Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: the series or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer shows or characters. I do however own the characters of Cathy Lucy Angel and Nicholas (Nicky) Wood. No money is exchanging hands. Please don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student without a dime.
Summary: This story is the sequel to Fast Forward. Connor has finally come back home after living in Quar'toth for ten years. Each chapter will focus on a separate character's point of view as Connor adjusts to being back home and living with his family.
Pairings: Angel/Cordy, Faith/Wood, Fred/Wesley, Gunn/OC, Spike/Buffy, later on Connor/Dawn, Anya/Xander, Willow/Kennedy.
The song that inspired this story is This Year by Christina Aguilera. (Click to get the lyrics)
If you want to skip around to other chapters first you can, but they might not be up yet. I just put in the links in advance. They are all separate stories with different points of view.
PS—I tried on the first chapter to keep it in third person POV, but it was too hard so I switched it to first person. Hopefully it should go a little better than October. Please be patient, it takes time to write these stories.
This Year
By: Sensue
Chapter Four: January (Connor's POV)
New Year's Eve
Sometimes I think this dimension sucks. At least when I was in Quar'toth, I didn't have to go to a stupid "New Year's" Picnic in this wooden park.
I have to go, there's no way to get out of it. If dad and/or Spike didn't go, due to the sun, I would've had a good excuse to miss it. You know, wanting to spend more time with dad instead. But Mom and Wesley came up with a plan; they rented one of those concrete shelters at the park and were going to cover three sides of it with heavy burlap so that direct sunlight couldn't enter. Of course, once the sun went down, the burlap could as well. So now, everyone has to come; no exceptions.
The only thing I'm happy about is that Harrison is staying at the hotel until he 'gets his life in order.' So now I have someone to hang out with that isn't old. Harrison didn't seem too excited over this picnic thing either.
I think the only ones overjoyed with this are Nicky and Cathy. They can't wait to go, especially since they get to swim at the beach. Spike is also happy, not much about the picnic, but about who will be at the picnic: Buffy Summers.
Yup. Mom invited the entire "Scooby Gang" to the picnic along with the other slayers this year.
Woohoo! NOT!!!!
I mean, who wants to spend the entire day with tons of little girls. I get enough of playing dolls and tea party with Cathy. I don't need any other trying to 'braid my hair' or anything like that.
So now I have to smile and act like I'm having a great time, so mom won't get disappointed that I'm not having fun. I'd rather be hunting with my new bow and arrow set I got for Christmas. Harrison would completely agree with me. He thinks this place sucks too.
After being waken up at an incredibly early hour, I had to help everyone pack and get ready for the picnic. Since dad couldn't go out in the sun, I was assigned the task of being 'pack-horse' to put the coolers, boxes, toys, and bags into the truck.
Once everything was organized and ready, we all jumped into a car or truck and made our way to the park. Dad and Spike hid in the trunks of the cars until we covered the reserved shelter. Then we spent an hour getting setup, like starting the grill and putting out the appetizers.
An hour later, a yellow school bus with the words "Watcher's Academy for Gifted Girls" printed on the side, pulled up to the assigned area. A flood of girls poured out of the door of the bus.
Great they're here! Now everyone was busy talking to each other besides me.
Spike and Buffy sat under the awning making googly eyes at each other and sucking face. Mom was talking with Fred, Anya, Faith, and Meredith. At least Meredith isn't screaming anymore, that was a pain the butt to listen to. Dad was playing chef, grilling hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch. Giles and Wesley started talking about the new Watchers Council. Gunn was talking with Willow, Kennedy, and Andrea. Lorne and this weird guy wearing a tropical colored shirt were driving Dad insane by making cooking suggestions. I think that Dad was going to kill the guy. He said, "Get the hell out of my face Harris, or I'll twist your head right off your body." Dad must really hate the guy. Robin and Harrison went to gather wood for the campfire later tonight, so I was extremely bored sitting in a lounge chair listening to my CDs by myself, eating my lunch.
All of a sudden, a cold drink spilled all over my head and chest. Damn it, that's cold. I looked up and saw a girl my age with a hand over her mouth and an empty cup in the other. Another girl was giggling as she ran past me, yelling "You missed," before she disappeared behind a tree.
"Oh, my God. I'm so sorry. I didn't see you sitting there," the girl said. Then she ran off to get a roll of paper towels. She ripped a couple of sheets off and then started wiping me off before I could stop her.
