A/N: I still own nothing.

The Demon Trapper's Daughter

Chapter Four: Escape

"Puck, get a grounding orb," Finn said in a low voice. "Rach, stay behind me." Any other time, she would have been irritated that Finn was being super overprotective, but she was too terrified right now to be offended. Rachel scooted behind Finn and she could feel her body shaking out of fear. For a moment, she wondered whether she'd even be able to be a master trapper; they had to trap Geo demons on their own.

As they watched, the demon didn't advance, but it raised its hands. Moments later, the winds picked up again, almost making Puck drop the orb that he was pulling out of the bag. Rachel noticed that this orb was green, which kind of made sense since Geo demons could manipulate the elements.

With the grounding orb firmly in his hand, Puck pulled his arm back to throw it toward a piece of steel rod lying on the ground. In order for the orb to work, it had to hit metal of some kind. From there, it transferred to the demon, nullifying its power long enough for you to trap it after using holy water.

At the last second, before he was able to throw the grounding orb, the ground started shaking violently, making all three novice trappers lose their footing. The orb came tumbling out of Puck's hands. Rachel watched the orb fall, almost like it was in slow motion. She knew that she couldn't catch it in time.

But she watched in amazement as Finn did.

He grasped it with his long fingers before pulling it into his chest for temporary safekeeping. Rachel breathed a sigh of relief and looked back up at the demon.

With the winds still howling and the ground shaking, it raised its hands once again and Rachel felt her chest seize up. What else could it possibly do?

A flash of light darted across the sky.

Lightning.

"Throw the damn orb!" Puck shouted over the loud winds and the rumbling of the concrete under their feet. Finn pulled his arm back, ready to heave the orb over his shoulder.

Another flash across the sky made Rachel look up.

She then jumped backwards and fell on her ass as a lightning strike hit the ground directly in front of her.

She looked up and saw both Finn and Puck advancing on the demon. They now both had orbs in their hands; she knew they'd want to get closer to make sure the orb hit its target. After she climbed back to her feet, everything suddenly went still. Rachel looked toward Finn and Puck in surprise and saw that the demon was gone. In a panic, she looked all around her, not wanting it to pop up behind her or something scary like that.

"You alright?" she heard Puck yell to her. She turned back around and saw Finn and Puck walking toward her. Finn handed Puck the grounding orb and he put the two orbs back into his bag.

"I'm fine," she replied, her voice not as steady as she would have liked it to be. "Where did it go?"

Finn shrugged. "I suggest we get out of here before it comes back," he said, sounding a bit worried.

"I second that," Puck said before zipping up his backpack.

"Let's go then," Rachel said. As they walked quickly back to the trucks, both of Rachel's legs were shaking. What did that demon want with her?

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

Puck called Rachel while he was driving and said that he was going home. Rachel promised to give him the cut of the money the next day. Despite tonight's events, Puck wanted to go out trapping again the next night. Rachel's only request was that they pick a different spot, which Puck agreed to.

"You know what I wanna know?" Finn said as they drove toward Shannon Beiste's office.

"I have no idea. What do you want to know, Finn?" Rachel asked.

"I wanna know how the hell the demon knows your name," he said, sounding a little bothered by this detail.

"Do you think it's the same one from the library?" Rachel asked.

"Maybe," Finn said after a moment of thought. "Is that what you were thinking?"

"I believe so," Rachel replied. "I just had this feeling that it was the same one."

"If it was, what does it want to do with you?" Finn asked.

"That's a very good question," Rachel admitted. What if it was the same one that killed dad? she wondered. Rachel's body became covered in goosebumps when she realized that she might be a target.

But why?

The rest of the car ride to Beiste's office was silent, but not uncomfortably so. Rachel opted to stay in the car, stating that she was tired. Finn wouldn't climb out of the car until she had her dad's holy water pellet-filled BB gun at the ready.

He finally left the truck when she threatened to shoot him with it.

