Chapter 26

He hated it.

Creeping around streets he once walked like he owned as if he were some sort of common criminal. Forced to sleep under overpasses and abandoned buildings, his car hidden in a storage unit purchased under a false name outside of town. Not even being able to buy a bagel without worrying that someone would see him and let those pathetic worms that called themselves police know where he was.

He hated all of it and it was all that creature's fault.

It fashioned itself into his daughter's likeness and corrupted her. It corrupted his wife and turned her from her proper place by his side. Made her run from him as if he were a monster when that creature was the real monster.

He was patient though. He knew he would make them - the creature and his wife - pay when the time was right. The most important thing now was to find where his wife had run to.

So he stood behind the shed in the yard across from the Lopez residence, recognizing the car he'd purchased for his daughter parked outside with narrowed eyes. Yet another sign of his wife's insolence and disobedience towards her husband that it wasn't a small crushed cube of scrap metal in a junkyard somewhere. When the creature and Maria Lopez came out and climbed into the small red car and drove off, he knew his time had come.

Pulling the grey hood of his sweater over his head, he slipped across the street in the early morning light. Using the letter opener in his pocket, he pried open the simple switch lock on the kitchen window that overlooked the backyard and slid the window open. It took a little wiggling and some entirely unmanly whimpering, but he managed to crawl through the window into the house.

Looking around, he couldn't find anything that screamed the creature that used to be his daughter, so he climbed the stairs. He'd never visited the family before despite knowing that his daughter considered theirs a friend - disgusting habit associating with the lesser races as if they were equal to his own. Probably led to her corruption into the creature.

Finding a room with items he recognized as his daughter's after some trial and error, he sneered as he found a picture of Santana sitting on Quinn's lap while Quinn looked appallingly masculine. Slamming the frame against the desk to break the glass, he slashed the letter opener across their faces then dropped the whole thing to the floor to grind under his bootheel. Smirking down on it as he listened to the sound of breaking wood and glass grinding into the carpet, a piece of paper on the otherwise empty surface of the desk caught his eye.

Snatching the letter he scanned it, smirking in triumph as he realized it was from his wife. Throwing the disgusting tripe back to the desk, he grabbed the envelope from where it had been laying under the letter. That was what he needed. Of course the woman was too stupid to not realize that putting her return address would lead him right to where he needed to go.

Grinning happily to himself, he slammed the letter opener with his calligraphed R engraved on the handle - a match to the one he'd left at his former house - through the middle of the letter to stick quiveringly into the desk. Shoving the envelope into his pocket, he quickly headed downstairs and climbed back out the window, pulling it shut behind him. No need to alarm these sinners too soon he thought to himself as he jogged off in the direction of the storage locker where his car was. He knew where to go now.

Maryland.

Quinn felt off balance the moment he walked into the Lopez house. It had been a very long day between the health inspector and the busy dinner rush, Maria and Quinn hadn't stopped all day. They had decided to go see a movie after they finished working and were just getting back. It was late and they were both exhausted. Quinn's knee was hurting more and more with every step he took as he climbed the stairs. Maria kissed Quinn's forehead and thanked him for all of his help before saying goodnight and slipping into her bedroom.

After a quick shower, Quinn entered his room. His breath caught. That smell... The lingering aroma of scotch and expensive cologne hit his nose. His eyes darted around and he quickly closed the door and turned on the light. He's here Quinn thought as he looked around the room to find his father. He was here the blond determined after a few minutes of frantic searching. His hand hit the shards of glass that resided next to his picture frame and he clutched his hand to his towel before realizing that his knees were also bleeding.

"Fuck," he whispered before carefully putting the towel over the glass and pulling sweatpants over his bleeding knees before pulling on a shirt. As he pulled his shirt over his head his eyes caught sight of the silver letter opener. The boy quickly scrambled into his bed, he couldn't... He couldn't deal with this. He couldn't handle the fact his father was taunting him. He had thought he was safe, obviously he was wrong.