"I can't believe what a klutz I am. I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. It's fine." I took over wiping the sod off my clothes and face. I looked up at her again, this time I noticed her face, her body. She was wearing a pink cutoff T-shirt that showed her abs and what tight—abs they are. She was wearing really short denim shorts that showed off really long tanned legs. Her brown hair glittered with blond highlights in the sun. She's really a pretty girl. Hey, maybe this picnic thing wasn't a bad idea after all. I stood up and held my hand out to her.
"Hi, my name is Connor. What's yours?" The hand placed in my hand was warm, smooth and soft.
"I'm Dawn. Do you, by any chance want to take a walk to the beach? We can take those little kids over there playing with the ball. I know that they've been crying and begging to go."
"Okay, Dawn." I said her name. It was wonderful. "You're right. Cathy and Nicky, the kids over there are my brother and sister; they really want to go play at the beach. I don't think that my mom and dad would have a problem with us taking them. Let me just go tell my mom, I'll be right back." I ran to mom quickly, telling her of my plans to take Nicky and Cathy to the beach. I didn't tell her about Dawn though. I know mom, she'd make a big deal out of it.
After I talked to my mom, I ran over and got Cathy and Nicky ready to go to the beach.
In all honesty, I don't know what a beach is; just that the kids love it and you can swim there. Dawn walked besides me and the kids as we made our way down the stone walkway following signs pointing to the beach. A couple of times, I caught Dawn looking at me; but every time I wanted to talk to her, she'd look away and then I'd forget what I wanted to say.
So we walked in silence until we reached this—I guess the beach. I can't even describe it. It's big, blue, shining, and…noisy. Kids, in bathing suits were running around playing with the—dirt; I think it's called dirt, right?
Nicky and Cathy pulled at my pants, begging me, "Please, please, please, Connor, can we go play in the sand and the water?"
"Sand, huh? So that's what it's called. I guess so, just be careful and stay close, okay?"
They barely gave a nod before running off to play. I turned to find Dawn when I caught her undressing. Why is she undressing? I knew that I should turn my head away, but I couldn't help but look. The shirt and shorts came off to reveal the smallest bathing suit that I've ever seen. No one at home ever wear's a bathing suit like that. Mom, Fred, and Faith all have those one-pieces. She turned back to face me, so I had to force my gaze to her face instead of, well, her body.
"Well, are you going to go swimming? Or not?" She asked me. Boy, I'm really lucky that mom went on that shopping spree for me and told me what to wear on this picnic. She specifically told me to wear my swim shorts under my clothes. Lucky she did or I'd be really embarrassed if Dawn saw me in my white briefs.
"Alright," I answered her, "Let's go swimming." I took off my clothes and then held out a hand to her. She grasped it as we ran to the edge of the water. Dawn stopped us right before the water in order to dip her toe in slowly. I, on the other hand, just jumped in and pulled her in with me.
Dawn cried out in outrage and cold shock. "You jerk! It's cold in here." She started splashing me with water for revenge. I just had to splash back. We played around until she got mad at me and jumped on my back, pushing my head in the water. I swam down to the bottom, near Dawn's feet; since I was so close to her feet, I tickled her.
When I came up for air, she splashed me again, starting off another round of "Water War II." Nicky and Cathy swam over, seeing we were having so much fun, and taught me how to play a fun game called Marco Polo. My eyes were closed as I tracked everyone by sound and smell. I "tagged" them all, winning the game. The other girls/slayers from the picnic soon joined the game as well. I was honored as "Marco Polo Champion" of the day. No one caught me, for I was as fast as my father and I caught all those against me.
While we were having fun playing so called 'water sports,' like Marco Polo, volleyball, and swim races, Harrison, Mom, Faith, Fred, Anya, Anya's baby, and Meredith all walked over to a sunny section of the sand, pulling up lounge chairs in order to soak up the rays. Mom called us over telling us that we forgot our towels in the truck and she brought them with her by the chairs if we needed them. Harrison shed his shorts and T-shirt and jumped in to hang out with us. I introduced him to Dawn and the other girls as we started a new game of volleyball. Boys against girls. Well, let me tell you this, when those slayers put their minds to winning they take no prisoners. Nicky, Harrison, and I were horribly defeated as the team of Dawn and five slayers took us on. Though I must admit, for my own defense, the game was uneven, three boys against six girls; we were outnumbered. Soon, the game was forgotten as everyone started laughing and splashing around.