Rachel turned Finn's keys and switched the radio on, refusing to sit there in silence. An old favorite Journey song of her dad's came on. She sang along for the first time in a long time, having forgotten how happy singing made her feel.

Rachel's voice combined with the song, "Faithfully," making her smile widely at the sound of it.

By the time the song was over, Rachel felt herself frowning. She wasn't done singing yet. So, while commercials played on one of the few radio stations that still worked, she sang her go-to song, "Don't Rain on My Parade."

Her voice sounded better than expected after months of non-use. With some adequate warm-ups and practice, she'd be back to her fantastic self in no time. She knew that her dads would be proud of her for starting to sing again; they always said that watching her perform was one of their favorite things to do. And Rachel certainly loved the attention. And the applause.

But she missed her dads more than both of those things. There was a constant aching in her chest that she was pretty sure would never go away. It might become easier to deal with, but it would always be there.

A large part of her wished that demons would have stayed where they came from. Her dads would still be with her. And maybe then she could have been singing somewhere on stage – anywhere would do.

But no, this was the way things were and she had to deal.

At least Rachel still had her dreams. There, she could be the star that she knew she was really meant to be, performing for her proud dads who doubled as her biggest fans.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"Okay, tell me what you remember," Finn said as he sat forward on the couch. Rachel sat next to him, looking down at the different orbs that covered the table.

"Clear is holy water," Rachel recited. "Green is the grounding orb, blue is the extinguishing orb, and yellow is the light orb."

"Right," Finn said with a smirk. "Now, which one do you use for a level four Night demon?" Rachel remembered that these demons were able to extinguish all light from a place, leaving you blind before they killed you.

"You use the light orb to brighten the place up and then the holy water orb to take it down," Rachel said confidently.

"Exactly," Finn said. "You already know how to take down ones, threes, fours, and fives. Now what about level two Pyro demons?"

"You use the extinguishing orb to put extra moisture in the air so it can't create fire. Then, you trap it," she said with a smile.

"I know that look," Finn said, looking at Rachel with a smile.

"What look?" Rachel asked in confusion.

"That confident look of yours," he explained. "I know this all sounds easy, but it's hard to do when the demon's coming after you. They don't just stand there and let you throw the orbs at them."

"I know that, Finn," Rachel replied. "It's just nice finally learning everything."

"Well, I think the next step would be to take you with me to get some more orbs," Finn said.

"Really?" Rachel asked excitedly. She'd never been to the trapper and hunters' market before. It was in a building downtown somewhere and had everything hunters and trappers would need to take care of the demon problem. There they could buy holy water, the orbs, medical supplies, trapping bags, and everything else you could imagine.

"Really," Finn laughed. "You should get to bed though. I like leaving early and getting there before the place gets packed."

Rachel nodded before getting up off the couch. Before she made it to the hallway, she turned and watched as Finn put the orbs away carefully.

"Hey, Finn," she said, taking a step back toward the couch.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning around.

"Thanks for tonight. For having my back with the five," she said with a small smile.

"Don't mention it," he said with a smirk. "It's what I'm here for."

As he smiled at her, she felt a familiar and unwelcome fluttering in her stomach.

"Goodnight, Finn," she said with a small wave.

"Sweet dreams, Rach," he replied before turning back around.

No. This couldn't be happening.

She knew that stupid fluttering feeling. That was the same way she felt when she was around Finn when she was fourteen. That little butterfly feeling happened whenever he was particularly sweet or even when he just smiled at her.

She couldn't like Finn again. He was a jerk to her all those years ago and could barely tolerate her now.

She couldn't like him. She couldn't.

As she fell asleep, all she could think about was his stupid little smirk that made her feel all happy and tingly.

She couldn't like him.

But she did.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

It was early in the morning, but the marketplace was still full of people looking to buy, sell, and trade things. Rachel passed a booth with strange-looking guns that Finn said demon hunters used to kill demons. They walked by the holy water vendor and Rachel's eyes widened at the price of holy water.

