of the day at the very least. They almost always had a few classes together, though, so it would probably happen much sooner than that.
Rachel had butterflies at the thought of seeing Quinn. She figured it was too much to hope that Quinn would end the silence today, but yet part of her was optimistic that it might happen.
"Promise me that you will be careful," Leroy said when he brought the car to a stop.
"I will," Rachel replied.
Ever since her father had found out the truth about Lima, he had been extra worried about everything. She tried to tell him that she could take care of herself, but a lot of things had still changed. She was only allowed out after dark if she was with a group of people and he wanted her to call every hour. She understood why he was so fearful, but it was still annoying to have to do it, and most of her friends didn't get why she was constantly calling home.
Mercedes and Kurt would often give her weird looks, but at least Tina understood what was going on. Without Tina there for her that summer, Rachel didn't know what she would have done. Between everything going on with her, and Artie breaking up with Tina for feeling like she was keeping things from him, the two had become good friends.
With a deep breath, Rachel stepped out of the car, shutting the door behind her. As she looked at the large building before her, she heard the car window roll down behind her.
"Good luck, sweetie," Leroy said.
Rachel looked over her shoulder and gave her father a sad smile. "Thanks."
She definitely felt like she was going to need all the luck she could get today.
Quinn looked out the window, watching the houses go by. She wasn't ready for school to start back and dreaded walking into that building, but she couldn't miss the first day. She would be lying if she said it hadn't seriously crossed her mind, though.
"Are you okay?"
Quinn looked at Brittany and mindlessly said, "Yeah."
"You look a little white," Brittany said, frowning. "You're not going to be sick or something, are you?"
"No," Quinn said, looking away. "I'm fine."
"If you're worried about—"
"I'm not worried about anything," Quinn said, interrupting her friend.
It was a complete lie and she knew what Brittany was going to say. She was worried about seeing Rachel because she knew it was going to make everything harder. Over the summer she could try to ignore the brunette's existence, but now she was going to come face to face with her almost every day. She had been lucky enough to only run into her a few times over the summer, but each time it happened, she felt like she couldn't breathe. She tried to ignore how much she missed Rachel, but any time she saw her, it was impossible to do so.
She had tried to forgive what Rachel had done, but she just couldn't move past being lied to. Her whole life, she was used to people lying to her, but she never thought Rachel would be one of those people. Even her best friend and family had done it numerous times. But she had trusted Rachel completely, so it was like a stab to the heart when she found out what she had done. And to hear it from Shelby made it even worse. Her first instinct was to not believe it, but one look at Rachel had told her it was true.
Moving out had been hard and when Rachel begged her to stay, she almost carried her boxes back upstairs, but she couldn't imagine having to see Rachel every day. She needed time and she needed space, which is exactly what she asked Rachel for. She was surprised Rachel managed to stay away—she really thought the brunette would find her the next day and force her to talk—but she had done as Quinn asked and kept her distance over the summer.
However, that was over now; they would see each other every day whether she wanted it or not. They were generally in several classes together and then there was Glee. She thought about quitting the club, but it was one of the things she actually looked forward to at school and she knew Brittany would never let her. So, she was just going to have to hide her emotions and act unaffected by everything; she'd had a lot of practice in the past and hoped it wouldn't be too hard to slip back into that role.
"Quinn," Brittany said, sounding worried.
"What?" Quinn asked.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Brittany asked.
Brittany didn't say anything as the question hung in the air. The other girl was always trying to get her to talk about Rachel and expressing concern for her. She knew Brittany was still in contact with Rachel—the blonde wasn't very good at being secretive—and she often wondered how much she was telling Rachel. She wasn't going to ask her to stop, though; she accepted that they were friends and it wouldn't be fair of her to ask Brittany to do that.
"You just look really sad," Brittany finally said as they neared the school.
"Well, I'm not," Quinn lied.
"Okay, but you still look like you are," Brittany insisted.
Quinn sighed. She didn't have the energy to deny what her friend was saying. She had been out most of the night, being observed by her new Watcher. The woman had come several months ago, but she was still intent on testing her in every conceivable way. Twice a week, she would observe her on patrol and give her notes on how she could improve. She hated feeling like she was under a microscope and much preferred Sue's more hands-off approach. The one good thing about her Watcher was that she didn't expect Quinn to be at school early in the morning. They trained a lot in the evening once the afterschool activities were over. It was especially nice since she often kept her out incredibly late.
As soon as they pulled into the parking lot, Quinn took a deep breath. She hesitated when the car came to a stop, not really prepared for this. No matter how many times she tried to tell herself she would be okay, the thought of seeing Rachel made her feel nauseated. After taking a few minutes to prepare herself, she got out of the car and Brittany followed. Together, they walked into the school and headed for the training room. She kept her eyes peeled, but there was thankfully no sign of the brunette she was trying to avoid. With a sigh of relief, she slipped into the training room and waited for Brittany to enter so she could close the door behind them.
"Where the hell have you been? Were you hoping I would die of boredom before you finally got here?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "You're a vampire; you're already dead. And your girlfriend was the one driving."
Santana's face softened as she looked at Brittany. "Next time, can you make sure Quinn's slow ass moves faster? I missed you."
