The Dark Years
Part Six: Bloody Angels and Promises
Disclaimer: see the first chapter or so.
Posted: August 10, 2004
Author's notes: Sorry for such a long wait, guys. I've been really busy. We have a new puppy, and she's a handful and a half, and I have a new Buffy/Angel fanfic archive that I'm trying to get up to par. If you'd like to submit any fics, or know someone who's a B/A obsessed, or if you would sign up to be a beta reader (we seriously need those) then check out the site here: .
Comments, suggestions and the like are also welcome!
Shameless plug, I know!
Oh, and supposedly fixed the problem where they were taking out my dividers, so I'm gonna try with just them. Can someone please let me know if they are actually there? If they're not, I'll fix it and repost the chapter....
Reader Responses:
Melanie: hm...bribery...I like it! And about the reviews, I'm as stumped as you! It's probably being the fourth part, no one wants to read the first three....
And to your review of TNG: Thank you! I'm not the only one who thinks that some of my stories could seriously use a makeover, lol. Yeah, I'd have to say most of the improvement is due to the Creative Writing course I took last year. I wish I was taking CW2 next year... But thanks for your review!
BuffyAngelfan32- I'm actually not holding any of my chapters for ransom at the moment. is not letting me log in, and therefore I can't update! WAH! If you haven't figured out the mastermind as of yet, then you should be close to figuring it out by the end of this chapter. rereads quickly Yup, you should definitely figure it out this chapter, and if not this one, then the next one should be the dead ringer, lol.
And that's ok about not reviewing until now, just don't do it again, lol, ok?
Thanks to TrickStarr for reviewing as well!
Huh, we lost some reviewers from last time, and gained three, I think....but we lost a lot more, lol. Hopefully we haven't lost readers...
"Don't you bloody angels ever knock?!" Spike growled as he charged out of his bedroom. He stopped short when he saw the two girls, "Oh, it's you. Sorry. Bloody angels, or guardians or whitelighters or whatever, been bugging me half to death. They've figured out I killed two slayers in my day," he almost sounded proud. Melinda couldn't help but smile a bit, "They think I had something to do with your mum's disappearance." He stopped a moment, giving them a queer look, "Where's Quarter Pint?"
They looked to where she was supposed to be in shock.
"Where is she?" Faith asked, a touch of panic in her voice, "Oh, great! I was supposed to be watching you two! As the oldest, by like two freaking seconds, Gram expects me to watch you two!"
"I'm right here," the whispered shocked all three as they turned to see her curled up in a corner, knees up to her chest, arms wrapped protectively around them.
"What are you doing over there, niblet?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
"I-I saw her. I-I read her. She-she's evil," she looked up and they saw the terrified tears in her pretty eyes.
"Saw who, Quarter Pint?" Spike kneeled beside her, placing a hand on her knee.
"Her."
"Grace, no. It was just someone that looked like her," Faith hastened to pacify her youngest sister.
"I know what I saw, Faith! I saw Mom, and I read her! She's evil," she whispered the last part, not wanting to believe.
"You saw your mum? The original half pint?" Spike stood up, shaking his head, and began to pace.
Grace nodded.
"That's what we were coming here for," Melinda said, "We did a spell that sent Grace back to the day Mom was taken. We learned that an...Ubervamp took her."
"Impossible! We slaughtered the buggers."
"But we know what Grace saw. There was a picture in the book Grams gave us. You must have missed one. Or not all of them were there."
"Do you know what spell was used to get rid of The First Evil?" Faith asked.
"Nah, I was juiced up on a spell of my own."
"What?"
"Oh, it was this whole four thing. Head, heart, spirit, hand; combine them all in the hand, and you've got yourself a serious demon killer. Willow would know, she came up with it, or cast it...It's all hazy in my old age," he shook his head, "But you think the First took your mum?"
"Yeah. The book said that the First was unkillable, so the Charmed Ones probably cast it into purgatory or something."
"But you're too afraid to ask them, because you think you're biting off more than you can chew, and you know they know it."
The three girls nodded, caught. Even Melinda, the queen of lying, couldn't lie to Spike. He saw through everything.
"Though so," he sighed, sitting down in his thick, overstuffed chair. He dug into his breast pocket and pulled out a crumpled, rumpled pack of cigarettes that had definitely seen better days.
"You smoke?" the three girls asked as one, shocked.
"Has anyone ever told you how eerie that is?" he sighed, "Andy wanted me to quit, since they could actually kill me, and I did, but at times like these..." he stared at the crumpled pack a moment, sighed, and stuffed them back into his pocket, "It's dark times when the duty to save the world falls on three thirteen year olds. Dark years these have been..." he sighed.
"Don't tell Andy I said this, but without your mum in this world, things seem darker. The sun don't shine as bright, the sky's not so blue. Doesn't help that the strongest force of good I've ever known has split, given up hope. And don't let your granddad know I said that, he'd think I was going soft in my old age,' he started to sigh, realized just how much sighing he had been doing lately, and stopped.
"What can I do to help?"