A bloodcurdling scream rang out from Quinn's room in the early hours of the morning. He was asleep, but his medications were not letting him wake up from his nightmare. His limbs were tangled in his sheets, holding him down and causing a real panic to set in as his mind played cruel images of Russell Fabray holding the letter opener to Quinn's skin as he held the boy down.

Quinn fought the bindings that held him down, his body dripping with sweat, his hand and knees covered in blood and his lungs gasping for air.

Maria woke with a start down the hall. For a moment she clutched at her nightgown, suddenly worried when she reached for her husband and couldn't find him in the brief time before her mind woke up all the way and reminded her that Santana and Emilio were in Chicago visiting Saul. When another scream rang through the house, it slammed another fact into place.

"Oh my God. Quinn," she gasped, throwing herself out of bed and running towards his room.

Quinn was wrapped up in his blankets, one had wound up around his neck causing his face to start to turn slightly blue. He choked out another scream that sounded like Daddy no! Stop.

"Oh God," Maria cried, rushing into the room and pulling the blanket from around his neck, "Quinn. Quinn, baby, please, wake up."

"Stop. Please stop." Quinn sobbed, his arms still pinned down. "Please. I'll stop... I'll be Lucy again... Please!" he thrashed around, tears dripping down his face.

"Quinn, wake up," Maria cried, shaking his shoulder and pulling at blankets tangled around his body but not having much luck as he continued to struggle. "Please wake up."

"I'll be good. Leave Mom alone." He screamed as he more or less threw himself off the twin bed. He fell hard on his shoulder, causing him to wake up. His body was trembling as he tried to figure out where he was. "Mom?" He whispered, hoping to God his mom was there to comfort him.

"She's not here, sweetie," Maria whispered, kneeling beside him and pulling him into a hug. "I'm sorry, but it's just me. Are you okay?" She noticed the blood smearing his blankets and bed. "Oh my God, you're bleeding! What happened?"

He ran his bloody hand through his hair. "What?" He asked softly, "Oh... He broke my picture," Quinn said softly pointing to the towel on the floor which had a ominous shadow of the letter opener cascading down on the fabric.

"He...? He who, Quinn? Come, let's go get you taken care of," Maria murmured, helping him up off the floor. "And stop touching your hair. You're going to have to shower to get that blood out before Santana and my Emilio come home later today."

Quinn was shaking as he got up. "Ow." he whimpered, his body aching as he moved. "I... I got back here and my photo was broken... and the letter opener was there. He came back." Quinn whimpered before falling to the toilet and vomiting as he realized what it meant that his father had come.

"We will call the police," Maria reassured him, getting the first aid kit out from under the sink and finding the bandages, antiseptic and tweezers. "If he was here, then he broke in. He is a vicious and evil man and I will not tolerate him around my family."

The teenager kept dry heaving into the toilet as his body kept shaking. "He's gonna kill me."

"He will not," she stated firmly. "If he even tries, I will ends him."

Quinn sat up and flopped over to sit on his butt. "That's where she gets it." Quinn mumbled as he wiped his face with the back of his hand.

"That's where who gets what?" she asked distractedly, plucking glass from his knees and cleaning the cuts there before bandaging them.

"San," He smiled softly, thinking about his girlfriend calming his heart rate down. "You sounded like her."

Maria smirked up at him, "Well, she is my daughter, Quinn. Who else would she sound like?"

"True." Quinn said with a wince. "I had a really bad dream," he said softly. "I couldn't move."

"You were tangled up in your blankets," she explained, glancing up at him with a wry grin as she covered the cuts with band-aids. "I am beginning to understand why you prefer sleeping with my daughter. It is more as a teddy bear than as a sexual thing, isn't it."

"Yeah... We keep each other grounded," he said softly. "She's also a very good cuddler." He worried his lip for a moment before he looked at the older woman, "Santana and I are not having sex if that's what you're worried about."

"If you mean worried about it in that you and her may be having your relations in this house while her father and I are here, then no, I am not exceptionally worried, Quinn." She sighed softly and reached for his hand to clean and bandage. "I am aware of my daughter being sexually active, if that is what you mean. We taught her to take care of herself and to be a responsible young adult. I have no doubt if the two of you were to be having... sex then it would be because she wanted to have that connection to you. Do realize that I am not entirely happy about her decisions to engage in pre-marital affairs, but I also realize she's not exactly in a position to marry the person she loves at this time."