Weird, it felt like we just got here, but now, the sun is going down.
Faith called us all out of the water, telling us that it was dinner time. I was glad that mom didn't forget the towels. When I got out of the water, the cool air dried against my skin, unusually chilling me. Cathy and Nicky were bundled up and redressed in warmer clothing by the moms. Mom came up to me and asked my how I liked the beach.
I told her that it was great. I'd never had that much fun before, especially with anyone my age. The beach was wonderful. The only question I had was how to get the sand off before it got on all over the clothes. It was very uncomfortable crunching in between my toes. She laughed and pointed to the hose near the showers…I guess that everyone has this problem. Why else would they put a hose there? Right?
I washed the sand off happily, walking back to our shelter. I was hoping to talk to Dawn again, but she was busy talking with Vi and Kennedy by the trees. By the time I had walked over to see if my dad needed anything, the sun had completely gone down. Dad asked me to help take down the covers while he finished the last batch of barbeque chicken.
Boy, Dad had fun with the grill today. He must've made enough food to feed a million people. Not only did he make barbeque chicken, but he made T-bone steaks, ribs, chicken wings, hamburgers and hot dogs. For the vegetarian, he made a vegetable mix of potatoes, green peppers, onions, zucchini, carrots, garlic, and a secret sauce. I was thinking we were going to be eating this for the next week, so I was surprised when there were no leftovers, not even a crumb left over for us to take home! Those girls could eat!
After dinner, the adults seemed to split off into couples, all talking and walking together. Dawn came over to me, her eyes huge, asking me, "You're Angel's son? Why didn't you tell me you were Angel's son?"
"I don't know, why does it matter?" Okay, now I'm confused.
"Because! I'm Buffy's sister! I'm Dawn Summers. That's why!" She was now yelling. What did I do?
"Oh. My Uncle Spike's girlfriend is Buffy. The blond girl, right? That's your sister?"
"Yeah. But…" She tried to interject.
"So what? My uncle's cool. He won't care if we hang out." I don't get it. So what if my uncle's girlfriend is her sister. What's the big deal?
"But my sister will," I heard her mumble under her breath. Okay, now I'm really, really confused. I saw her shake it off, then look at me with a weird look in her eyes. "Let's go for a walk." She suggested, holding out a hand for me to take. I took it, smiling at her. I really like this girl.
We walked away from all the noise and people to the now empty beach. We walked along the shore. It was so quiet, you could hear crickets chirping. We talked; I told her things that I've never told anyone else, not even Harrison, who was becoming my best friend. I told her the truth; I was Angel and Cordy's son, I wasn't adopted like they told everyone else who wasn't in the family. I told her that I had lived in a hell dimension for ten years. Incredulously, her life story was even stranger than mine. She was theoretically only 4 years old and was made from a big ball of pure energy. Some weird monks made her. I couldn't believe how close I felt to her. I'd just met her, yet I felt as if we'd grown up together.
I was getting really dark, so hand-in-hand, we walked back to the others. They were all standing around a large bon-fire with a glass in hand. We were handed a soft drink and asked to join the circle. Dawn stood next to me.
This was a weird ritual. Lorne, in human makeup, started it by saying that this was a New Years tradition. Each of us had to make a resolution, which was a promise to yourself for the future.
Lorne told us his resolution, making all of us laugh when he told us that it was to find a decent bartender that could make the prefect sea-breeze. Dad was next, promising to do his best helping the helpless. Mom, who stood next to him, kicked him in the shins, reminding him to softly add, "Oh, and to lose the blood belly." If he could have blushed, he would've. Mom's resolution entailed redecorating the rest of the hotel, taking better care of the kids, and continuing the good fight against evil.
Spike promised to try to quit smoking cigarettes, at the very least, promising to cut it down to less that a pack a week. Buffy's resolution was to spend more time with her family, directly looking at Dawn when she said this.
Meredith, Willow, and Harrison had the same resolution: to control their addictions and not to allow their addictions to control them.
Fred's resolution didn't make any kind of sense to me. She babbled something scientific about discovering some weird thing she was excited about. Wesley was the only one to understand her, because he promised to help her find the thing. Gunn's resolution was to kill more evil demons who try to suck the world into hell. Andrea, his steady girlfriend, laughed and promised that she'd be his strength, whenever he needed her.
