A/N: Ok, here's chapter 8! Sorry it took so long. School and life got in the way again. Thanks go to Imzadi and Distastered for reviewing last chapter. Thanks! So yeah, school has started and so chapters will be coming just a tad slower. Good news is that I have a free period so I can write during that time.
The first thing that came to Fred's mind when she fell into the cold water was that she was going to die. She knew it. First of all, she secretly didn't know how to swim. She'd get in the water and all, but as for being deep under water, that was a different story. She rapidly tried to paddle with her arms and legs but it was no use. She was running out of air, her tiny cheeks not holding enough oxygen in and her eyes were burning from the chorine.
Suddenly, after what felt like forever, she felt two other splashes and two sets of arms grabbing a hold of hers. She couldn't see, but she knew it had to be help. Then without warning, she lost consciousness.
"Fred? Fred, wake up."
"Maybe she hit her head Wesley."
"No, I see her eyes moving."
"Be quiet! All the noise is too loud for her."
"Should we call 911?"
"No, I think she'll be alright."
Fred listened to all these voices, trying to distinguish the owners of the voices. On top of that, her head was pounding and she felt queasy.
"Fred?" someone called to her again. Wesley. Her eyes slowly opened but closed at the bright light in her face.
"Oops, sorry," Cordelia said, who was holding the flashlight and turned it off.
"Hey, Fred. You're ok now," Gunn told her, and she opened her eyes again. The whole entire group was standing around her now, except Wesley, Gunn, and Willow who were all kneeling next to her.
"What happened?" she croaked, coughing up water.
"We were hoping you could tell us," Angel replied.
"Here, lets get her sitting at least," Spike said, bring a chair from the patio tables. Wesley and Gunn helped her up into the chair. Tara handed Wesley a towel and he wrapped it around Fred. She clutched it tightly and shivered.
"How did you find me?" she asked, possibly knowing the answer but needing to hear it for herself.
"We all heard the splash and then Wesley and Angel jumped in the pool to save you," Cordelia told her. Fred looked at Wesley, then at Angel.
"Handsome men saved me," she said to them.
"Fred, what happened? Did you trip over something?" Wesley asked. Fred shook her head.
"No, I – I don't...there was a face. I remember a face in the water," she told them.
"A face? Whose face?" Buffy asked. Fred shook her head.
"I don't know. I've never see it before. It – it was a boy-"
"A boy? No boys here," Gunn said. Xander visibly paled and both Anya and Cordelia noticed.
"Xander, what's wrong?" Anya asked. Everyone now looked at Xander, who rubbed his eyes, trying to get that horrible image out of his head.
"If you're talking about who I think you are, then this isn't good," he told them.
"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked.
"Earlier this morning, I was out by the lake. This kid comes over, didn't even hear him. We started talking and he said he was coming for his baseball. I picked it up and he was gone. Then he was at the shore..." Xander explained, stopping and looking sick.
"Xander, what?" Willow asked.
"He was dead. Blood everywhere. There – there was a knife in his back and a slash on his throat," Xander finished. There was silence while everyone took that in.
"Is this another one of your stupid jokes?" Angel asked him. Xander didn't say anything back, just glared at the Wolfram & Hart CEO.
"He's not joking," Willow said. "I saw him this morning coming from the lake and he was as pale as a-"
"Ghost?" Buffy asked. "I'm gonna have to believe you on that."
"You saw this boy too?" Wesley asked. Buffy shook her head and looked over at Spike, who sighed.
"No, not a boy. A girl," she replied. Spike put a hand on her shoulder.
"This morning me and Buffy were about to leave for some shopping and there was this girl standing by the doors," he began. "She said she needed help, kept going on about needing help. When Angel and Cordelia came out of the elevator, we got distracted and turned away. When we turned back, this girl was gone. Didn't even hear a door open."
"How old were these kids?" Faith asked. Wesley looked over at her and Faith answered his silent question with a nod.
"Uh, she was about 15 or 16. She said her name was Dawn," Buffy replied. Xander nodded.
"Yeah, the boy was around the same age," he told Faith. Wesley sighed and looked over at Faith.
"Looks as though the signals were sent. It's best we tell them," he said to her. Faith nodded and so did Tara. "The children you saw were the ghosts of the O'Riley twins."
"Are you sure?" Cordelia asked. "This just isn't some dumb snit played by some kids?"
"No. As Buffy mentioned, the girl said her name was Dawn. That was the name of the girl. Her brother was Connor. Xander, did you get the boy's name?"
"No. I asked, but he didn't answer. Said he was here to see his dad. It didn't really make any sense to me but he said he was visiting."
"His dad?" Fred asked. "His dad is here in town."