"How in the world am I going to afford being a trapper?" she asked Finn in a hushed voice.

"Don't worry," Finn said. "I'll help you for now, but by the time you have to buy your own supplies, you'll be able to trap the higher level demons which bring in more money." There he was, offering to help her even more. Butterflies started fluttering in her stomach again and she resisted the urge to groan. She didn't like that she liked him; it was almost like something else was forcing her to like him.

And she was totally hopeless against whatever it was.

"Here's where I get the orbs," Finn said, pointing to a tent up ahead. Rachel immediately smiled. It was colorful and cheery with tan and brown soft-looking curtains blocking the booth off from the neighboring displays. There were also wind chimes decorating the tent, releasing their elegant chime even though they were inside.

"This is a witch's tent, right?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah," Finn replied. "My old high school friend runs it. Her grandma's a witch and so is her mom."

"That's incredible," Rachel said in wonder.

"Santana," Finn called as they stopped in front of the tent. Moments later, a gorgeous Hispanic woman came walking out from behind a curtain. She looked like she was about the same age as Finn.

"It's about time you came around, Frankenteen," Santana said with a smirk. "Long time, no see."
"I know. I've been busy trapping and stuff," Finn said. Rachel cleared her throat, reminding him she was there. "Oh, yeah," she said, looking back at Rachel. "Santana Lopez, this is Rachel Berry."

"It's nice to meet you," Rachel said with a smile.

"Are you Leroy Berry's daughter?" Santana asked, walking closer to Rachel.

"Yes," Rachel said, her smile faltering just a bit. Santana reached out and grabbed her hand, holding it tightly.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," she said empathetically.

"Thank you," Rachel murmured. Santana held onto her hand for a few extra moments and Rachel found herself wondering what she was doing.

"Where have you been keeping this hot piece of ass, Hudson?" Santana asked after releasing Rachel's hand. "I thought I knew all of the hot chicks in this city."

Rachel looked up to Finn in confusion. He chuckled.

"Santana's a lesbian," he explained. "If I were you, I'd take that as a compliment instead of freaking out."

"Um, okay," Rachel said awkwardly. She turned to Santana. "I'm very flattered, but I don't feel that way toward women."

"Oh, I know," Santana said. She glanced at Finn before smiling at Rachel and winking at her.

Wait. Did Santana know?

Darn.

"Finn!" they heard someone call. They all turned their attention to a blonde walking their way. Rachel immediately experienced a hit to her self-esteem as she realized that the blonde was utterly beautiful. She smiled widely at Finn, who returned a small smile.

"Excuse me," he said to Santana and Rachel before walking toward the blonde girl.

"Who's that?" Rachel asked once Finn was out of earshot.

"That's Quinn Fabray," Santana explained, not sounding very enthusiastic. "They used to date."

Rachel felt her stomach drop. "Oh," she murmured.

"Now, what are the two of you here for?" Santana asked.

"Finn explained the different kind of orbs to me yesterday and brought me down here to buy some today," Rachel explained.

"Well, we've got all the ones you need," she said. She grabbed Rachel by the hand again and led her further into the tent.

"How do you make them?" Rachel asked. "I mean, I've always found magic fascinating and I couldn't even try and guess what it takes to make these orbs."

"I'm sorry, but I can't really tell you," Santana said.

"Is it kind of like a magician doesn't reveal their secrets?" Rachel asked with a wry smile.

Santana laughed. "Something like that," she replied. "Just know that it's certainly not easy."

A loud laugh made Rachel turn around. She saw that it was Quinn laughing. Finn's back was to her, but she could see Quinn smiling widely while her hand was grabbing Finn's arm. Rachel frowned a little and turned her attention back to Santana.

"You really care for him, don't you?" Santana asked with a knowing smile.

"Wh-How did you know?" Rachel asked.

"Well, I am a witch," Santana said with a shrug. "But if I wasn't, it would still be painfully obvious."

"Oh," Rachel replied quietly.