Brittany smiled at the vampire and brought their lips together, making Quinn turn away. She was happy for her friends, but it was hard to see them so content and in love when she was still so heartbroken.
Rachel looked around the hallway; despite discreetly looking for Quinn all day, she had yet to see the blonde anywhere. She had thought about going to the training room to look for her, but she knew that would be overstepping. She'd promised to give Quinn space and barging into the training room would definitely not be giving her space. But if she happened to run into her in the hall, it wouldn't be such a big deal and could be completely accidental.
Part of her wondered if Quinn had somehow deliberately set up her class schedule so they had no classes together, but she didn't even know if that was possible; they had very little control over their schedules except for a few electives. It had to just be a coincidence, and one that Rachel didn't like. Every time she walked into a classroom, she would hold her breath, hoping Quinn would be in there. The rest of the time she would stare at the door, her heart jumping every time a new person walked in. Each time she was disappointed because it was never Quinn walking through the door.
"Hey," Tina said, smiling as she approached. "Are you coming to the cafeteria?"
Rachel sighed as she looked around; she'd thought about spending her lunch period in the choir room, but she didn't know if she wanted to be alone. She couldn't wait until Glee that afternoon; at least then she could spend her free time focusing on her performances for the club. As it was, she was left with far too much free time, and Rachel generally liked to keep busy so she didn't have so much time to think.
"Rachel?" Tina said, her smile turning into a slight frown.
"Yes, sorry," Rachel said, looking at her friend. "Yes, I'm coming to the cafeteria."
Tina nodded and asked, "Have you seen her today?"
"No," Rachel said.
There was no point in hiding the fact that she was looking around for Quinn. Even if she lied, Tina would know better. She'd been around all summer to listen to Rachel's ramblings about how she wished she could do everything differently. She actually didn't know what she would have done without the other girl. Brittany was okay to talk to, but she often didn't get her advice, and she was far too afraid to talk to Santana. She knew the vampire couldn't hurt her—at least not physically—but she could certainly make her feel worse than she already did.
She hadn't really spoken to Santana since everything happened. The vampire moved out the same day as Quinn and, according to Brittany, had moved into the training room. She wondered why Santana didn't just move into Brittany's house, but she imagined it would be hard to explain her existence if Brittany's parents ever saw her. She was supposed to be dead, after all.
"Are you ready?" Tina asked.
"Yes," Rachel said, turning around, and colliding with someone. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Quinn replied.
Rachel froze the moment she saw it was Quinn that she'd run into. She had been looking for her all day, and now they were standing face to face, completely by accident. She opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. After thinking a hundred ways how their first meeting could happen, this wasn't how she predicted it would happen.
"I'll see you in the cafeteria," Tina said before scurrying away.
"I-I didn't mean to run into you like that," Rachel said, her voice sounding completely unnatural to her own ears. "I apologize."
"It's fine," Quinn said, nodding as she turned and began walking away.
"Wait!" Rachel said, far more loudly than she intended, but it had the desired effect because Quinn stopped. "How are you?"
"Fine," Quinn said without any emotion.
"How's your first day of school going?" Rachel asked.
Quinn shrugged. "Okay."
"Good. That's good," Rachel said before looking down.
"I gotta go," Quinn said, turning on her heal.
Rachel sighed as she watched the blonde walk away; she wanted to ask her to wait again, but she knew she was lucky Quinn spoke to her at all. Tears came to her eyes as she watched Quinn turn the corner at the end of the hall. She wished every day that Quinn would forgive her. Even if they didn't immediately get their relationship back, she at least wanted her friend back. Quinn was the first person she knew she could really talk to and count on, and she missed having that in her life. That was the worst part about all of this; not only did she lose her girlfriend, but she also lost her best friend.
Feeling dejected, she made her way to the cafeteria. She found Tina waiting just outside the double doors with a hopeful look on her face, but the moment she looked at Rachel, her face fell.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Terrible," Rachel replied. "She obviously still hates me."
"I don't think Quinn hates you," Tina stated. "Yes, she's angry with you and hurt, but I don't think she could ever hate you."
Rachel wanted to believe it, but it was hard to when Quinn looked at her the way she did. She may have not said more than a few words, but Quinn's eyes always gave her away, and Rachel could still see the hurt in them.
Quinn was having a hard time breathing as she walked away from Rachel. She had been so careful about not running into her all day, going so far as to walk to the opposite side of the school just so she could walk down a hallway that Rachel wasn't standing in, but then she literally ran into her. She assumed the brunette would have been at lunch and hadn't been paying attention to where she was going as she made her way to the training room, where she thought she would be safe. The three places she usually ate lunch—the cafeteria, choir room, and auditorium—were also the three places Rachel ate lunch and she didn't relish the thought of running into her. But it happened anyway and was just as bad as she thought it would be.
She'd tried to act unaffected as she looked at Rachel, but she felt like she was going to have a panic attack. She didn't want Rachel to know the effect she still had over her, so she left as fast as she could. She wished she had just kept walking the first time, but when Rachel called out, she couldn't help but stop. Part of her had been curious to know what the other girl was going to say even though she tried not to care.
