Follow up to Take Me Anywhere

It had been almost a year since Dani fled Santana's apartment.

It had been almost a year since Dani found herself on the run, constantly looking over her shoulder with the paranoia of an escaped criminal.

It had been almost a year since news of her murders has gone quiet.

She didn't understand why. She could have understood if Santana were to put up a wanted post on national television about a deranged killer that was now on the loose. She could have understood if every time she looked over her shoulder, a policeman was running after her, gun at the ready.

She didn't understand why Santana didn't do anything.

She just let her trail go cold.

Dani couldn't bear the thought of it. She could almost see Santana slumped in the same place she left her, crying her eyes out, but never being able to force herself up and catch Dani. It hurt. The guilt twisted like a rusted knife around Dani's stomach.

It had been almost a year, and yet Dani couldn't stop loving Santana.

She would probably never stop.

She didn't want to.

xoxo

London was Dani's new safe haven. She was just another face in the crowd in the huge city. People paid no mind to the blue-haired American who would always look lost.

Well, she was lost.

She didn't know if she wanted to be found.

Dani hung around the 'Haze' even after it closed for the day. It was a lot like Rave, but filled with more hormone filled teens. Dani had been working there as a bartender for about four months now. No one there knew who she was before she came to London. She was just Dani the really hot bartender with awesome hair. She wasn't Dani the deranged murderer.

London's news has been quiet. There was not any static about a dead body found on an alley in a Monday.

And that fact frightened Dani to no end.

xoxo

Dani noticed it the first day she stepped into British soil.

Willy and his brother, Trey, set her up to live with one of their friends from uni who now lived in an apartment complex in the city.

Quinn was a nice girl. She wasn't of British blood, but she was raised in the country. Her mother was French and her father was American, a weird mix to be found in a shabby uni in London. But she was friends with Willy and offered Dani a place to stay, so she really was in no place to judge. Quinn was especially ecstatic, shown by a small curl of her lips in rival to her blank face, when she saw Dani's blue hair. She nodded in appreciation and ran her hair through her own pink-dyed locks.

Dani didn't understand why, maybe it was because she had been virtually emotionless since she stepped out of Santana's apartment, but there was no hunger to kill or at least hurt the pinkette.

She shrugged it off and decided that her monster was still sated.

xoxo

Dani was wrong. The hunger was still there. She felt it lurking underneath every thought that passes through her brain.

Quinn just wasn't its target.

xoxo

The pinkette was the one who set her up on a job in the Haze when she saw how Dani was laying waste to her life.

In truth, Dani was just keeping herself in check. She didn't go out because she didn't want to be tempted to kill. She only talked to Quinn because her hunger wasn't directed at her. She wasn't laying waste. She just wanted to make sure there wouldn't be another incident.

Quinn seemed to think differently as she dragged Dani to the bar.

She was offered the job immediately.

The first day was hell for her.

It wasn't because she didn't know what to do. She was great at her job and the people loved her.

That was her problem.

Guys and girls kept throwing themselves at her, tempting her. She could hear their blood underneath the loud bass from the huge speakers. She could almost feel their touch, a small touch that would open the cage of her monster.

The hunger was roaring.

It wanted flesh.

It wanted destruction.

It wanted death.

Dani could never deny it.

She smiled coyly at the dark haired boy in front of her. What was his name again? Tony? Troy? Ted?

"Toby," she finally remembered. "How about we take this to the back?"

The boy nodded eagerly.

xoxo

It shocked Dani that once she was on top of the unconscious boy, dagger at his throat, ready to finish her kill, that she stopped.

She couldn't force her hand to apply that pressure and let the blood start flowing.

She was being stopped. She was being stopped by her hunger.

Her hunger wouldn't allow her to kill and Dani was completely and utterly perplexed.

Why? What was wrong?

She stood up and examined Toby. His soft physique. His dark hair. His tanned complexion.

Then it hit her.

Her hunger wasn't looking for meaningless flesh anymore.

It had found prey that was far more delicious than the rest.

It wouldn't allow Dani to satisfy it any other way.

It had to be her.

The kill had to be Santana Lopez.

xoxo

"So you're just going to give up? After everything you're just going to give up?"

Santana clutched at her temples. She didn't need this. She didn't need anything anymore.

"What the hell, Santana? We were so close and you just gave up. Who knows? What if the killer is already on the other side of the globe? How are we going to bring him to justice?"

God, it had been almost a year. Why couldn't Puck just leave her alone? Couldn't he see that she already had enough problems as it is?

"Dammit, Lopez!" Puck had slammed his fists on Santana's desk, causing her headache to grow worse.

Santana lost it.

She stood up so fast her chair toppled over. "What is your problem, Puckerman? Do you have any idea how hard it is for me? Do you think that I don't regret letting her leave every single day? Do you think that I don't constantly wonder what would have happened had I just said 'Stay' and had her here?"

Puck was both astounded by the sudden outburst, and confused at the Latina's words. "What are you talking about, Santana? Is this still about Dani dumping you? What does this have to do with-"

"Dani is the murderer," Santana whispered once she calmed down. She averted her eyes from her coworker's wide ones. "Dani was the one who killed all those people. She killed Rachel."

Puck was speechless.

"She killed Rachel," Santana repeated, as though the thought was only sinking in then, eleven months after Dani's confession.

"And you just let her go?" Puck's tone was accusatory, and Santana hated it.

She glared at the mohawked boy. "What did you want me to do? Shoot her?"

"Yes, dammit!" Puck shouted. "She killed your best friend, Santana!"

"And I love her," Santana shouted back. "I couldn't – wouldn't – shoot her."

"You love her?" Puck scoffed. "You're fucked up, Lopez. That girl is a killer."

"I know," Santana answered through gritted teeth. "Don't you think I know?"