She smoothed the bandage over his palm gently, "That isn't to say I'm completely comfortable with the two of you being that intimate. However, I realize you're leaving for college soon and will be living together and I have no doubt things will escalate in their time. I'm trusting you with my daughter, Quinn. Please don't hurt her."

"I wouldn't," Quinn said softly. "She's the only person whose ever loved me for me... I would never hurt her."

"That's good to hear," Maria smiled up at him. "Now, I don't know about you, but I feel entirely awake right now. What do you say about joining me in the kitchen for some hot tea or cocoa if you'd prefer it and we watch some old movies on the television?"

"I don't think I could sleep if I tried," he whispered. "I'm so scared of him... I should be a man and suck it up but... I'm scared."

"There's nothing wrong with being scared, Quinn." Maria pointed out as she helped him up and headed downstairs, "And it doesn't make you less of a man to be scared. My Emilio is scared of many things, you don't consider him to not be a man, do you?"

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Quinn agreed, "I knew something was wrong the minute we got back tonight." Quinn admitted, "I could feel him."

"We can call the police now, if you'd like."

"What can they do? There is no evidence of him being here... They let him get away in the first place. My father knew everyone in this town... It will always be my word against his."

"Quinn, you are not being rational. And besides, he left his nasty little knife."

"It's a letter opener," he corrected her. "I wish it would have been a knife, but it's a dull blunt letter opener." He said as his hand came up to rub against his chest unconsciously. "You can call.. but they won't do anything."

"I am sorry, mi Quinn," she whispered, hugging him. "If you do not wish to, then we will not and instead simply have tea or cocoa and watch old films until our loves return home to us."

"I don't... I don't want San to know about this..." He said softly after a few moments of quiet. "I don't want her to be scared."

"Alright," Maria agreed easily enough, handing him a steaming mug of chocolate with marshmallows floating on top. "But you'll have to find a way to explain your photo missing and the cuts on your hand and knee."

"Thanks," Quinn said as he pulled his knees to his chest and watched the liquid. "I'll figure something out. She'll understand if I had a nightmare and knocked it off the dresser."

"If you think that will work," Maria shrugged, sipping her own chocolate. "Do you want to go watch a movie or shall I just make some breakfast?"

"Not really hungry, my stomch hurts." He whined, "Can we watch the cooking channel?" He looked hopeful, knowing Santana hated it but he hoped Maria would want to watch it with him.

She laughed, "Are you sure you are not my son, mi Quinn? Yes, we can watch the Food Network. Come and bring your drink, it will help you calm down." She headed into the living room, turning on the TV and punching in the channel's number from memory before tossing the remote onto the coffee table and patting the sofa beside her. "Come and keep an old woman company, will you?"

He grabbed the blanket and curled into the couch. "You're not old," he argued, "and you are a really good mom." He carefully rested his head on her shoulder, needing the warmth and comfort of someone if he couldn't have his own mom. He was still scared - Russell was still after him. He knew his father would not give up until both he and Judy were dead. Quinn wished he had a number for his mom so she could warn her.

Maria slipped her arm around his shoulders, resting her cheek against the top of his head. "And you are quite the charmer. I see why my daughter fell for you, mi Quinn. You're like her father. Charming and sweet. It will be okay. You'll see."

"I hope so..." He whispered, "I don't think I can take anymore bad things happening." He closed his eyes, "I really wish I could tell my mom to be on the look out for him..."

"Your mom will handle things as she sees fit," Maria pointed out, still not at all pleased with the woman who'd abandoned her child to the care of strangers after allowing him to be harmed as he had been.

"I guess... She doesn't care enough about me to worry about him coming back to kill me... I shouldn't care if she gets hurt," he said, obviously distressed by his statement.

"Nonsense," she hugged him a little closer. "She is your mother and it is a child's nature to worry about her well-being. I may not be well pleased by her abandonment of you, but I would never expect you to not worry about her."