"I can tell that he hurt you before, but does he know about how you feel?" Santana asked.

"I don't think so," Rachel replied. "I liked him when I was fourteen… It might have even been love… I'm not sure. But then he pushed me away after saying some mean things. After that, I forced myself to not like him anymore since it just hurt too much. But now, I don't know… It's like all of these feelings are coming back and I don't know if I'm happy about it."

Santana scrutinized Rachel closely before looking over Rachel's shoulder. "The both of you have grown so much since then," she surmised. "I think if anything's going to happen between you two, now would be the right time for it to happen."

Rachel laughed bitterly. "Finn and I fight like cats and dogs ninety nine percent of the time. It wouldn't work out between us… And it's like I'm more of a little sister to him than anything," Rachel said

"I know I'm a witch and I'm supposed to say all of this awesome creepy stuff, but I'm gonna have to stick with the clichés," Santana said with a smirk. "You never know until you try." Rachel smiled but rolled her eyes. "You stay here. I'll be out with those orbs."

"Okay," Rachel said. Santana turned and went behind a curtain, where Rachel assumed she kept everything. Well, she was a witch; for all Rachel knew, there was a portal back there to somewhere…

Rachel smiled at a wind chime that was hanging to the side of her. It was made of stars, Rachel's favorite shape in the entire universe. The stars glittered and twinkled as they softly chimed against one another. It was beautiful.

Rachel looked toward Finn, about to call him over and show him the wind chime, when she saw Quinn step on her tippy toes and press a kiss to his cheek. Rachel laughed a little to herself. No matter how old she was, she'd never stand a chance with Finn.

It felt like she was fourteen years old again.

She jumped when Santana suddenly popped into her periphery.

"He usually gets the same amount every time he visits," she explained.

"Santana?" Rachel said. Santana looked up at her questioningly, hearing a tiny smidge of sadness in her voice. "Can you tell Finn I went back to his truck? I'm not feeling well," she said quietly.

Santana looked at her sympathetically. Rachel wondered if she knew what Rachel just witnessed.

"Sure," Santana said. "I hope to see you around again."

"I'm a trapper. You'll be seeing plenty of me," she said with a small smile. "And that star wind chime is absolutely beautiful."

"Thank you. I make them myself," she said.

"That's way more impressive than trapping demons," Rachel said, keeping the smile on her face. "I'll see you later."

As soon as she turned and walked away from the tent, her smile faltered. Her left leg felt a little sore as she walked quickly toward the truck.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"Where'd Rachel go?" Finn asked when he finally joined Santana back at the tent.

"She told me to tell you that she wasn't feeling well and went back to your truck." Santana grumbled. Finn looked at her in confusion.

"Are you mad at me or something?" he asked.

"You're just an idiot," Santana said.

"What the hell did I do now?" Finn asked.

"If you don't know what you did, you're even more of an idiot," Santana replied. Finn huffed.

"Just let me get the orbs so I can go check on Rachel," Finn replied. He took his backpack off and handed it over to Santana, who placed the orbs gently in the bag. After paying her the normal amount, Finn put his backpack over his shoulder gently.

"Frankenteen, you better make sure you stay close to her," Santana said in soft voice.

"Why?" Finn asked. "What do you mean by that?"

"I just have this feeling that something bad's going to happen," Santana said, sounding slightly uneasy.

"I'll keep that in mind," Finn replied warily. "See you around."

Without waiting for a reply, he turned and started walking the same way they came. He couldn't figure out what the hell he did that was so wrong… But maybe Rachel really didn't feel well even though it didn't seem like Santana thought so.

He walked outside and could see her sitting in the passenger's seat, staring straight ahead. With a sigh, he walked over to the truck and opened his door, climbing inside.

"Santana said you didn't feel good. You okay?" he asked, gently setting his backpack on the bench seat of the truck.

"I'll be fine," she said quietly. She continued looking forward and Finn could feel the awkwardness in the air.

"Do you know why Santana was pissed at me?" he asked, playing with his keys in his hand.