"Fabray." Quinn paused at the sound of the gruff voice and turned to look at her Watcher. "Get in the training room now."
"What's going on, Coach Beiste?" she asked.
"I'll tell ya when we're in the room," Beiste said, leaving Quinn following after her.
She still didn't know how she quite felt about her new Watcher. The woman was very intimidating—and this was coming from someone who previously had Sue Sylvester as her Watcher—and she didn't always make sense. She was used to Sue saying random things, but Coach Beiste was even worse, and in the beginning, she often had no idea what the woman was talking about.
"Out!" Beiste barked at the Cheerios in the locker room.
The three girls looked startled and ran out of the room, one still in her bra. As soon as they were out of sight, her Watcher opened the door to the training room and stepped aside for her to enter. Santana was sitting on the blue training mat, which had been turned into a makeshift bed for her since she didn't have an actual bed in the room. Really, Quinn had no idea why Santana moved into the training room; it wasn't a comfortable place to stay and, as Santana loved to point out, there was no television to watch, no computer, no stereo—no form of entertainment unless she wanted to read about demons.
"Out!" Beiste demanded again.
"Where am I going to go?" Santana asked, scoffing.
"I don't care," Beiste replied.
"She really can't leave," Quinn said. "Everyone in this school knows who Santana is, and if anyone sees her, it would be impossible to explain."
Coach Beiste didn't look happy, but she never really looked happy, so it wasn't really shocking. She didn't like that Santana was staying in the training room or that so many people knew Quinn's secret, but there wasn't a lot she could do about it. Quinn was going patrolling a lot more on her own, but Santana and Brittany sometimes came along with her much to her Watcher's annoyance. Apparently the Watcher's Council wanted her to put an end to it, but Quinn wasn't going to listen to them. She was the Slayer and despite what the Council seemed to think, she wasn't going to let them control her. It was her life and she didn't need a bunch of snooty people in England trying to tell her how to live it.
"Fine, but if this gets out, I'll hit you with the dead side of a donkey," Beiste replied.
Quinn and Santana looked at each other; the vampire looked just as confused as she felt. At least when Sue threatened them, she knew exactly what she was being threatened with.
"You wanted to tell me something?" Quinn reminded her, shaking her head.
"There's somethin' coming," Beiste stated.
"Something like what?" Quinn asked.
"The Council doesn't know yet," her Watcher replied. "They want you to figure it out."
Quinn furrowed her brows. "They know nothing?"
"They know it's a powerful force that's about to rise," Beiste said, walking to the bench to pick something up. "Their intel is a little foggy, but it's apparently reliable. This was sent to the head of the Watcher's Council two days ago."
Quinn took the piece of paper and looked down at it. It was an email that had been forwarded to Coach Beiste by some guy named Price and had been sent anonymously.
"The darkness is coming. Fryial, Jouck, Yarew," Santana said, looking over her shoulder. "What the hell does that mean?"
"You got me," Beiste replied. "It's got the Council runnin' around like a bunch of dingoes with their tails cut off."
"How do we even know it's here?" Quinn asked.
"The Council says it is," Beiste answered. "I want you to go out tonight and look for anything strange; the moment you find anything, report back to me and I'll contact the Council. They wanna keep a close eye on this."
Quinn wasn't very thrilled but nodded; she knew it was going to be a long night after an already long day.
Rachel tried to focus on what her teacher was saying, but she kept looking at the door. The teacher took roll at the beginning of class and Quinn's name was called, so Rachel knew she was in the class, but the blonde wasn't there. She knew Quinn was at school since she had only seen her an hour prior to the start of the class, so she was a little worried about her. It wasn't like Quinn to miss class unless there was something important going on, and Rachel hated not knowing what that important thing was.
When the door slowly opened toward the end of class, Rachel sat up straighter, trying to see over the head of the abnormally tall guy that was in her line of vision. Finally, it was Quinn, who was trying to sneak to an empty seat while the teacher's back was turned. Quinn was heading right for her, though Rachel suspected the blonde didn't realize where she was walking. Indeed, Quinn paused the moment they locked eyes. She looked around, presumably looking for another empty seat, but the class was almost completely full and the only other open seats were on the other side of the room. Quinn visibly sighed and walked past Rachel, sitting in the seat directly behind her.
She wanted to turn around and ask Quinn where she had been, but she continued facing forward. For the rest of the class, she was all too aware that Quinn was sitting right behind her. Her heart rate was elevated as she struggled with her desire to make sure everything was okay. She wished their teacher would turn around, making it harder to turn around without being caught, but he continued writing on the board, droning on about something Rachel hadn't heard a word of.
The bell rang shortly after Quinn came into the room and Rachel breathed a sigh of relief. Being in close proximity with the other girl was too much for her right now; it was hard enough not talking to her when she wasn't two feet behind her. And when she didn't move, it really became too much for her. As soon as it rung, Rachel expected Quinn to hurry out of the room to get away from her, but she remained seated, and Rachel lost her resolve. So, she turned around and looked at the blonde, who was just beginning to pick up her bag from the floor.
"Is everything okay?" Rachel asked. "It's not like you to be late for class."