"Okay," he mumbled. "I don't like how I feel right now. I'm scared he's lurking around... watching me."

"This is understandable, mi Quinn," she whispered. "You have been badly hurt at his hands and now he is thrusting himself into your safety zone. It's okay to be scared, sweetie. It's okay to not know what's happening and need help."

"I don't want him to hurt you or Mr. Lopez... I'll kill him if he goes after Santana."

"You worry about Santana and yourself," she turned her head to kiss the top of his. "I promise Emilio and I can handle that no account man if he comes after us."

"If you think so," he whispered. "I sometimes wish he killed me when he had the chance. It hurts too much trying to think about what he will do next."

"Quinn, don't you ever wish you died." Maria spoke firmly without a trace of doubt, "Never wish you were dead. Imagine if Santana didn't have you if you won't think about the positive changes in your own life. I'm her mother. I can see how my child has changed by having you beside her. She is calmer now. Not as prone to rage and long stretches of sullen silence."

"I know... I just..." He sighed, "Everything is really hard and I don't know how to handle it."

"That's life. None of us know how to handle it. We just do our best one day at a time until we make it through whatever is troubling us. And if we're lucky," she smiled at him, "we find some people to help and make the road easier along the way."

He nodded and sighed, "The fact everything sucks now means life gets really good for me..." He looked up, "Right?"

"Mmm, I can't make any promises about the future but you are going away to college to live with my daughter and your best friends." Maria shrugged with a tiny smile, "You're getting out of Lima. And not everything sucks now, does it?"

"Yeah." He nodded, "hopefully It will be great."

"Indeed. And besides, who else would I pass my recipes on to but you, mi Quinn? Luis? Don't make me laugh. The boy is sweet and earnest, but also entirely too raw and not likely to ever become part of my family."

"He hates me still for being with Santana..." Quinn remarked, "Not that it's a huge issue but yeah... I love cooking... thank you for teaching me."

"You will be quite the chef when you're ready if you continue, Quinn." Maria smiled, "One I would be proud to have heading my kitchen."

"That'd be cool!" He smiled, "though I don't know if Santana wants to stay in Lima forever."

"Mmm, this is true." Maria thought for a moment, tapping her chin, "Perhaps when you are ready it will be time to expand to another location. I suppose I could train Luis to be a manager. I'm sure he would be thrilled."

"I'm sure he would." He smiled, "We'll see... I don't even know what do do for a major so I don't know how useful I'll be."

"Well," she spoke slowly, thinking about it, "there's always nutrition. I know my daughter has her heart set on engineering of all things, but I think I've convinced her to minor in business nonetheless."

"I think she'll like engineering." Quinn said, "She's brilliant so it will be good."

Maria laughed, "Try not to feed her ego too much, Quinn! Education is important to my girl, but you need to teach her it's not everything."

"I know." He said taking a sip of his drink. "She knows that too, she just likes to focus on things she's good at."

"Like you?" she teased, squeezing his shoulder.

"She's good at me? Or that I like to focus on things I'm good at?" He asked confused in the meaning.

"She's good at loving you," Maria suggested. "But I admit to being confused as to how that works. I thought she was only interested in women until you came along."

"It's confusing." He admitted, "Sometimes I wonder if it's just because she can remember me as a girl... that's why we broke up before. It was too hard." He took a sip of his hot cocoa, "But, I think the fact we're best friends helps us understand the situation better."

"Perhaps," she shrugged, sipping her own drink. "Santana can be very confusing when she wants to be. I suppose that's just the nature of teenagers though."

"I don't help the situation being what I am," he shrugged. "It's just kinda what I gotta deal with."

"Being what you are?" she seemed confused. "I don't understand."

"Damaged? Different? A freak?" He said, "Take the term you want and assign it. It's not easy at all for me, but I know it's hard for her too. I know she's gonna get treated differently because of me."

"Santana would get treated different because she's a lesbian and a Latina, Quinn. Not because she's dating you." Maria sighed softly and rubbed his shoulder. "Stop being so tied up in your past. It only hurts you and her."

