Chapter 4 – Regrets
"Good, you're here," Beiste said when Quinn walked into the training room.
"What's going on?" Quinn asked, setting her bag on the bench.
"I've been hearing something about an attack last night near that big ole graveyard near that one park," Beiste replied.
Quinn frowned as she tried to figure out which one she was talking about. "Greene?"
"No, the other one," Beiste said, shaking her head.
"The one that's also near the Lima Public Library?" Quinn asked.
"Yeah," her Watcher replied. "The Council's heard from one of their sources that there was an attack there last night and once last week. Something about a pack of vampires; we don't know if it's true, but they want you to check it out. They might be living there, and if they are, I want you to take 'em out. We can't have them attackin' everyone that walks by there. Patrol around the area tonight and report to me in the morning."
Quinn nodded. "Did the Council say anything else?"
"No," Beiste replied. "The source was a little vague and I don't know how reliable they are, but if the Council says to go—"
"I go," Quinn said.
"Look, I know you didn't ask for any of this, but you're doing a good job," Beiste said, looking at her intently. "Just make it through the next few weeks, do what the Council says when they're here, and maybe they'll stop throwing so many hoops. Your last Watcher didn't do things by the book and you're payin' the price for it now. I'm not saying she was all bad—she kept you alive—but the Council doesn't like not being in control of things."
"I noticed," Quinn replied.
"Be careful tonight," Beiste said. "We wouldn't want you dyin' now."
Quinn gave her a slight smile before turning, grabbing her bag, and leaving the room. It was probably the most personal her Watcher had gotten with her. She had never really shown concern for her well-being before and it was nice to know she might actually care if she died. As much as she missed Sue being her Watcher—it was nice not having someone looking over her shoulder constantly—her new one wasn't all bad. She may be a little rigid about things, but at least she did her job.
When Quinn walked through the locker room and into the hall, something caught her eye. She looked down the hallway, but she didn't see anything and definitely couldn't see anything moving. Her first thought was that maybe Santana was playing a trick on her, but she knew the vampire was out with Brittany tonight. And since all the doors along the hall were closed and there was nothing for anything to hide behind, she chalked it up to her imagination.
She began walking again, heading for the side door that she knew was unlocked. She kept her eyes peeled for anything and listened carefully, but the only sounds were her own footsteps. Still, she felt as if she wasn't alone on the hairs on the back of her neck were standing up. She couldn't explain what it was, but something felt off. It felt like she was being watched somehow, but every time she looked over her shoulder, the hall was just as empty as it was the last time she'd looked.
Quinn was nearly at the door when the feeling got even stronger; she stopped momentarily, looking behind her. Again, the hallway was empty, but when she turned forward, she nearly screamed.
"What are you doing here?" the girl asked.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked back.
The girl scowled slightly at her. Quinn didn't think she'd ever seen her before, though they looked to be about the same age. However, it wasn't unheard of for Quinn not to know someone. Between being on the Cheerios and now being the Slayer, she really didn't have the time to contend with learning all her peers.
"I asked you first," the girl responded.
"You should go home," Quinn stated. "It's probably not safe here at night."
"Then why are you here?" she asked.
"I had something I needed to do," Quinn replied.
"Ditto," the girl said.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Sure."
"What are you, like, a teacher here?" the girl asked.
Quinn scoffed and then in a law voice asked, "Do I look like a teacher?"
The girl looked her up and down before shrugging. Quinn couldn't help but roll her eyes again at this girl. The only thing she could think of was that the girl must be a freshman if she had no idea who she was. There was no way she wouldn't have known Quinn while she was still captain of the Cheerios.
"Go home," Quinn demanded after a moment.
She intended to brush past the girl since she was blocking her way out, but instead, Quinn felt like she walked into a freezer. Rather than bumping into her, she passed right through the girl, and when Quinn turned back around, she was nowhere to be found.
"Great," Quinn said to the now empty hallway. "Another ghost."
