Chapter Four: Out of the Fry pan, Into the Fire . . .
Marina brushed a strand of dark hair from her eyes. It had been the longest bus trip she had ever taken. She hated buses. They were the true evil in this world. And she wanted it smoten. Now, damnit. Her eyes rolled at the sign proclaiming they were now entering Burkesville, Ohio. Home of the Roaring . . . Clydesdales. Very creepy place. Her eyes focused on the heart of town. Which was rapidly approaching.
The bus would get there soon enough. Her hand fingered the necklace around her throat. It had been a gift. Her thumb traced the initials on it. They weren't hers. They were her sister's. It was too painful to remember the week of finals at Fitzhugh's. So many had been lost, and it was on open wound on her soul. The stench of blood had filled her nostrils. The painful screams of the dying. It had not been pretty. Jillian had had her first taste of slayer strength that day. They did not know that across the country and the pond, three other battles were being waged. A tear slipped down her cheek. There was no going back. They couldn't bring the dead to life. Evil had ripped warriors away. Darkness had had a bit of joy that day. But light had fought back. It had won, or at least compromised the shit out of the evil.
What would she tell them? All of it? Everyone's business? In due time. That was all she could do. Marina sighed as she waited for the town to present itself to her. It was gonna be one hell of a year.
*******
Sometimes, life was funny. Jillian couldn't help pondering her mother's last words to her. Well, she didn't want responsibility over her sisters. ESPECIALLY not Holly. After everything that had happened last year, Holly had changed. She felt it, and she knew Marina felt it. Of all of her sisters, there were only two she could never completely get. One of those two was Holly. As she made her way back to her seat, Holly noticeably shivered.
"What did mom say?"
"That you are in major trouble. And that I get to decide your punishment."
"WHAT?"
"Yup, I was as taken back as you were."
Holly turned her head away, staring at the muted screen. She plopped the headphones over her ears, and ignored Dorothy's constant poking. Jillian sighed and turned to Ann Marie.
~* What happened? *~ Ann Marie's eyes narrowed.
~* She was drinking. And flirting with men twice her age. *~
~* Champagne? *~
~* A mimosa. *~
~* What kind of pansy assed drink is that? *~
~* Ann Marie! *~
~* Sorry, but I thought if you're gonna get in trouble for drinking it would at least be a good drink. Not a mimosa. *~
~* Don't ever tell that to her. Just because Ethan and Ian told us that, doesn't mean our thirteen-year-old needs to know that yet. *~
~* No, but she does know that Marina and you got in trouble last year for getting six pack of wine coolers into the dorm room and that Mrs. Feldman caught you with it. You had to clean out the stables for three weeks. *~
~* Yeah. But we were much older than that. *~
~* You were sixteen and a half. Marina had just turned eighteen. *~
~* Ann Marie, Mom gave me total control and responsibility for you six for the rest of the year. *~
"Wow."
"Yeah, tell me about it. This year is gonna be hard, and we all know that. The twins, not so much. Anyway. I'm gonna need your help. I - I can't be there. Not all the time. I have -"
"Slayer duties." Ann Marie finished.
Jillian turned away. Never in her live did she feel this burdened. It was a lot for a nearly eighteen year old girl to handle. Granted, she didn't have to face as much as the other slayers had. She'd missed out on that battle. Her hand's had been pretty full with the incident at Fitzhugh's. She fingered the silver and pink scarf around her throat.
Ann Marie watched her. She felt bad for her sister. Jillian - Jillian had always been there for her. She'd been the only other Jane sister there when it had happened. Marina had been there of course, but Marina had sent the rest of her sisters' home. They'd been saved from that sight. She reached for Jillian's hand. Her sister looked down at the purple-nailed hand. Jillian smiled.
"Sorry, I'm not trying to rag on you, Jillian. It's gonna be hard. But we're not exactly the weakest girls in the world." Ann Marie said.
"I know. We'll fight the good fight. It's gonna be one hell of a year. I hope we leave Hogwarts standing."
"When has anyone of our bloodline left their high school standing?" She quipped.
"We're now making our decent. Please remain seated and fasten your safety belts."
*******
Rubeus Hagrid was a big man. But he was damned nervous around all these bloody muggles. They kept on staring at him like he was a bloody eyesore. Most just quickly rushed past him. Professor Dumbledore had told him to wait at Gate nineteen. So here he was, waiting for some American witches to arrive. He had no clue what they looked like. Apparently, neither did Professor Dumbledore. He'd find them, a course. Surely they'd stick out like most witches and wizards did. He tapped the great umbrella against his boots as he waited.
*******
Buffy was nervous. She kept pacing by the phone, hoping to get a call from Marina. It had been so long since she had seen her. Why hadn't she called? Buffy rubbed her temples.
"Any word yet?" Dawn popped her head into Buffy's office.
"No, I tried calling Aunt Moira today, but I kept getting the machine."
"Have you told Giles yet? I mean, that she's coming here, not about getting their answering machine."
"No."
"Haven't told me what?" Giles said, making his way behind Dawn, who was still standing in the doorway.
"We got a letter yesterday. From our cousin who lives in Michigan." Dawn said.
"Buffy, you didn't tell me you had family up here. That would have been helpful during the past few months."