"My past..." He let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Ma'am... I know you care about me but my past... what my father did to me is just one slice of what he did to us all. It's really hard to just let that go. To not be scared, or insecure."

"I do not doubt that, Quinn. But only the people you let know about that will know from now on. You're not tied to him. You can be who you want." She shook her head, shrugging. "But what do I know? I'm just a mother whose daughter happens to be your girlfriend."

"You're a great mom." He said softly, "I'm sorry... I'm just having... It's not a good day. Him being here, the letter opener and the dreams." He sighed, "I'm scared of turning out like them..."

"You have every opportunity to not be, Quinn." Maria pointed out, sighing softly. "And you have my daughter and my Emilio and I to help if you want it."

"I know," he said, taking the moment to cuddle into her. "I never could do this with my mom," he remarked closing his eyes and trying to relax. "They never would hug me... My mom wouldn't allow me to hug my dad, but he would try and force me to hug him and I'd have to unless I wanted to be punished."

"I am not your mom, Quinn," Maria whispered softly, brushing her lips against the top of his head, "but someday, I would be amenable to being your mother-in-law. Of course, if something happens and the two of you fall out in the future, I may just have to adopt you, because I fully intend to be able to call you my son some day."

He smiled and nodded. "Hard to adopt a grown person." Quinn yawned and started to drift off. "Can I stay here? I'm scared to go back to bed."

"Definitely," she whispered, cuddling him close with a little yawn as she watched the bright colors of the Food Network flicker on the TV.

Judy stepped out of the cafeteria and out into the late afternoon sun. The last six months had been the best and the worst of her life. She had fled Lima, leaving her daughter, no son behind. She fled from her husband after he tried to kill both of them, she knew the only reason she was alive was because she left. Every morning when she woke up the guilt ran through her as she thought of her child laying injured in the hospital begging for her to stay. She knew Quinn was being taken care of but she knew she had let her child down. She had let both of them down for so many years.

She daintily lit the cigarette that was held between her fingers, some days it was easier to go on and try to overcome her past... other day's it wasn't as easy. She inhaled and exhaled, focusing on her breathing to calm her down. Her mind was just playing tricks she told herself. She didn't see Russell across the parking lot of the school earlier that morning. She could have sworn she saw him leaning against his car watching her as she headed into work. But, she kept reminding herself that it was just her mind. No one knew where she had gone.

"Hey there, pretty girl," the deep, cheerfully booming voice of Mr. Estenson came from behind her. "Mind if I join you? I brought sandwiches from Pete's if you're interested."

Judy stomped out her barely touched cigarette before she looked up and smiled, "Hey." She smiled and wiped her hands on her apron. "Yes, please, would you like to sit at the picnic table?" She said as she lead him over. "Did you not have lunch today, Jonathan?" she asked before sitting down.

"Nope," he chuckled, swinging a leg over the bench across the table from her and sitting down, setting his paper bag on the table. "Figured I'd wait until the tykes headed home and eat with the sweetest lunch lady in the district instead." He grinned charmingly as he opened the bag and pulled out the two sandwiches. He knew she wasn't ready for dating, but it was nice being able spend time with her and he genuinely enjoyed being around her.

"Don't you think you already see enough of me?" She blushed, "You see me at work, you see me after work at the meeting, you see me at Church." she looked up bashfully, "I fear you will grow tired of me soon."

"Never," he smirked, taking a bite of his sandwich after pulling a couple bottles of root beer out of the bag and popping the tops off. "Who else am I going to talk to about the little devils? Everyone else is bored already."

Judy carefully cut up her sandwich still not used to having someone encourage her to eat. "Well yes, you may be right." She nibbled slowly on one of the pieces. "How were they today? They seemed overzelous in lunch today."

"Excited that summer break starts today," he laughed. "They're a good bunch though. I've got high hopes for them as they get older. So what are your plans for the summer? Gonna go see that kid of yours you're always talking about?"

"No." She said softly, "I still can't go and see Quinn." She took a sip out of the drink and looked down. "I also can't afford to go back right now and I can't fly..."