The others went through a wide range of resolutions ranging from finding a boyfriend to learning at least two demon languages and making lots of money using capitalist ideals. Dawn smiled shyly as she told everyone her resolution was to make new friends.
We had almost gone around the entire circle; only Robin, Faith, Cathy, and Nicky, besides me.
Everyone looked at me, waiting to hear my plans for the future. I stood thinking for a minute longer. "My resolution is to understand this world better. To be a good son, to take care of my brother and sister, and to rid the world of evil. Oh…AND WORLD PEACE!"
Laugher sounded through the night air. I knew that'd make them laugh, especially since Spike forced us all to watch "Miss Congeniality" on his new DVD player. It was the only movie that we could all agree to watch, especially since Cathy and Nicky were in the room.
Robin went next promising to try to keep his temper with wayward teenagers, kids, and vampires, glancing at Spike, Harrison and me as he said it.
What! It was only one time! Spike thought would be funny if we stuck ice cubes down his shirt and pants and watch as he jumped around like a bunny. Mrs. Harris didn't think it was funny; climbing up on a picnic table with her baby and telling us bunnies were evil. But what's the fun of a picnic without getting someone really good was Harrison's philosophy. That's one philosophy that I agree with.
Cathy and Nicky were next telling everybody that their resolutions were to read more books and learn more stuff at school. Nicky added that he wanted to be like me when he grew up. Everyone 'awed' at him.
I looked at Faith, subconsciously telling her to hurry up. I was getting sick of standing in this circle.
Faith actually looked nervous. She was sort of fidgeting and running her hands through her hair. She seemed to calm after Robin put a hand on her shoulder. "Okay, my resolution is to keep fighting the good fight. To work hard for redemption and to be a good wife and a good mother to my children." She stressed this last word. Robin looked at her, puzzled. She smiled, "I'm not going to chase you around the room again. But you knocked me up, AGAIN. We're having a baby!"
The kids were excited. Nicky hugged my knees. "Guess what? I'm going to be the big brother now, Connor. You're my big brother and now I'm can be one too. Yay!"
I hugged him back, really excited for them. Our family is getting really big.
Soon, Lorne interrupted, doing something called a "count down" to the New Year.
Everyone yelled out, "10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…Happy New Year!" Then kisses were exchanged between the couples.
Dawn did something I didn't expect…she pulled my shirt closer and put my lips to her lips. Our lips touched for a good 30 seconds. It was nice, warm, and it sent tingles down my—spine.
When she pulled away, we were both speechless. I stared at her; my eyes not seeing anyone other than her. That's until I got smacked in the back of the head by Spike.
The spell was broken as Buffy grabbed her sister by the wrist pulling her away, yelling something about 'boys are bad!'
Dad looked uncomfortable. Mom told Dad that it was time for 'the talk.' Then they spent twenty minutes softly arguing about who was going to give me the talk.
Boy! Parents are weird.
All and all this New Year's thing was the best holiday yet.
Now, I know that Dawn has to leave to go back to school in Rome, but I wish she could stay. She's definitely one of the perks of living in this dimension. One of the best.
But I know that one day, we'll meet again.
Three weeks later…
Meredith decided that it was time for her to leave and try to get back her life. She moved back to San Francisco with her sister, Tru until she could get another job as a lawyer. Harrison has decided to stay, for now. He said that he didn't know what else to do with himself and that if he went with Meredith, he wasn't sure if he could stay away from the temptations in his old city. Dad agreed to house him for the duration of his stay and to continue to work with him on controlling the urge to gamble with his life.
I'm happy that he decided to stay, but I don't understand why I can't tell Harrison about demons. If he knew about them, he could help me fight them. But I promised my parents that I wouldn't tell him, so I couldn't.
But just because I promised that I wouldn't talk about them didn't mean that I couldn't fight them myself. I still snuck out of the house, almost every night without my parents finding out in order to hunt the evil that haunt the streets. I tied my weapons against my body as I jumped out of my window into the dark alleys near the house.
I wandered the streets looking for any signs of demon activity or screams of people in trouble. I knew exactly where my dad and Uncle Spike patrolled nightly, listening in on their meetings before leaving, so I made sure that I stayed clear of those areas. I hunted every night, each time I hunted; I became faster and stealthier. Every night, I fought the forces of darkness, and every morning before dawn, I snuck back into my room so that no one was the wiser of my adventures.