"I have no idea," Rachel replied, still looking forward. Finn huffed. "Quinn's pretty," she said quietly.

"I guess so," Finn replied. "We were together in high school for a while. Before I knew you or your dad. Her dad's in the Guild, you know." He looked over and saw Rachel nod.

"You two still seem close," she surmised.

"That's the first time I saw her in while, actually," Finn replied. He rubbed the back of his neck. He wondered why she kept talking about Quinn so much. Santana being pissed didn't really make sense, either. Unless…

"Wait," Finn said, turning most of his body toward Rachel. "Are you… are you jealous?" he asked incredulously.

Rachel finally looked at him in surprise. "No," she said quickly and firmly. The blush on her cheeks made him think otherwise.

"If you say so," Finn said, holding his smile at bay. "But just so you know, I'd probably never get with her ever again. The reason we didn't last in high school is because she cheated on me."

Rachel's eyes widened before she looked at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry," Rachel said, looking away from him.

"I'm not," Finn laughed. "If she hadn't cheated on me, I still would have broken up with her eventually."

"Why?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Well, nothing I did was ever right, you know?" he said. "To Quinn, the only thing that mattered was that we were the power couple. I had to wear certain things and eat with certain people at lunch to make sure we stayed on top. It was like she cared more about the football player that I was instead of the person I was."

"That sucks," Rachel said.

"I'm over it. It was a while ago," he said, shrugging.

"Right," Rachel said quietly.

"So, on the way out here, I ran into a buddy of mine. He told me there was a Pyro spotted in a parking garage this morning. You wanna go?" he asked.

Rachel shrugged. "Sure," she said nonchalantly. "That's an extra hundred dollars for us."

With a smile, Finn started the car.

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

"Why do I throw it above the demon?" Rachel asked, holding the blue extinguishing orb in her hand.

"That's 'cause snow comes out of it to moisten the air so much that the demon can't make fire. It can't really snow out of the ground, so you gotta throw it up," Finn explained.

"Oh," Rachel murmured. "Good thing we're in a parking garage then."

"Yeah," Finn chuckled.

They wandered around the bottom level of the parking garage where the demon was last spotted. Finn held a candle and a lighter in his hand, which he was going to use to draw the demon in. Not only did they like making their own fire, but they were attracted to flames as well.

"You hide behind that car over there while I light the candle," Finn ordered. "When you see it, throw the orb."

"Maybe you should throw it," Rachel said uneasily. Finn smiled.
"Rach, the ceiling's huge. You're not gonna miss," he chuckled.

Rachel glared at him. "Fine," she replied. She walked over to the car that Finn pointed out and crouched next to it, holding the orb in her hand. She watched as Finn lit the candle and set it down in the middle of the garage before jogging over to a car a few feet away from her hiding spot.

Now, it was a waiting game.

Rachel sang "Don't Rain on My Parade" to herself three times in her head before she spotted the Pyro demon running toward the candle. She scrunched up her nose in disgust. It was probably almost one foot tall with red skin and huge, yellow eyes. It looked like a little animated devil.

She stayed crouched over but moved slowly up the side of the car, trying to get closer. She watched as the demon stared admiringly at the candle before reaching his hand out. She held in a gasp when the demon's hand came into contact with the flame. But then she remembered the fire wouldn't hurt it.

The demon pulled it's hand away and looked like it was holding a little fireball. The Pyro's eyes were wide as it stared at the flames.

Once Rachel had snuck to the back of the car, she stood up quickly.

The demon's eyes narrowed in on her and it scowled before throwing the fireball in her direction.

Panicked, Rachel threw the extinguishing orb at the ceiling and tried to move out of the way of the blast of fire coming at her.

It hit her jacket before she could move all the way out of the way. She reached her hand up and started to use her jacket sleeve to pat the flames out. She could feel the heat on her skin as it started to hurt a little.

Finally, the fire was extinguished, but it burned through her jacket and shirt underneath. You could see the bottom of her bra sticking out.