"Don't worry," he reached over and patted her hand, "things will work out. And hey, maybe Quinn can come visit you someday. How's that sound?"

"That would be lovely," she sighed, "But God knows I don't deserve that."

"Nonsense," he scoffed, "you're his mom, right? You deserve to see your kid. God knows I'd do anything to see my kid again if I had to be separated from them." He shrugged, "If I had kids, that is."

"Trust me, Johnathan." She smiled sadly, "I won't be surprised when he doesn't want me in his life." She wiped her eyes, "Sorry." She apologized quickly, "It's... it's been a hard day..."

"Don't worry, I know all about hard days and messy divorces," he smiled sympathetically, patting her hand. "You're detoxing on top of everything else. It's hard, but you can do it."

"I'm so nervous all the time." She looked up, "I could swear I saw my husband lurking in the parking lot today... but it's impossible. No one knows where I am."

John glanced towards the parking lot worriedly, "That's weird. I thought you said no one around town reminded you of him. But how about this? If you get worried again, you just come find me and I'll walk you out to your car." He grinned lopsidedly, "After all, who'd mess with me?"

"Yeah." She looked down, "Can... Can I stay with you tonight if Stephanie can't take me?" She asked, scared to be alone. She had crashed with her sponsor a few time in the last few weeks and she didn't want to abuse their friendship.

He blinked, startled but nodded slowly. "Um, sure. Is everything okay, Judy?"

"I'd... I just feel..." she looked away, "I feel uneasy and I don't really trust myself to be alone. I know I won't leave my apartment all weekend in fear if I am. I rather be with someone who I trust and can distract me." She swallowed, "But if you have plans or something... please tell me and I'll figure something out."

He shook his head. "No, no plans. Unless you count grading and figuring out the year end grades for my kids to be plans, cause that's all I'm doing this weekend. Are you sure you want to stay with me though? You know the town is gonna talk if you do and I'd hate to mess up your reputation."

"I'm the former bleach blonde who showed up with two black eyes... and I'm a lunch lady." She smiled softly, "I just... I don't think I can handle being by myself and I really would like to be with my friend if I can." She looked up, "Plus... someone needs to spend sometime with your new kitten."

He chuckled wryly. The kitten had been an impulse purchase to help keep her company in her apartment, but he'd chickened out of giving him to her when he'd overheard someone saying her apartment complex didn't allow pets. "Yeah, I guess so. But if you're really not worried, then you're welcome to my guest room, Judy."

"Thank you, Jonathan." She smiled, before eating a bit more of her sandwich. "I don't really know what I would have done if I hadn't met you."

"Oh, probably a lot of the same," he took a deep breath, leaning back, "just without the handsome eye-candy of my dashing self." He waggled his brows at her, trying to get a laugh.

She chuckled, "You're very immature. Your students must be rubbing off on you." She smiled, "But thank you for lunch... I'll see you tonight at the meeting, right?"

"Naturally. Three years dry doesn't come without commitment," he grinned at her. "If you'd like we can pick something up for dinner on the way back to my place."

"If you wish." She remarked, taking another sip of her drink. "I do really enjoy the big book meetings. Going on each step for a month has really taught me a lot."

"You know, dinner doesn't have to mean anything more than friends, Judy," he pointed out mildly. "Just like you staying for the weekend doesn't mean anything more than friends. I just thought you'd like to have something to eat after the meeting, that's all. It gets lonely eating by myself all the time, you know."

"I know," she smiled, "and I would love to have dinner with my friend." She squeezed his hand and looked at him, "Thank you for understanding and being slow with me."

"Slow's the only speed I go off my bike, pretty lady," he smiled softly before reaching for his bottle and taking a swig of his rootbeer.

"You're ridiculous." She smiled before getting up and waving before heading back into the brick building.

"Maybe," he whispered, watching her go with a little smile, "but you're kinda special, Judy."

He cleaned the things up with a sigh, not realizing that he was being watched by a scowling man in a black sedan across the street. The man frowned before putting the car in gear and driving off.