"Thank you!" the three girls chorused, rushing up and hugging him.
"I knew I was going to regret this. What have you done so far?"
They told him of their exploits thus far, from calling spirits, studying extra hard, getting extra help to their most recent spell.
"The only thing I can think of, besides talking you're your grandparents, would be talking to someone who was there. Red would turn you in...Faith, try calling upon your namesake. If I know her at all, she'll help."
They had to leave soon afterwards, to make it home by curfew. "For God's sake, be careful. Keep me in the loop, ya hear?" they nodded and said goodbye before orbing home.
"Faith, do you know what he meant?" Melinda asked as they dressed for bed.
"Faith Abrams, I think. She was the second slayer after Grams. She died in prison when Mom was fourteen or fifteen. Her death activated Mom," Grace supplied, "She broke out of jail to help Grampa with something. Aunt Willow was sketchy about that part."
"So, we doing a summoning?" Melinda asked.
"Why not? I'd like to meet her."
"Go tell Grams, Grace, while we set up," Melinda said, heading towards their candle bin.
"W-What should I tell her?" she stuttered.
"We're doing a spell. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Oh, I'll do it!" Melinda said, leaving the room.
"Is she mad at me, Faith? I didn't mean to make her mad."
"No, she's just frustrated," Faith sighed, "You're the smart one, Grace. My grades don't even compare to yours, and Melinda has to try extra hard to even think of competing with me. No, let me finish," she said as Grace opened her mouth to argue, "you seem like you're so much brighter, older at times, but then you're afraid to tell the tiniest of lies. To Melinda, whose first words were lies pretty much, it seems so childish. It's intimidating, to have your youngest sister be so ahead and behind at the same time."
"I-I'm sorry."
"No big deal. Let's set up." They placed the candles in a circle on the floor. Melinda came back, and they stood before the candles.
"Hear these words, hear our cry,
Spirit from the other side
Come to us, we summon Thee,
Cross now the Great Divide."
The lights swirled around inside the candle lit circle, and a figure soon appeared, wearing a tight black tank top, that was cut way too low, and black leather pants.
"Well, look what we've got here," she looked the three girls up and down, "You three are the spittin' image of some pics I saw of your Mom when she was young. What can I do for ya?"
"We wanted to know about your fight with the First Evil."
The woman looked at them suspiciously, "You think the First took your Mom," she said slowly.
"N-no!" Grace stuttered.
"Aw, came on. You're little campaign is all over the other world. There are even bets on who you'd call up. Never thought it would be me," she almost sounded proud of the fact.
"Now, let's see...First Red went and grabbed the Charmed Ones. Then when time came, this coven came from England and showed up and did this whacked spell. Best high ever.
"Your Granddad beat the shit outta this Beast dude. Ended this Rain of Fire thing, then we went to help B in Sunnyhell."
"Do you know anything about the spell Grams did on the First?"
"Nah, everything's kinda blurred. Ask your Grams," they shifted uneasily, "Ah, so the Rent's don't know, huh? It might seem like a good idea now, but they are going to find out, and then you'll be in a shit load of trouble. Trust me, been through it a couple times."
They nodded, having no intention of telling Grams.
"I've got to go. I don't know nothing, but if I find someone who does, I'll let you know. B's a good person, and Joyce was a sweet kid. I'm sorry I can't help." She nodded to them, before disappearing.
They got ready for bed, and turned out the lights. While Faith and Melinda dozed off immediately, Grace tossed and turned. She couldn't get that final scene out of her mind.
After an hour of failing to sleep, she threw back the covers and pulled on a pair of sweats. She threw a couple pillows under her blankets, a trick her sisters used on occasion. It had never worked on her, but she hoped her sisters wouldn't look to closely.
She orbed downstairs, her spare key on a lanyard around her neck. She let herself out, double-checking the stake in her back pocket. Being able to use the pointed wood was one of the first self defense techniques each girl had learned.
Her feet took her in long strides down the walk and in the direction her mother had taken that night. She stopped and touched the brick wall. Solid. She stood in the middle of the street as the scene flashed through her mind once more.
She remembered the exact place her mother had crumbled, and she knelt on the deserted pavement.
The shivers she had felt in the alleyway came back to her as she knelt on the cold pavement. She touched the area hesitantly. She knew her sisters thought she was cracking, but she knew what she had seen earlier that night. She knew what she had felt.
She felt a premonition coming on; a new power compared to her empathy, which she couldn't remember a time without, and she closed her eyes.
She was in a small apartment, and she saw a blond figure sitting in a rocking chair, holding a squirming bundle. She gazed down at that bundle so lovingly, Grace felt like an intruder upon the scene.
"Shh, Grace," the woman murmured, beginning to hum, "I love you, baby, shh... Mommy's here. I'll always be here, shh..."
Grace was sitting back on the cold, rough tar, and slowly the tar beneath her bent form blackened, wet.
"That was a stupid thing to say. You couldn't know. And you're not," she murmured, sniffling. She opened her eyes and stared up into the stars, "I'll find you, Mom. I promise."