"No scolding please. Besides, everything worked out in our favor." Buffy said.
It had been real luck that the council had bought a bit of land outside of Burkesville. It had been even luckier that the land had a run down ranch and bunkhouse already built on it. Xander had made it a real beauty.
"Marina's coming here, to Burkesville. Apparently, we have colleges here. Two, so we kinda kick ass."
"On a nightly basis." Buffy quipped.
"Buffy, is it safe to have another, powerless Summers here, on the other Hellmouth?" Giles wore his 'I'm-serious-and-being-extremely-British-about-this-situation' face. Buffy had strong feelings of dislike for that face. But before she could respond, Dawn broke in.
"But she's not a Summers. She's a Happenstance."
"A what stance?"
"Her dad was our mom's brother, and her maiden name was Happenstance." Buffy explained. "But Uncle Edgar's wife insisted on hyphenating their name, so their kid's are all Jane-Happenstance's."
"Really, very interesting. So, this girl is coming here to stay. How do plan on explaining all of the people living here?"
"Ooh! I have an answer!" Dawn's hand shot up. Buffy rolled her eyes at her sister and Giles removed his glasses to rub his eyes. He always did this when he was getting a headache from - well, all of them. "What is it, Dawn?"
"Troubled youth outreach program. Robin, 'cuz he is the principal at the high school now, organized it. Buffy, Willow, Faith, and Xander and you all run it. And as a bonus, you get to live here, rent-free." Dawn looked very satisfied with her self.
"That's actually a good idea." Buffy and Dawn's mouths dropped open. "What? It is." Giles rolled his eyes at the girls and changed the subject. "So when should we expect the girl?"
"We don't really know."
********
Marina jerked back to reality as the bus screeched to a stop in the station. She stretched her body as she rose. Her back cracked as reached for her backpack. She had this and the trunk. Her mother was sending the rest of her stuff to the ranch. Marina took her trunk and started walking.
She would be walking to the ranch. It was probably only a twenty-minute walk. Besides, it would give her a chance to think about what she was going to say to them when she got there. Her mind was a complete blank. She took in the town. Looked normal, but then on a Hellmouth, you couldn't really take things on face value alone.
Harbrouts would be her school. She knew that much. The Burkesville campus of the University of Ohio was three miles north of downtown Burkesville. Harbrouts was three miles south. Main Street dead-ended at the high school. The grade school and junior high were on Lincoln and Maple. The Mall was five blocks up, and the little shops canvassed main, along with city hall and the police station. The fire department and public library were two blocks up from Main, on Jefferson. She would have to take Kingsville up to get to the ranch Buffy was living at. She grimaced, cleared her mind, and sat down on a bench.
~* Jillian? Can you hear me? *~
~* Rina? What's wrong? *~
~* Nothing. Just needed some boosting up. Catch you at a bad time? *~
~* No, we're just about to land, so make it quick. *~
~* Sorry. What should I tell them? *~
~* The truth. All of it. Because one of them is gonna figure out that you're a witch. You can do this, Rina. I know you can. I just wish I could help you out down there. Don't forget that I'll be there in a heartbeat if ANYTHING goes wrong. *~
~* I know Jillian. Be careful, kay? 'Ian. *~
~* Rina, you haven't called me that since I was nine. *~
~* No, I used to call you lil 'Ian. You trailed behind that boy so much, I thought you were attached at the knee. Take good care of AM, Kat, Hol, Dor, Whit and Bri, ok? *~
~* Always. Give my love to Buff and Dawnie, and be careful, Rina. *~
~* Always. *~
Marina rose and started making her way to Kingsville Street. She was about to scare the hell out of some people. But hey, that was always so fun to do.
*********
Jillian hung her head down and popped her knuckles. Ann Marie winced with each popping noise. It really bugged her.
"Sorry, A.M."
"What? You were talking with Rina, weren't you?" Ann Marie scolded.
"Yeah, I was. She's in Burkesville, and she was all nervous. Seeing Buffy after all this time won't be easy on her."
"Thank you for flying our airline. We hope you have a pleasant trip."
Jillian signaled her sisters. Each pulled their backpacks on and waited for her to tell them where to go. She studied each of her sisters. Whitney and Britany hadn't lived on campus last year. At Fitzhugh's, that didn't happen until sixth grade. They each had on their Fitzhugh's t-shirts. The school crest was in the center. The six parts of the crest stood for the dorms. Pink and Silver had been Stingu colors. Purple and Silver had been Gilbrets'. Black and Silver had been Jusque's. Green and Gold had been Lechandre's. Brown and Gold had been O'Davies'. Blue and Gold had Lael's colors.
She'd been in Stingu. Marina had been in Lael, so had Kathleen. Holly had been in Jusque. Ann Marie had been in Gilbrets. Dorothy had been O'Davies. Bobby, their brother had been in Lechande. Bobby was being taught with the other kids, back home.
Dorothy had a baseball hat on that read O'Davies in golden letters. Ann Marie's nails were painted purple with a sliver streak up the middle. Holly's shirt was a black and silver baseball shirt with Jusque written across it. As for herself, she wore her lucky scarf around her neck.
"Well, let's get this over with. Buddy system. Kat, AM, you take the twins and Dor. I've got Holly."