I don't know why I do it; just that I have to. The hunt calls to me. In Quar'toth, I rarely slept; Four hours the maximum for the entire day. The demons who lived there would attack when least expected, so it was necessary to sleep with one eye open. If you didn't, there was no way to live through the night. At least in this dimension, I don't have to hunt for food. Strange, but if you give people behind a counter green paper, you can buy whatever you want. Mom taught me about money. She loves it, especially since she can take me shopping.
She also gave me what they, my parents, called 'the talk.' Dad found a way to get out of it, I'm sure. So mom sat me down and told me about kissing, good touches, bad touches, and sex. She didn't really describe it; telling me that it was instinctual and that when I was ready, I'd know what to do. She also told me that she wanted me to wait until I found the right woman and was married; she told me the truth. That she didn't wait for my dad, but now wished with all her heart that she did. She didn't make me promise, instead telling me that she trusted me to make my own decisions. She also told me about the risks of unprotected sex; creating a baby, getting fatal disease, the dangers caused by girls who could lie about their ages, and other things I never have heard of before.
I'm glad mom told me, knowing dad, he would've stammered through the whole thing or fainted on the word sex. Mom told me once that when I was a baby, dad used to cover my ears if anyone said the word and would spell it out if he himself had to say it.
Now, I wonder what dad would say if he found out about my nightly hunts. It could go either way, he could be happy; telling everyone that 'I'm a chip of the old block.' Or he could just scream about how it was dangerous and that I could've been killed or something. I mean, never mind that I've been hunting every day since I was seven.
That's why I didn't think anything of it when I heard Harrison sneak out before me tonight. I figured that it wasn't my business to try to stop him. I just hope that he doesn't get himself, or me, caught. I snuck out a few minutes after him, deciding to quietly follow him. Maybe he found a really cool place to hang out or something. I had followed him about fifteen blocks from the Hyperion to a bar.
Harrison sat down at the bar and ordered a beer. I tried beer once. It's disgusting; I don't know how people can drink it. I don't know why people drink it. It didn't look like he was going anywhere, so I left him to continue on my patrol of the neighborhood around the bar.
Walking around the bar and the surrounding areas didn't take long. It was a quiet evening. I looked at my watch; it read 4:45 am. The bars around here closed forty five minutes ago. It was almost time to get home, but before I made my way back, I had to get Harrison. There was no way that I could sneak into the Hyperion before him and let him get caught. Mom woke up at exactly 6:00 am to get breakfast, something usually toastable ready for everyone. If we didn't hurry, we were both going to get caught.
I ran back to the bar that I'd left Harrison in, hearing something in the back alley. Harrison and this incredibly gorgeous woman were in the back, kissing and touching each other…making out is what mom called it. I didn't know what to do; if I should interrupt or if I should just leave him. No, I couldn't leave him…We really had to leave.
I slowly inched my way closer to them, hoping to jar them before they started anything else. The woman, she—Well, I got a weird feeling off of her. She was kissing him, but she always went back to Harrison's neck, licking him there. They suddenly turned, so I caught sight of her face.
SHIT! She's a vampire. I yelled, "Harrison! Run!" I pulled out one of the stakes I always carried.
Harrison didn't run. Instead turning back around, and yelling back at me, "Connor, what the hell are you doing here? Can't you see that I'm busy." He ignored my warnings, turned to look at the woman. What he saw caused him to start screaming. "What the hell! What are you?"
The vampire, in full vamp face answered him, "I'm a vampire, sweetie. And you are my dinner." She lunged at him, trying to bite him. I jumped on her, pulling her away from Harrison. Again, I yelled at him to run. This time he listened, only to be caught by the other four vampires who blocked the alleyway. Four male vampires. Shit!
"And I'm the Destroyer. You all better run or the only thing that you will be is dust." I threatened her, hoping that it would work and that they'd run away from us. We were outnumbered and Harrison didn't know how to fight them. I only had one stake and a tazer with me. They didn't run, instead attacking us. The woman scratched my face, becoming like a wild animal. There was no logic or reason behind her fight; she was just attacking. Behind me, Harrison was forced down to his knees by the vampires that over powered him.
