A/N: You guys have been really cool with the reviewing and all. I so owe all of you major hugs. Now sit back and relax with this chapter. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 16
After separating from Spike and Angelus later that evening Dru returned home. A note from her parents had been left on the refrigerator, saying that they had left to go to a meeting at the church.
"Jesus freak parents," Dru said out loud as she made her way upstairs, deciding to call it a night.
She sat down at her vanity and picked up her large haired brush, immediately stroking her long, dark hair with it. It was amazing how quickly Dru could slip into her old routine. The vampire girl could remember sitting there in front of her mirror for at least half an hour, doing her hair. Looks were the most important thing, even at bedtime.
After she finished with her hair Dru put on a pair of pajamas and got into bed, turning off the lamp that stood on her nightstand. She had no problem falling asleep. In fact, Dru felt surprisingly comfortable.
The next few hours of the night were quiet. Dru's glow in the dark alarm clock slowly turned midnight. All of a sudden Dru shot up from bed with a gasp. She glanced around at random objects in her room before climbing out of bed.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Spike, hearing what seemed to be tiny rocks thrown at the glass of his window, appeared at his bedroom window and pulled it open. He glanced down at Dru, who stood on his front lawn, clad in a pair of deep blue jeans and a black top.
"Dru? What is it?"
"I don't know exactly… but we need Angelus," the girl replied.
Gunn sat on the bed in his bedroom, tossing Alonna's basketball up and down with one hand, making it bounce off the ceiling. The cordless phone he kept in his bedroom was in his hand, as he was talking to Wesley.
"I'm telling you, Wes. Somethin' ain't right about these kids," Gunn said. "What? No, Wes, I don't know why Spike was mean to you. Would you get over that?" Gunn sighed deeply. "Does whiner mean anything to you?"
"Sorry, it's a personal thing," Wesley said from his end of the phone. He sat at the desk in his bedroom, moving a pen through his fingers. "And don't worry, Charles. We'll find out more about Liam, Spike, and Dru tomorrow."
"Wesley." The teenager glanced back to see his father standing in the doorway, an irritated look on his face, as always. "There are other people in this house who need to use that phone."
Wesley sighed and turned back to the phone. "Gunn, I have to go. I'll see you in school tomorrow." He hung up after Gunn said his goodbye.
The minute his father was gone, Wesley went over to his bedroom window and pulled it open as wide as it would go. He looked across at the other house from him, Gunn's house. The black boy also pulled up his window and the two of them were able to see each other.
"Hi," they called simultaneously.
"Where are we headed?" Angelus asked Dru. She and Spike had just retrieved him.
"I can't explain it exactly," Dru said. "But I had a vision and it's shaken me."
"Easy, Dru," Spike assured her. "We'll set it right."
An ear-piercing scream filled their ears, which was especially loud for them, considering their vampire hearing.
"This way," Dru told the boys then sped down the block, Angelus and Spike right behind her.
A young girl backed up against an alley wall as a vampire came upon her. Fear and panic could be read over the girl's chubby features.
"Please," she pleaded with the vampire. "I just want to go home. My parents are gonna kill me."
"Not if I get to you first." The vampire leaned in for the bite and the girl released another scream.
"Corny line, mate," Spike said, as he, Dru, and Angelus had just arrived at the scene.
"What are you?" the vampire demanded, completely confused. "Vampire… or human?"
"Call it an omni thing," Angelus said then gave the vampire a swift kick in his upper abdomen. "Cool, though, huh?"
As Spike and Angelus began to exchange punches with the vampire Dru ran to the girl's side, asking if she was OK. Dru looked up to see her boyfriend and her sire tossing the vampire back and forth between each other. Dru glanced around then saw what looked like a broken off piece of wood lying on the ground. She picked it up and shuddered for a moment, thinking about how she had actually turned to dust herself earlier.
"Catch it," Dru shouted, tossing the wood towards the boys.
Angelus caught the tiny piece of wood and turned to the vampire, immediately staking him. The vampire turned to dust in an instant.
"Well, that was a rush," Spike sighed.
"Oh, my God," the girl they'd saved panted. "Thank you all so much. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't come along."
"Are you sure you're all right?" Dru asked, surprised at her own concern.
"Well, right now I am. Won't be when I get home to my parents." The girl turned to Spike and Angelus. "Thanks, again." She scampered out of the alley.
"Question." Dru and Angelus turned to Spike. "What the bloody hell did we just do here?"
"Saved that girl," Dru said. "The one I saw in my head."
"Obviously, pet," Spike said. "But why? What did we have to gain from that?" Dru looked down, not knowing how to answer. Spike turned to Angelus. "Do you have a clue?"
Angelus shook his head lightly. He, too, didn't know what to say.
The following day at school the trio of vampire humans met up a school, gathering around Dru's locker. Spike was still inquiring about the previous night, wondering why they'd did what they did.
"I can't really explain it," Dru said. "But when I saw that girl in my head, screaming… I didn't crave her pain. I felt pain for her."
"That doesn't make sense, luv," said Spike.
"I know what she means," Angelus said, his voice low. "She's right. This whole thing is really hard to explain."
"So, what, we're just going to do this from now on?" Spike asked them. "Just because Mr. Cryptic said to help the so-called helpless?"
"Like we have anything better to do?" Angelus reminded him. "The thing is, though, I doubt any one of us can make a difference. How can a vampire change a human life?"
"Angel!" a familiar voice called.
Angelus looked back to see Fred heading his way. "Hey, Fred," he greeted lightly. The girl looked so different from the one he'd seen in the hall yesterday. She looked, well, happy.
"Hi," Fred beamed at him. "I just wanted to give you something." She took hold of his hand a slipped a small piece of paper into it. "Well, I'll see you later." Fred waved at the other two teenagers Angelus was with then turned and headed down the hall.
Angelus opened the piece of paper the girl had given him and read it, his eyes filling with shock for a moment.
"What is it, Angelus?" Dru asked.
Angelus shook his head. "Nothing."
"Did that girl call you Angel?" Spike asked.
"Angel," the tall boy said lowly. "Yes. I think I like the sound of that." He turned and headed down the hall, re-reading the note Fred had slipped him.
It read: Angel, thank you so much for yesterday. You showed me real kindness and I'll never forget it. If it hadn't been for you, I would have actually killed myself that day.