"Everything's fine," Quinn said as she stood up.
"Okay, but if something was wrong, I'd like to help," Rachel replied with some trepidation. "I know you want space and I'm willing to give you that, but if something is happening, I'll gladly be there. I won't even talk while I'm helping if that's what you want. I just don't like knowing stuff is going on and feeling helpless to do anything about it."
"Don't worry about it," Quinn said, turning.
"Okay, but if you ever need me for anything, you know where to find me," Rachel called after her.
She sighed as she watched Quinn go; even if the blonde wouldn't say anything, she knew something had to be going on. It was apparent she wasn't going to get anything out of Quinn, but there was someone else she may be able to get information out of. She doubted Brittany knew anything at the moment—it obviously just happened to cause Quinn to miss all but the last few minutes of class—so she would probably have to wait until the next day to find out what was going on. First thing tomorrow, though, she was going to find Brittany and see what information she knew.
Eventually, Rachel picked up her trigonometry book and notebook, which she hadn't made a single note in, and slipped them into her bag. As she shouldered it, she turned around to find Puck standing in the doorway.
"She's still not talking to you, huh?" he asked.
"No," Rachel said with a sigh.
"Can't say I blame her," Puck replied.
"I know, Noah," Rachel said.
Her rift with Quinn had also damaged any sort of friendship she had with Puck. He'd made it clear that he didn't like what she had done and wouldn't talk to her for several weeks after the night at the cemetery. He wouldn't say it, but she knew part of it was because she had also lied to him about it. He eventually started talking to her again, but she steered clear of talking about Quinn when she was around him because when she did, he got a disapproving look on his face, which only brought her guilt to the surface.
Without saying anything else, she walked past him and into the hall. For once, she was hoping she didn't have her next class with Quinn; she didn't think she could take being in the same room with her for a whole period. As much as she wanted to see her, she didn't really expect it to feel so nerve-wracking.
"Hey, Rachel."
She stopped at the sound of Finn's voice and looked around for the source. "Hello, Finn."
"Hey," he said, smiling. "How was your summer?"
"It was fine," Rachel said shortly.
"Cool," Finn replied. "So, there's this new kid on the football team and I heard him singing this morning after practice and I think he'd be good for Glee."
"That's nice," Rachel said as she continued to walk to her locker.
"Yeah, I'm trying to get him to come today, but I don't know if he wants to," Finn said, scratching his head.
"I should get to class," Rachel said, turning to look at him.
"Okay," Finn said, frowning slightly. "I guess I'll see you in Glee."
"Yeah," Rachel said, giving him a strained smile.
Quinn crept through the darkness, trying to avoid stepping on any of the twigs that littered the ground. She heard something beyond the crypt in front of her and didn't want to alert whatever it was to her presence. So far tonight, the only thing she found was a vampire following a young woman and another one that had just crawled out of her grave. She had dusted both with relative ease and then began making her way to Greene Cemetery, the one she was currently in.
As she peeked around the corner, she found two vampires; they were talking in hushed whispers, which was a little weird, so she tried to listen to what they were saying, but they were too far away. If she got closer, she would certainly be spotted by them since she would be completely out in the open. Instead, she quietly pulled out her crossbow from her bag and aimed it at the taller of the two. She waited until he turned slightly to get a better shot and pulled the trigger.
The vampire flinched in surprise before bursting into dust. The remaining vampire stared at the spot where the other one was standing and then began looking around. It didn't take long for him to spot Quinn, but by then she was ready for him. She gripped her stake tightly and braced herself as the vampire ran at her. When it collided with her, she used the momentum to her advantage and rolled them over until the vampire was on his back with her on top of him.
"Tell me what you two were talking about," she said as she pinned the vampire's hands above his head.
"Go to hell," the vampire spat out.
"Tell me!" Quinn yelled.
The vampire growled and began struggling with her. She tried to keep him pinned to the ground, but the longer he struggled, the more difficult it became. After a few moments, he managed to get his leg underneath her, kicking her. She flew several feet, landing on her back with a groan as the air was knocked out of her. It took her a moment to regain her senses, and when she did, the vampire was advancing. She jumped to her feet just in time for the vampire to collide with her and the two fell to the ground. Thankfully, she had held onto her stake through the fall, and as the vampire began to rise, she stuck the piece of wood into his chest. He tried to hit her, but as his fist came toward her, it disintegrated into dust.
"It was worth a try," Quinn said to herself with a sigh as she dusted off her clothes.
She had been wondering around for the past six and a half hours looking for anything out of the ordinary, but it was just the same old Lima. There seemed to be plenty of vampires out that night, but that was nothing unusual. Sighing, she looked around the cemetery, but didn't see anything else around. The sun would be up soon, so she decided to make another sweep through town and then head home. As she turned around, though, she realized the air smelled as if something was burning. When she looked around, she saw some smoke just above the tree line and it looked as if it was coming from Greene Park, which was next to the cemetery.
Quinn ran through the cemetery and made her way along the gate that surrounded most of the park. She could see something burning on the ground, but it was impossible to see what it was from her vantage point. The park appeared to be deserted and the fire seemed to be dying down. When she looked up, she realized the fence wasn't too high for her, so she scaled the iron bars and dropped to the other side. Slowing her pace, she walked to the small fire, keeping a lookout along the way.