As Quinn walked down the hall, she looked around for the ghost girl she met the night before. She'd been looking around all day, but hadn't seen her so far. She hoped the girl somehow moved on to wherever ghosts went, but she knew she wouldn't be that lucky. Unlike the last one she faced, though, this one didn't seem hostile or intent on revenge. Still, Quinn didn't think it was the best idea for a ghost to be walking around school and figured she should do something about it.
"Why do you keep looking around?" Santana asked, walking up to her with Brittany by her side. "Hoping to drool over Berry a little?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "No. I was looking for—never mind."
"You were looking for what?" Brittany asked.
"It's not important," Quinn said, shaking her head.
"Whatever," Santana replied. "Britts and I are cutting out early."
"Do you want to come?" Brittany asked.
"She can't come," Santana said, looking at her girlfriend.
"Why are you skipping class?" Quinn asked. "Coach Sylvester will kill you if she finds out."
"That's why she isn't going to find out," Santana said with a smirk. "Don't worry; we'll be back before Glee."
"What's the point in leaving for an hour?" Quinn asked, causing Santana to raise her eyebrow. "Never mind. Don't answer that."
"We'll see you later, Quinn," Brittany said as Santana grabbed her hand, and began pulling her away.
Quinn shook her head; she didn't understand her friends. If Coach Sylvester caught them, they would be running laps for a week, and she almost always caught her Cheerios when they were doing something they weren't supposed to. Luckily for Brittany and Santana, the latter was a little sneakier about things than the rest of the squad. It wasn't the first time the two had disappeared in the middle of the day and Quinn knew it wouldn't be the last. For Brittany's sake, she hoped they didn't get caught. Their coach would be extra harsh since it was her captain that was misbehaving.
As Quinn walked to her last class of the day, she continued looking around for the ghost, but she was nowhere to be found. She wondered if the ghost only appeared at night or if she was maybe avoiding Quinn. Of course, the ghost didn't seem like the type to avoid anyone; she had a bit of an attitude and Quinn knew the type well. If anything, she would probably follow Quinn around all day to harass and annoy her.
"Hello, Quinn," Rachel greeted when she sat down at their table.
"Hi," Quinn said as she set her bag down.
"Did you have a good weekend?" Rachel asked.
Quinn shrugged. "I didn't die, so I guess."
Rachel looked a little alarmed. "Did something happen?"
"There was a," Quinn looked around to make sure no one was listening to them, but the room was virtually empty except one student near the back, "demon in the park that was breathing fire."
"I heard a portion of the city park was burning; is that how the fire was started?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah," Quinn replied.
"It didn't hurt you, did it?" Rachel asked.
"Not enough to worry about," Quinn replied.
It had managed to set Quinn's jeans on fire, but she quickly put it out. There was a minor burn on her leg from it, but she'd certainly dealt with worse in the past year. She eventually killed the demon before it could do anything worse to her, but it did manage to take out a small section of the park. Thankfully, Quinn got out before the fire trucks came and people started asking questions.
"But you're really okay?" Rachel asked. "You didn't get hurt?"
"There's a small burn on my leg, but it's nothing," Quinn said, not wanting Rachel to worry over her.
"Did you have it checked out?" Rachel asked. "You say it's minor, but even a small burn can get infected and if you wait too long, you could lose your leg or worse. Please tell me you went to the doctor."
"Rachel, it's already healing," Quinn said in amusement. "I'm not going to lose my leg."
Rachel huffed. "It's not crazy to think that it could happen. You're stubborn and don't like to admit when you're really hurt, but sometimes you need to go to the doctor to have these things looked at."
"I'm fine," Quinn stated. "Don't worry."
Rachel frowned slightly as she faced forward; Quinn could tell she wanted to say something else but she didn't. Instead, she sat there silently as the rest of their class filed in one by one. Even after the teacher came in and begin lecturing, Rachel kept glancing at her, and at one point, she started writing something down on a piece of paper, but crossed it out and stuck it in the back of her notebook. The longer class went on, the more fidgety Rachel became. It was as if her body was reacting physically to having to hold in whatever she wanted to say to Quinn.