I had finally gained the upper hand on the vampire. I staked her right through the heart. As she burst into dust, I turned to fight the other four vampires, hoping to at least help Harrison escape the alleyway to call for help. I charged at them using my speed and strength to startle them. It didn't work. One stayed to guard Harrison, while the other three surrounded me. I was quick, dodging and ducking their punches and kicks. I really thought I was doing well under the circumstances. I staked the one closest to me, but had failed to notice the vampire behind me had picked up one of the trash cans until it hit me in the head. It was full of half empty beer bottles and cans of other drinks. I went down like a ton of bricks. The liquid from the can splashing me in the face. The smell of alcohol completely clogging my sense of smell temporarily.
I was dazed, felt lightheaded, and imbalanced, but I did feel the sting of teeth against my neck. Shit, I thought, I'm going to die. The fucking vampire is going to kill me. Suddenly, instead of the pain of getting my blood sucked out, I felt the weight above me lift and the dust he'd become stroke my face. I opened my eyes knowing that Dad and/or Uncle Spike were going to be pissed. I heard the thuds of feet hitting the ground at an incredible rate; the other two must've ran away.
It wasn't dad. Instead, a man with medium length brown hair wearing tattered clothing held out his hand to me. I grasped it, thanking him for the rescue. Who was he? I had never seen him before and yet he knew about vampires enough to stake them. I looked over to where Harrison lay on the ground; he looked okay, even if he was sort of shell-shocked.
The man spoke to us, "You boys should know better to be walking dark alleys by yourselves in this city." He spoke with a soft southern accent.
"Who are you? And how did you do that?" I asked. I mean, the guy staked a vampire. Not a big deal in my family, but he wasn't in my family.
"Let's just say I'm a friend for now. I'm here to help those in need, whether I want to or not. I'll be around, so try not to get into any trouble, you two." The man walked away with a limp. Whatever happened to the guy, he must've hurt both legs, because the way he walked definitely showed it.
As he walked away, I became more and more curious about the man. Who was this mysterious stranger? How did he know that we were in trouble? And why did he say 'whether he wanted to or not.'
I turned to help Harrison up. He still looked shocked. I pulled him up on his feet then put a hand against his face to direct it towards me. "Hey, Harrison. You okay?"
"What the FUCK is going on? She was a—a Vampire. A real life vampire. And you, you fought her. How'd you do that?" Harrison fired questions at me. His face was starting to turn red, becoming flushed and agitated.
"Yeah. Vampires, demons, and other forces of darkness exist. I fight them along with the rest of Angel Investigations. And if we don't get home right now, we're going to meet some of them. My parents are going to kill us. And they're going to kill me for telling you about them. Come on I'll tell you everything along the way." I grabbed his arm, pulling him along the street, walking as fast as possible to get home.
"So you're saying that YOUR DAD and UNCLE SPIKE are VAMPIRES. No fucking way. I don't believe you. And your mom and Uncle Lorne are demons. Yeah right. And then you'll tell me that my sister is a witch or something. You're nuts," Harrison argued, clearly not believing me.
There was no time to explain further I argued back, pulling him along the back alley of the hotel. We had finally made it to the Hyperion. Thank god it was still dark. We both made it without getting caught.
I made him climb the fire escape ahead of me, telling him to keep quiet. "We made it," I whispered, "They have no clue that we snuck out." I opened the window to my room that I left cracked open for us to climb into. Harrison ducked through the opening, covertly entering my room. "Just sneak into your room. No one will find out," I whispered from outside.
After Harrison, I climbed through the small opening only to collide with Harrison's back when I tried to stand up. I gently pushed him out of the way, ready to yell at him for being in my way, when my breath caught in my throat.
"SHIT!" The word came out of my mouth before I had a chance to muffle it. There, right in my room, were my parents and my aunts and uncles, all with their arms crossed over their chests.
My dad came out from the shadowy corner he stood, seemly taller than I remembered him being. "Nice night out for a walk? Couldn't sleep? Because I'd really like to hear your excuses. You both smell like you drowned in liquor. I'd like an explaination! RIGHT NOW!"
I looked at Harrison who stared at me with eyes reminiscent of that deer-in-the-headlight thing I've heard so much about. I tried to think of something plausible, but nothing came to mind.