As she got closer, she realized it wasn't just a fire and it definitely had not been an accident. It looked as if there was some sort of symbol that had been burned into the grass. She couldn't tell exactly what it was, but it appears as if it was a circle with possibly some sort of writing in the center or maybe they were just symbols of some kind. Whatever it was, she figured she had found the thing she was looking for and pulled out her phone. She didn't know how happy her Watcher would be for calling her at five in the morning, but Coach Beiste did say she wanted to be notified the moment she found anything, so she was just following orders.
She just hoped her Watcher didn't want her to keep patrolling. She barely slept the night before and she would like nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed. At most, she would only get a few hours' sleep, but it was better than nothing.
Rachel frowned as she walked down the hallway. Quinn was at her locker on the other end of the hall and Rachel was worried about her appearance. Every day she came to school, she looked more and more tired. She had dark circles under her eyes and Rachel wondered if she was sleeping at all. She'd only seen the blonde look this tired a few times and that was when something big was going on.
Brittany looked reluctant but said, "I don't know a lot. Her Watcher got some email from those people in England. They think something's going to happen, but they don't know what. Quinn's been going out every night and she keeps finding these symbols burning on the ground."
"What kind of symbol?" Rachel asked.
"I haven't seen them," Brittany said with a shrug. "I know she found one in Greene Park, Parker Cemetery, that small park at the upper side of town and that big cemetery near the place with all the animals."
"The animal shelter or the pet store?" Rachel asked.
"The shelter," Brittany replied.
Rachel frowned. "Do they know what's making them or why?"
Brittany shook her head. "No one knows. She found them still burning twice, but didn't seeing anything around."
"Do you know anything else?" Rachel asked.
"That's all," Brittany answered. "Please don't let her know you know. I wasn't supposed to say anything to anybody."
"I promise I won't say anything," Rachel answered.
"I gotta go," Brittany said. "San will worry if I don't see her before the bell rings.
Rachel nodded. "I'll see you at lunch.
Brittany gave her a wave and Rachel smiled at her. As soon as she was out the door, the brunette's smile vanished and was replaced with a frown. She wondered what these symbols could mean and who was making them. Even though she knew Quinn didn't want her help, as soon as she got home, she was going to look into it. She just hated feeling useless when she knew she could be of use. And if she did find anything, she could slip Brittany the information and then Brittany could let Quinn know without telling her where it came from.
"Didn't you already sing on Wednesday?"
Rachel looked up and smiled at Tina. "I was just talking to Brittany."
"Did you get anything out of her this time?" Tina inquired.
Rachel nodded. "She told me everything she knew."
"Is it bad?" Tina asked, furrowing her brows in concern.
Rachel sighed. "I don't know. Something is going on, but they don't know what it means yet. As I suspected, Quinn has been out every night this week. She really shouldn't be neglecting her sleep like that."
"What are you doing to do?" Tina asked.
"What makes you think I'm going to do anything?" Rachel asked, trying to sound innocent.
Tina laughed lightly. "Because I know you."
"I don't see any harm in doing a bit of research," Rachel said with a shrug.
"What are you going to do if you find anything?" Tina asked. "Quinn won't be happy if she knows you tried to help."
"She won't know," Rachel stated. "I'll simply give anything I find to Brittany. And if she does find out, she can hardly ignore the information."
She really hoped it worked, though; she didn't want Quinn angry with Brittany, but she couldn't just sit back and do nothing. It was in her nature to help people even if those people didn't necessarily want her help.
"Do you want to help me choose a song for Glee?" Tina asked. "Maybe it will make you feel better."
"No," Rachel sighed, "that's okay."
"Are you sure?" Tina asked. "Because I do need to pick one if I'm going to sing today."
Rachel smiled. "I'm sure you will make a perfectly fine choice."
She appreciated that her friend was trying to cheer her up, but she wanted to stay focused on what Brittany had told her. Not wanting to forget anything, she pulled her notebook out of her bag and grabbed a pen. She began writing down everything the other girl told her so she didn't forget anything. Not that she had told her a lot, but she still wanted to make sure she got everything down. If she was going to help, she needed all the details she could get. It would be more helpful if she knew what these symbols looked like, but if Brittany didn't know, she wasn't going to be able to find out since she couldn't just go up to Quinn and ask her.
She sighed. She hated this; she hated that she couldn't just go up to Quinn and ask her. Everything was finally how she'd always wanted it to be. She finally had someone in her life that she loved, who loved her back, and she messed it up. It had been five months since everything blew up in her face and she'd cried herself to sleep every night. She needed to make everything better and part of her hoped helping Quinn with this would make things just a little bit better.
Quinn's eyes blurred as she stared at the book in front of her. Its pages were yellowing and it had a musty smell that Quinn had come to associate with doing research. Because of that, she also associated the scent with Rachel. Researching was never fun, but at least when Rachel was around, it wasn't quite so bad. Some of this book was even in Latin, which Rachel was starting to learn. Now, she had to type it into a search engine, which greatly slowed her progress.