"But you let her go," Puck stressed. "I could cuff you right now for being an accessory to an escape."

Santana was gobsmacked. "What? Are you serious right now?"

"Yes," Puck said, his eyes filled with blind fury.

Santana tensed and she prepared to fight him off.

"Enough."

The two of them turn to the door where Will, their chief, was standing.

"Sir," Santana said, wide-eyed.

"I heard everything, Lopez," Will eyed her with something she couldn't decipher. Then he turned his attention to Puck. "Puckerman, you're suspended for attempting to assault a fellow officer."

"Wha-What? But I thought you-"

"Effective immediately, Officer Puckerman." Will's voice was stern and Puck could do nothing but shrink under his gaze. He shot a dirty look in Santana's direction before ultimately storming off, leaving Santana alone with her boss.

They stood in uncomfortable silence for a while, with Santana fidgeting where she stood.

"Santana," Will finally said. "I don't want you to think that I condone your behaviour. It's unprofessional and Puckerman is right. You have assisted a criminal."

Santana bowed her head in shame.

"But I can relate to how you feel. All the blame is not on you. She lied to you about her true identity."

Santana looked up then. "I still love her, sir. Despite everything, I still do."

"I understand that, Santana." Will nodded. "But you have to fix this. She can't stay out there. I'm not saying you have to kill her. Just bring her to custody."

Santana sighed. "I don't even know where she is."

At that, Will smiled. He produced a file from behind his back and handed it to Santana. In front of the plain white folder was a name written on marker.

Danielle Sugg.

Santana was sure she stopped breathing right then.

"I already have the plane tickets ready for you."

xoxo

It was another one of those days that left Dani dead tired. She swore she would collapse right then and there. The club had been exceptionally packed that day. She decided it was because of the cold weather that people felt the urge to suddenly grind against each other in a heated bar.

Thankfully, the day was over. Dani wanted nothing more than to drag herself home and get engulfed by the super comfortable bed Quinn bought her.

She made her way out through the back door of the club and clutched her jacket closer to her. It was cold enough that she could see the white mist in front of her mouth every time she breathed.

She definitely needed to go home and snuggle into her warm blankets.

"Dani?"

At that moment, Dani was sure her breathing stopped. She was pretty sure the lightly falling snow stopped mid-air as well. She knew that voice.

Even when it was shaky in hesitation, she knew it.

Her hunger knew it as well.

"Dani?"

This time, Dani turned… Only to be met with a sight that could rival any masterpiece painted by any artistic genius. Santana was stood there, with light snow falling around her and a nearby streetlamp illuminating her, clutching a grey parka around her body.

Dani was at a loss for words.

Her heart felt like it would explode.

She felt the chains holding in her demon break.

"S-Santana," she breathed out. "What are you- How did you find me?"

"I didn't. My boss did," Santana answered as she hesitantly stepped forward. "I- I don't- I have no idea what to say."

"I do," Dani whispered in the cold air. "I want to say that I'm sorry."

Santana didn't answer. She just continued to watch the girl.

"I'm sorry that I lied. I'm sorry that I couldn't rein it in. I'm sorry that I killed your best friend."

Santana averted her eyes at that.

"And I'm sorry for this."

Santana was quick to respond this time around. She moved out of the way as Dani lunged at her. With a swift move, she pulled out a handcuff from her back pocket and cuffed the bluenette to the lamp post.

It all happened in the blink of an eye.

Dani actually laughed at her ridiculous situation, but the laugh came out to be dark and biting.

"I want you to kill me, Santana," she whispered.

Santana shook her head. "No. I can't do that, Dani. I still-"

"Don't you say it," the bluenette growled out. "Don't you fucking say it."

"I'll say it anyway. I still love you, Dani."

Dani let out a strangled chuckle. "Of course you do."

"I love you, but I have to fix this," the brunette firmly said.

Dani turned to look her in the eye. "Then kill me. End this. Kill me."

"I can't."

"If you don't kill me, the hunger… It will come for you and I won't be able to stop it."

"I can handle myself."

"How do you think I'll handle knowing that I killed you?"

"How do you think I will?"

They fell into silence after that. Santana's chest was heaving with the confrontation and her eyes were cloudy.

Dani hung her head and allowed her blue hair to fall around her face. It hid the fact that she was crying, but Santana knew it still.

"I'm falling apart, Santana," Dani said. "You have to do it. Please."

Santana shook her head vigorously. "I can't. I can't do it."

"Santana, please!"

"No!"

Dani turned and glared at the girl. "If you love me the way you say you do, you will kill me. You will pull out your gun and shoot me in the head."

Santana shook her head. "No."

"Dammit, Santana. You don't love me, you liar."

Santana didn't know what caused her to do it, maybe it was the forcefulness in Dani's eyes, but she pulled out her gun and pointed the barrel at the handcuffed girl.

"Do it," Dani whispered, not breaking eye contact.

"I didn't come here to kill you."

"I don't care. Do it. End it, please."

"No no no no no…"

"Do it."

"…no no no no no no…"

"DO IT!"

xoxo

"How are you, Santana?" Will asked as he entered the brunette's office.

Santana didn't look up from her laptop. "I've been better."

"The Sugg family will have her funeral tomorrow. Are you coming?"

Santana shook her head.

"You have to have some sort of closure-"

"She's not dead."

Will frowned. That had been Santana's mindset since. He knew it was just a phase in depression. Denial.

"She is. You have to accept that."

"Liar. Leave me alone."

"Santana. I'm just-"

"I said leave me alone!"

Will looked momentarily taken aback by the outburst, but quickly collected himself and exited the room. Santana settled back in her chair with her chest heaving. Her eyes burned from the lack of sleep and crying nonstop.

It wasn't supposed to end this way.