Mom stood up from her place on my bed. Her eyes were angry, dashing from me to Harrison and back to me. She looked as if she was going to start yelling at us, until she saw the cuts on my face caused by the beer bottles. She came closer to me, her nose wrinkling as she took in my scent. Mom is really quick. She suddenly reached out her fingers and clamped it on both of our ears. Pulling us, by our ears, she sat the both of us down on the edge of my bed.
"You both better stay here. I'm going to get the first aid kit to clean you up. I want to know what you both were doing out at," she looked at the clock above my dresser, "three o'clock in the morning and I want the truth. Got it?" She walked, or actually stalked out my room is more accurate.
I really wished that she'd hurry back. Dad was pacing the room, mumbling something while running his hands through his hair. Spike chewed his cigarette…I guess the resolution got put on hold, huh? Faith was looking fairly dangerous, luckily choosing to stare at her wayward half-brother than me. Robin looked severe, even when wearing boxer shorts with red hearts on them.
Lorne, Fred, Wesley, Andrea, and Gunn, looking exceedingly annoyed with us, waited until my mom got back with the first aid kit to leave the room, obviously thinking that the others could handle us.
Mom dabbed at the cuts on my face, as I told them the entire story. That I had snuck out after Harrison to see where he went, finding him being attacked by a vampire. Being attacked by the vampire's four friends and then about the mysterious man who saved us. Hey there's no need to tell them that I do this every night…I mean, it'll just make them worry. It's not really that important.
They listened intensely to every detail that I uttered. Everyone was worried; Harrison now knew about the darkness that threatened the world on a nightly basis. They also wanted to know more about this man who saved us. I tried my best to describe him, but the small details escaped me in the rush to return home. I didn't remember much about him, just that he had dark hair and what he told us.
Dad and Faith looked like they would lecture us for hours; mom stopped him, telling him to let us rest. Then she turned around and proceeded to give us her lecture on safety and yelling at us for not telling them where we were going.
By the time they left us alone, it was noon. Harrison had made his way to his own room to crash, while I lay down on my bed, rolling my eyes at the ceiling.
I don't know what my parents worry so much about. It wasn't like it was the end of the world or anything like that.
A week later…
I woke up from my afternoon nap in time to help Nicky and Cathy off the school bus and spent some time helping them with their homework. The others seem to have lightened up now. They stopped lecturing me on calling before I leave, even going so far to give me and Harrison cell phones in case we got in trouble. Dad stopped trying to take me to hockey games in order to have father-son talks and mom stopped trying to examine me every time I walked into a room. Jeez, a person gets hurt once and mom baby's them forever. Harrison had a harder time getting Faith off his back. After he explained that he didn't sneak out to play cards, she seemed to lighten up on him.
It's taken a week, but I think that I can risk sneaking out to hunt tonight. I climbed out of my window; this time making sure not even a mouse was disturbed as I opened the window. One foot already through, I ducked my head out, and pulled my other leg through.
Fucking Shit! I put my hand to my heart. It was suddenly pounding twice its normal speed. Right in front of me was Harrison; completely dressed in black with wooden stakes tied on to his thighs, like a sword sheath.
He smiled at me, his white teeth glowing as the light of the moon touched them, "Wanna' go hunt down some evil demons?"
I had gained my equilibrium. I responded with my own smile. "Let's go kick some demon ass." I clasped his hand in mine shaking it with a fervor.
This was going to be great. Harrison would back me up, guard my back, and teach me how to get girls too. I'd teach him how to kill demons, stake vampires, and sneak back in the house without anyone realizing we were gone. All in all, it was the start of a great partnership.
The end of chapter four: January.
Next: Chapter Five: February (Wesley's POV)
NOTES: Hope you like this chapter. Let me know what you thought about it.
I didn't want anyone (Angel Investigations) to know about Connor's hunts because they all still believe that the Prophecy is talking about the Champion: Angel. They don't even know about Connor, the Destroyer from Quar'toth, yet. He hasn't told anyone about that little nickname, just yet.
The mystery man will be soon revealed as the man in the Prophecy. Try to guess who.
I bet you didn't see Faith's surprise coming, did you? I was thinking while I wrote December…the symptoms that she had could be from something else; pregnancy.
If anyone has got any suggestions for baby names, let me know. ( angelcordyfan@yahoo.com ) I'm currently thinking that it should be another boy…but I can be persuaded to change my mind.
Thanks for reading. Now, please review, even if all you have to say is: it's good or it's bad. I'd appreciate any review.
Sensue