By the time the final bell rang, she could actually hear Rachel release a long breath. Quinn didn't comment on it, opting to pretend she couldn't tell anything was wrong. As she gathered her things so she could leave the room, a familiar sight caught her eye. The ghost girl walked right past, wearing the same clothes she was in the night before. Not many of the students at McKinley wore all black, so she looked a little out of place in the room, but it made it easier for Quinn to spot her.
She was sure the ghost hadn't walked into the room and wasn't there at the start of class. But she was there now, so Quinn grabbed her bag, and ran after the ghost. She was several yards ahead of her as Quinn picked up her pace to catch up to the ghost. Just as she was within reach—that is, if she could actually touch her—the ghost vanished into thin air.
Quinn stopped in her tracks at the abrupt disappearance and looked around to see if anyone else had noticed. No one was looking in her direction, though, and she wondered if no one saw it because they weren't paying attention or if she was just the only one who could see the ghost.
Quinn sighed as she walked through the cemetery; she'd been walking around for over two hours, but hadn't seen anything. It was quickly becoming a very boring night and she almost wished something would happen to liven it up a little. Mostly, she wished she could find these vampires so she didn't have to come out here every night like she knew her Watcher would make her do. She still had a long night ahead of her, though, so there was a chance she would find something.
She was heading toward the park in hopes of finding the vampires there, and then she was going to make another pass through the grave yard, making a circle around the surrounding building. She had already done it once, but had stayed mostly in the cemetery since that was where the group was known to be.
On her way to the park, she heard the sounds of a struggle and instantly went into a run. She wasn't too far from it, but far enough that there was a chance she wouldn't get there in time. Instead of running to the front of the park, she hopped the fence, landing on the ground. She began running again toward the noise, but rolled her eyes and slowed her pace as she neared. By the time she was at the fighting, she put her hands on her hips and watched.
"Hey, Q," Santana said, punching the vampire she was fighting in the face.
She knocked the male vampire to the ground and he looked up at Santana with confusion written all over his face. Santana just smirked down at him and Quinn couldn't help but roll her eyes again.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.
"I was bored," Santana answered.
"So you decided to come out here and fight a few vampires?" Quinn asked.
"Yes," Santana replied.
"That's the Slayer," the male vampire stated. "Why aren't you attacking her? What the hell is wrong with you?"
"A lot," Quinn answered.
"Fuck you," Santana said without any real malice in her voice.
"I don't think Brittany would like that very much," Quinn retorted.
The other vampire jumped up, running at Santana, but she just flipped him over her back and punched him repeatedly while he was on the ground. Eventually, he threw her off and Quinn caught her as she almost fell down. Once she was on her feet again, she kicked the vampire in the chest, sending him back several feet, but he remained standing.
"You're supposed to kill her!" he yelled, pointing at Quinn.
Santana shrugged. "What can I say? I've never been one for doing what I'm supposed to do. Ask Quinn here."
"She's terrible at following orders," Quinn said, shaking her head.
The vampire growled at them and lunged at Quinn, but Santana grabbed him, flinging him backwards. "I'm the one playing, not her."
"Playing?" Quinn asked.
"It's fun," Santana said with a smirk. "Maybe you should try it sometime instead of being all 'woe is me' about being the Slayer."
"That's easy for you to say," Quinn replied. "I may be the Slayer, but I am still human and I'd rather survive than have fun."
"Are you two friends?" the vampire spat.
"Don't ask me why," Quinn said, shaking her head.
The vampire snarled and threw a punch at Santana, hitting her in the jaw. Santana hit him back before kneeing him in the groin and then punching him in the face. Quinn continued to stand back and watch as her friend pummeled the other vampire. She wondered how long Santana was going to be at this; she looked around to make sure they hadn't attracted anyone—or anything—else, but they were completely alone in the park.
"I'm just going to be patrolling," Quinn announced, turning to leave.
"Do you have a stake?" Santana asked.
Quinn pulled one out of her back pocket and tossed it to Santana. After trading a few more punches with the male vampire, she finally put the stake through his heart and stepped back before he could explode into dust all over her.