"What the hell's an athame?" Santana asked, frowning at the book she was looking at.
"It's that double-edged knife I use for spells," Brittany replied.
"Oh," Santana said. "Never mind."
"Why would anyone kill a kitten," Brittany said with a pout, flipping the page.
"Just be thankful there's no picture," Quinn commented.
Her book was full of illustrations and none of them were very pleasant to look at. As she turned the page from a particularly graphic one, she wondered if they would ever find anything. When she wasn't patrolling or training, she was pouring over books, looking for anything that could possibly be related to what she had been finding. This was the fourth day of researching and they knew nothing more than when they began.
The Council seemed particularly interested in what was going on, but Quinn didn't know why, and if Beiste knew, she wasn't saying. Quinn didn't like being kept in the dark, but she was still following orders; it was easier to just go along with it than fight with them.
"You know who's good at this sort of thing," Santana said.
"No," Quinn instantly replied.
"Yes, you do," Santana argued.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Yes, and I'm saying no to it."
"Why not?" Santana asked.
"You know why," Quinn said, trying to sound detached.
"Fine, she was a bitch and lied to you," Santana stated. "So what? People lie all the time."
Quinn's jaw clenched. "I don't want to talk about this.
"Why?" Santana asked. "Maybe you need to so you'll get over it."
San," Brittany said with a hint of warning in her voice.
"What?" she asked, looking at her girlfriend. "It happened, like a year ago and she's still moping around about it."
"Five months," Quinn corrected.
"Whatever." Santana rolled her eyes. "The point is you need to get over it. You know she's better at this shit than the rest of us. Are you really going to let something bad happen just because of your damn ego?"
"Nothing is going to happen," Quinn replied. "I'll find it and I'll stop it. I don't need her help."
"Bu—"
"Santana," Brittany said, interrupting the vampire. "Stop."
"Fine, if she wants to keep being stupid—whatever," Santana said, throwing her hands up in the air.
Quinn knew Santana was right about Rachel being better at this than they were, but she couldn't ask her. It was bad enough having two classes and Glee with her. She didn't want to be locked in a room with her for hours when she didn't need to be. Plus, they didn't actually know if anything bad was coming. She just had one message from some unknown person. Yes, the burning symbols were strange, but it wasn't the first weird thing to happen in Lima and she was certain it wouldn't be the last.
Quinn stood and walked across the room; she rubbed her eyes and thought about taking a break since she had been staring at a book for three straight hours. She was feeling antsy and felt like she needed to take a walk—or possibly find something to take out her frustration on. Since there weren't any vampires around to pummel—not one she could hit without getting in trouble, anyway—she walked over to the punching bag. She quickly wrapped her hands and then took her first swing. She hit the bag a couple more times and, suddenly, Brittany was at her side with a worried look on her face.
"Are you okay?" Brittany asked.
"Fine," Quinn said as she threw a punch.
"Don't listen to Santana," Brittany said, watching Quinn's every move.
"I never do," Quinn replied.
"But I think she's kind of right," Brittany said, looking reluctant to voice her opinion. "Rachel could help."
"I know," Quinn admitted. "But it hurts to be in the same room with her. I know she's sorry, but I can't forgive her. Maybe something will change later, but I don't know how to forgive what she did. I trusted her with everything and she lied to me. She was the one person I didn't think would do that to me and then she did."
Brittany looked like she wanted to cry. She was the one person who seemed to understand; Santana just kept telling her to get over it, Puck had suggested getting fake IDs and sneaking into strip club, Tina was far too close with Rachel now to talk to her about it, and she couldn't tell anyone else what had happened to talk to them about it.
"I'm sorry you're still hurting," Brittany said. "But it's okay; you don't have to get over it like San says. You're not being stupid. You know San isn't good with feelings and she won't admit it, but she'd be hurt if it happened to her."
"Do—" Quinn closed her mouth.
"What?" Brittany asked.
Quinn sighed and hit the punching bag again. "Do you really think Rachel's sorry?"
"Yes," Brittany replied without hesitating. "And I know it's bad that she did it, but she really thought she was doing the right thing. She thought you might get hurt if you knew. She was going to tell you after you killed Shelby, but then you found out before that happened."
Quinn hit the punching bag a few more times before saying, "We should get back to work."
Rachel tightly gripped the stake in her hand as she walked along the sidewalk. She walked slowly, keeping an eye out for not only vampires, but also for Quinn. She didn't want the other girl to see her out here because she knew Quinn wouldn't be happy about it. She wouldn't be out here, but she'd tried calling Brittany numerous times, only to get her voicemail every time and her texts were left unanswered.
After a bit of research, she came upon a ritual that sounded like the one going on in Lima right now. The ritual had to be performed on five consecutive nights, which meant tonight would be the final night. It wasn't quite clear what was going to happen if the fifth part of the ritual was complete, but she knew it was going to start something and she knew it had to be something bad. She tried to tell Brittany that to let Quinn know the urgency of the situation, but she was unable to do so. She even tried going to Brittany house and the training room, but both were empty when she got there.