"Huh?" Angel and Faith asked at the same time.
"Earlier today, we went to a flower shop and I met the kid's parents. Uh, Darla and Lindsey were their names," Fred told them.
"No, Lindsey McDonald isn't their real dad. That was just the guy dating Darla when the kids were killed," Faith told her.
"Is that who you were talking to today? Why didn't you say anything?" Willow asked Fred.
"I didn't think it was anything worth mentioning. I just felt bad for the couple," Fred replied.
"How do you and Wes know about this?" Xander asked Faith.
"The first day we got here, we had a floating marker write 'Find Him' on Wes's wall. It's still up there if you want proof," Faith said.
"What do you want us to do?" Everyone looked over at Giles, who hadn't spoken the whole time. Wesley nodded at his joining in and sighed.
"I need you all in this. I believe that if we bring their killer to justice, the ghosts will finally be able to rest." Everyone nodded, some still a little reluctant.
"Willow, Tara tells me you are good with computers. Can you help us out and locate information that the police might have on the case? We need as much information as we can get," Wesley asked.
"You mean hack into police files? Sure, sounds fun," Willow replied, smiling.
"What do we do if we find this guy?" Angel asked.
"Yeah, if this guy's a killer, we can't count that he'll go quietly," Cordelia added.
"Do not mistake the danger in doing this. This man has been probably hiding for years now. He's probably done something like this before or he'd have been caught already. The only thing we can rely on is that there are more of us than him," Wesley said.
"Ok then. Lets catch us a bad guy," Buffy said.
With most of the group on board, they all started to get to work. Sam decided this was nonsense and decided to go to bed. Riley just went after her. Andrew was unsure of what to do. He had reason to believe this, but he remembered that Mr. Green had said there were no ghosts. Anya decided to stand by Xander and help him with his job, which was keeping an eye out for the two teens if they happened to show up again.
Willow, Tara, and Cordelia were on computer search duty. They were to find anything and everything on the teens, their family, and the case. Spike and Buffy had the job of going to talk to Detective Lockley, the detective who was on the case. Giles was put on book duty, looking through Wesley's books and trying to find something on ghosts. Angel and Gunn were the skeptics, but helped out as well, going around town and trying to gather information from Keyton's citizens. That left Faith, Fred, and Wesley to talk to the McDonalds.
Buffy watched the young guitarist/singer as he drove them toward the Keyton Police Department. He casually tapped his thumb to the beat of the loud rock music coming from the speakers of his car. She didn't know why or how he was being so calm about this. Someone almost died last night and they both had a creepy encounter with a ghost. This was all getting too X-Files for her, but if things were really happening, she knew that next time someone would die. Maybe her. Maybe even the hot rock star sitting next to her.
"Feelin' ok pet?" Spike asked her, forcing her back into reality.
She nodded quickly. "Yeah. I'm fine."
Spike looked a little unsure. "I'm sure you think this is all bollocks."
"No, I'm ok Spike. Sure, a little freaked. These things did try to kill Fred last night."
"Those 'things' are two kids luv. I can see where they're coming from alright. And I don't think they tried to kill Fred. The bird fell in is all. It was just her bad luck that she couldn't swim," Spike told her. Buffy nodded.
They arrived at the Keyton Police Department and got out of Spike's black DeSoto. They wondered into the building, looking for a Detective Kate Lockley. They came across a very rude officer, who after minutes of making sure they really did need the detective's help, pointed them toward another part of the building. They eyed the name plates of all the desks until they came to the one they were looking for.
Kate Lockley sat at her desk, scanning through a couple of files. She looked up to see the blonde couple standing in front of her desk.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
Spike looked around and sighed. "We need to talk to you in private."
"I'm not going anywhere with you until I at least know why you want to talk to me," Kate replied.
"It's about one of your cases," Buffy spoke up. Kate looked at her.
"And which case would that be?" she asked.
"The one that involves two teens and a bloody mess," Spike said. Kate narrowed her eyes at him.
"That case is inactive. Not dealing with that one anymore. Been fifteen years. Hasn't been solved since so I don't think there would be something now that would change that," she told him.
"Actually, there is something. Big piece of evidence and about ten witnesses. That good enough?"
"There are no witnesses to the crime. Believe me, we talked to everyone we could. No one saw a thing," Kate replied.
"We have two ghosts who beg to differ," Spike told her. Kate looked at him disbelievingly.
A/N: Ok, that's all for now. I would write more, but I figured you all (or few) had to wait long enough. Sorry again for the wait. Hopefully chapter 9 will be up sooner.
Next chapter... Willow/Tara-ness, Fred, Wesley, and Faith talk to Lindsey and Darla, and Spike and Buffy fill Kate in on their haunted hotel.