"Fabulous," Rachel groaned.

"You okay?" she heard Finn call.

"I'm fine," she grumbled. She looked up and saw Finn standing there with a trapping bag in his hand. Rachel then noticed the snow.

It was like a blizzard came through the parking garage. She walked forward and the snow crunched under her feet, making her smile.

"I like the alterations to your outfit," Finn teased, looking from the hole in her clothes to her face. Rachel glared at him.

"That's not funny," she replied.

"It's kinda funny," Finn laughed. "You should have seen me the first time I got hit by a Pyro. My pants were destroyed. Your dad thought it was hilarious." Rachel smiled widely, remembering her dad's infectious laugh. "Let's get back to the truck. I'm hungry."

"Okay," Rachel replied. Finn turned and started walking to the staircase. With a smirk, Rachel reached down and scooped up some of the snow, packing it into a perfect snowball.

She reached her arm back before throwing the snowball with as much strength as she could muster.

It slapped Finn on the back of the neck, close enough to the back of his head, which was the intended target. She heard Finn scoff before turning around with a wide smirk on his face.

"You're so going to regret that," he said. Rachel squealed before running behind a car and ducking down. While she was crouched down, she picked up more snow and packed it tightly.

She then peeked her head over the hood of the car, looking for Finn.

Rachel ducked just in time as a snowball came toward her face. She laughed loudly.

"You missed!" she shouted, her voice echoing through the parking garage.

"That's 'cause you're hiding like a scared little girl!" he taunted with a laugh.

Rachel glared toward his direction. She then decided that a sneak attack would be best. She stayed crouched down and used the car as cover. When she was at the back of the car, she ran for the one next to it, using it as a shield. Rachel then peeked quickly, trying to see Finn. When she didn't see him, she looked under the cars, looking for his feet.

She saw a dark shadow under the car three cars down from her. Still staying crouched down, she ran the length of three cars and raised her hand, expecting to see Finn hiding behind the third car.

His empty shoes were sitting there.

"Crap," she murmured.

Something hard and wet hit the side of her face before she heard Finn's loud laughter. She turned around and saw him standing there, doubled over and laughing.

"You jerk!" she said before throwing her snowball. Finn ducked in time and it sailed over his head.

"You're done," he said before running toward her. Rachel squealed loudly before running away from him, slipping on the snow as she ran. Before she could get too far, her foot slipped out from under her and she fell to the ground. The snow helped to cushion her fall, but she was embarrassed.

She heard Finn's footsteps stop right next to her. She rolled onto her back and saw that he was crouching down next to her.

"Are you okay, Rach?" he asked, sounding worried. "Did you hurt your leg or something?"

"Finn, I'm fine," Rachel said with a giggle. "I just have a bruised ego."

"I wasn't gonna say anything, but that was pretty funny," he admitted with a smile. Rachel sat up and was only inches from Finn.

"So you laugh at someone when they fall?" she asked, acting like she was angry. "What if I was hurt?"

"That's why I asked if you were hurt first," Finn explained. "But since you're not, I can laugh over the fact that it was funny." A wide smile spread across his face and she couldn't help but smile a little, too.

"You're suck a jerk sometimes," she laughed.

Her gaze was locked in his and she suddenly felt warmth spread through her body.

Finn reached forward slowly. Rachel watched as his hand came closer and closer to her. Her gaze shifted from his hand to his face as he pushed some hair behind her ear.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

"I'm about to kiss you," he replied quietly, his eyes fixed on hers.

"Oh," she replied breathlessly.

He brushed through her hair with his fingers. With his hand on the back of her neck, he slowly pulled her closer.

"Do you want me to stop?" he whispered, his breath hitting her lips.

"No," she murmured.

"Good," he replied with a smirk.

Then, his lips touched hers gently.

To Be Continued…

-GLEE-GLEE-GLEE-

A/N: Please leave a review and let me know what you think! The next chapters will be up soon :)