She had faith that Quinn would stop whoever—or whatever—was going it, but if she was unsuccessful, Rachel thought maybe she could. She knew it was a longshot—the chances of her finding it over Quinn was probably fairly low—but she had to try. She was just afraid she was going to run into the Slayer. She didn't really have a reason for being out there and she knew Quinn would be smart enough to realize that Brittany told her everything.
As she walked down the sidewalk, she began smelling smoke. Her head whipped around as she looked for the source of them smell, but she couldn't tell where it was coming from. She continued looking around until she finally spotted some smoke just above the trees about a block away. She began running toward the source, hoping to get there before the ritual was complete. It looked like the smoke was coming from the nearby cemetery, so she rounded the corner at the end of the sidewalk. When she ran around the corner, though,, she hit something solid and fell back, landing on her butt. She looked up and found herself looking at the one person she hoped she wouldn't run into.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.
"I—thought I would take a walk," Rachel lied.
"At night?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Rachel replied. "I can take care of myself." Rachel cleared her throat. "Now if we don't hurry, we might be too late."
"Too late for what?" Quinn asked. "I thought you were just taking a walk."
Rachel huffed as she stood. "I'll explain later. Right now, we have to stop that before it finishes."
Quinn sighed. "Brittany told you everything, didn't she?"
"C'mon," Rachel said, running off before Quinn could ask her any more questions.
She could hear Quinn's footsteps behind her and was glad the blonde was following; even though she was going to try, she couldn't imagine fighting anything on her own. And when she saw the demon next to the small fire, she was even more thankful. The horned demon was several feet taller than her and Rachel guess it weighed three times as much. She knew she never would have stood a chance against it.
"What are you waiting for?" Rachel asked after they had both stared at the demon for far too long. "If you don't kill it before it completes the ritual, something bad is going to come."
Quinn frowned. "How do you know?"
"I—may have done a bit of research," Rachel said, averting her eyes. "This is the fifth symbol, yes?"
"Yes," Quinn replied.
"Well, this is the last one," Rachel stated. "I don't know what the ritual is for, but I can guarantee it is for nothing good."
Quinn looked at the demon and then looked at her again before reaching down and rummaging through the duffle bag she'd dropped on the ground. She pulled out a sword and handed another, slightly shorter one to Rachel. She then put a dagger into her waistband and stood up.
"Stay here," Quinn demanded.
Rachel didn't know why she needed the sword if she was being instructed to stay there, but she was glad she had it since she doubted her stake would do anything against a demon of that size. With one last glance in Rachel's direction, Quinn began running toward the demon. Rachel hated staying back, but she did as Quinn instructed.
Quinn swung the sword, lashing the demon across the back, but it didn't seem to have much effect. It did stop chanting, though, and the flames began to lower. Rachel flinched when it grabbed Quinn by the neck, throwing her into a headstone. When Quinn didn't immediately get up, she took a few steps forward, wanting to run over and help her. Eventually, the blonde began to stand and Rachel stepped back. She hated watching from afar; it made her feel completely helpless.
She continued to stand there and watch Quinn fight the demon. The creature may be large, but Quinn seemed to be using that to her advantage. It was a lot slower than Quinn was and she successfully dodged its punches, getting in several strikes with the sword in the process. As it lumbered toward Quinn, Rachel took another step forward when it looked like Quinn wasn't going to move. However, at the last moment, Quinn dodged under its legs and scrambled to her feet. Before the demon could turn, Quinn stabbed the tip of the sword into the back of its neck. It swayed on the spot for a few moments before falling forward with a crash as it landed on a headstone, knocking it to the ground.
As Quinn pulled the sword out of the demon, Rachel walked toward her. The blonde wasn't looking at her, but Rachel's eyes never strayed from Quinn.
"It looks like you did it," Rachel commented.
"Yeah," Quinn said, still looking down at the demon.
"The fire's gone," Rachel said, looking at the spot, which didn't leave any marks despite a fairly impressive fire being there only minutes before. "I think that means you must have stopped the ritual in time."
"Hopefully," Quinn replied.
Rachel nodded. "I guess I should walk home. I'll see you in class Monday."
"Wait," Quinn called out after Rachel turned to leave. "I'll drive you; you shouldn't be out here alone."
Rachel smiled to herself. "Thank you; I appreciate the offer."
When Quinn walked into school on Monday, she walked down the hall in search of Rachel. She may not have forgiven her, but she felt like she needed to thank her. While Rachel should never have been out there Friday night, she was trying to help. She also told Quinn to find her if she wanted the research she had done, which the Council wanted, so Quinn had to get it.
Rachel wasn't by her locker when Quinn passed by, so she turned to go to the choir room. Before she got to the room, she heard Rachel's voice drifting down the hallway and knew she was inside. She didn't know why the brunette was rehearsing since they didn't have their Glee assignment for the week, but she guessed Rachel didn't really need a reason
"Hey, you're in the Glee Club, right?"
Quinn stopped and turned to see who was speaking to her. It was a guy she had never seen before and she would have definitely remembered since he had the biggest mouth she had ever seen.
"Yes," she finally replied after scrutinizing him a bit.
"I'm Sam," he said with a wide smile. "Sam Evans. My family just moved here."
"Quinn," she replied.
Sam had that look in his eyes that she knew all too well—he liked her. She had to admit he was good looking with his blonde hair—though he could definitely use a different style—and greenish colored eyes, but he obviously didn't stand a chance. She just hoped he heard about her past relationship with Rachel and got the hint before he inevitably asked her out and she had to turn him down.
"I should go," Quinn said, cutting him off before he could say anything else.
"It was nice meeting you," Sam said, giving her another crooked smile.
Quinn gave him a faint smile before walking away; Rachel was still singing in the choir room, so she paused by the door and watched her. Ever since she had met Rachel, the brunette mesmerized her when she sang. It wasn't just her voice, which was amazing, but also the emotion on her face. When Rachel sang, she could always see emotion the brunette was feeling; it was always written all over her face. Even when she thought she hated Rachel—or at least tried to hate her—Quinn was drawn in every time Rachel sang.
When the song ended, Rachel turned around and began walking toward the CD player, but stopped when she saw Quinn in the doorway. Quinn could see that she looked nervous and slightly surprised, but then she stood up straighter and continued walking toward the CD player just as the next song began to play.
"I assume you're here for my research," Rachel said as she stopped the music.
"Yeah," Quinn replied.
Rachel nodded and walked to her bag, which was sitting on one of the seats. Quinn watched as she rummaged through it, pulling out a black folder, and slipping the CD into one of the front pockets. Rachel turned around and walked toward Quinn, handing the folder to her without saying a word.
"Thanks," Quinn said, and Rachel nodded. "Not just for this, but for Friday. I appreciate that you tried to help; you shouldn't have been out there, though."
"I know," Rachel said, looking down. "I just hate sitting at home. It's hard knowing the things that go on in Lima and not being able to do anything about them."
"I know, but you could have been hurt, and I—" Quinn clamped her mouth shut.
She looked away from Rachel when the brunette looked at her, clearly curious to know what she was going to say.
"I should go," Quinn finally said after some awkward silence.
Rachel nodded again. "I will see you in class."
Without another word, Quinn turned and walked away, feeling Rachel's eyes on her until she turned the corner. When she turned the corner she stopped and leaned back against the row of lockers, resting her head against the hard metal. She couldn't believe she almost told Rachel that she wouldn't be able to live with herself if anything happened to her. She was just glad she caught herself before she said it aloud. She was supposed to be staying detached when it came to Rachel, not letting her know how much she still loved her.
"Sir, I—"
"He failed."
The girl shifted and averted her eyes. "Yes."
The man in front of her sighed and put his hands behind his back. "He assured me he could do it."
She hated to be the one to bring him the bad news, but since the demon was dead, she was the only one to do it. It wasn't that she thought he would kill her—he hated getting his hands dirty and she knew she was too invaluable—but he could still cause some fairly unpleasant things when he was angered.
"Very well," he finally said after a few tense moments. "I should have known better than to hire a contractor to do it. I won't make the same mistake again."
She released the breath she was holding and followed her boss as he began walking out of the room. She was surprised that he didn't seem angry, but she counted her blessings.
She wondered what he was planning, but didn't dare ask. She knew it was something big, though, if he was doing it. He generally remained low key, so to risk exposing himself, it had to be important to him. He liked to remain behind the scenes and work his magic from there, switching towns often to remain undiscovered.
They had only been in Lima for a little over a year; before that they were in a town in southern California. That's where she joined him. Since then, she had learned very little about him. He was currently going by the name Dustin Goolsby, but she knew it wasn't his real name since he was going by Alexander Castle in the last town. Mostly, she just did as requested and tried to lay low. It wasn't the ideal situation, but it was better than living on the streets, often crashing in a crack house, which is exactly what she was doing when her boss came across her.
"Come," Dustin said as he breezed into his den.
She had only been in the room a few times since they came to Lima; she was thankful he didn't ask her to enter it a lot because the place scared her. There were dead things in bottles, which were sitting on the shelves that lined the room and the room had a weird odor to it. She didn't know what most of the things in the room were and she didn't want to know. She preferred to stay detached because if she started questioning things, she knew she wouldn't like the answer.
"I need you to go into town and get these things," he said, handing her a list.
"Okay," she said as she looked over the piece of paper.
"Be discreet," he demanded. "We don't need the Slayer knowing we are here."
She nodded; she didn't know what this 'Slayer' was that he kept talking about, but he seemed convinced that she was going to come after him if she knew he was in town.
"I'll make sure no one sees me," she replied.
"Good," he said, turning his back to her. "I don't want her coming along and ruining my plans. She already put a temporary hold on them; I won't let that happen again."
She really wondered what his obsession with this girl was, but she didn't ask. She never asked. She knew her boss was a very powerful, dangerous man, but the longer she could stay in the dark about everything, the better. Right now, he was putting a roof over her head and feeding her, and as long as he did that, she would continue to do his bidding. She knew one day they would leave Lima, and when that time came, she would try not to look back at the carnage he'd inevitably leave behind.
Well, hopefully the wait was worth it. This will be updated every three weeks on Tuesdays, and as with all my stories, you can find the update schedule on my tumblr.
Reviews are greatly appreciated.