"Here," Santana said, tossing the stake back to Quinn.
"What are you doing out here?" Quinn asked again.
"I told you—I was bored," Santana repeated.
"Where's Brittany?" Quinn asked.
"Training with her mom and grandmother," Santana said, sounding a little annoyed. "She says she's falling behind and she has to spend more time at home. Whatever."
"You know being a witch is important to her," Quinn replied.
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Santana snapped.
Quinn threw her hands up. "Goodbye."
"Where are you going?" Santana called after her.
"Away from you," Quinn called back.
"You're just going to leave me here to be bored?" Santana yelled.
"That is the plan, yes," Quinn replied.
She heard Santana walking after her, but she didn't stop. Since there wasn't anything in the park—or if there was, they probably scared it away—she headed toward the library. It was a long shot that anything would be there, either, but her Watcher told her to stay around the area and that's exactly what she intended to do.
"Slow your ass down," Santana yelled.
Quinn rolled her eyes. "Why?"
The vampire grabbed her by the arm and spun her around. "What the hell is your problem?"
Quinn shrugged. "Who said I have a problem?"
Santana rolled her eyes. "You really need to get some; maybe it'll loosen you up a bit."
"Is that your answer for everything?" Quinn asked.
"For you? Yes," the vampire replied.
Quinn scowled as she pulled her arm out of Santana's grasp and continued walking. "Are you coming with me or what?"
"You look sleepy," Brittany commented.
"Blame your girlfriend," Quinn grumbled.
"San told me she helped you last night," Brittany said with a smile.
Quinn rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything. Saying that Santana helped would be a complete overstatement. She did 'help' with fighting off a vampire, but Quinn never would've had to have fought it if Santana hadn't given them away. She was sneaking up on the vampire when Santana charged in, giving away that they were there. Other than that, Quinn didn't see anything all night, which probably had to do with the fact that Santana was talking the whole time, alerting anything in the area to their presence.
"Thanks for hanging out with her," Brittany continued. "I know she wasn't happy that I couldn't spend the night with her. I know she gets lonely and I didn't want to leave her all night, but my mom says I have to train." Brittany sighed. "I wish I could tell her about San, but I'm afraid she won't understand."
"I—" Quinn looked down the hall, seeing the ghost she'd been looking for all day. "I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll talk to you later, Brittany."
Quinn took off down the hall, trying to catch up with the ghost. She turned the corner at the end of the hallway, so Quinn lost sight of her. Picking up the pace, she sprinted faster, colliding with someone along the way, but not bothering to apologize or to even so who she had run into. She turned the corner just in time to see the ghost go into one of the classrooms and followed her inside. Quinn expected the ghost to have disappeared by the time she entered, but she was sitting on one of the desks.
"Why are you following me?" the ghost asked.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked.
"Going to school," the ghost replied. "What do you think?"
"You know that's not what I'm asking," Quinn stated.
"You're the weirdo following me," the ghost said. "What are you doing here?"
"I'm trying to figure out what you're doing here," Quinn replied. "Are you here to hurt someone or are you just stuck here?"
"Why would I hurt anyone?" the ghost asked. "And what do you mean 'stuck here'?"
"What's your name?" Quinn asked.
The ghost rolled her eyes. "Why do you want to know that?"
Quinn huffed in annoyance; this ghost was more frustrating than Santana, and that was saying a lot. She just wanted the ghost to answer one of her questions, so maybe she could figure out who this girl was when she was alive. She didn't know if the ghost was malevolent or not, but either way, the ghost needed to move on.
"Are you one of those cheerleaders?" the ghost asked. "You look like you'd be one of them."
"I was," Quinn answered. "I quit."
"Well that was stupid," the ghost said. "Why would you want to be an outcast when you could be on top?"
"Who says I'm not?" Quinn challenged with a raise of her eyebrow.
"You certainly act like one of them," the ghost said, looking Quinn up and down. "Like you own this school and everyone should bow down to you. For years the Cheerios made my life hell, and then one day it was as if I was invisible to you all. I don't know what changed, but I'm glad it did. Now, you're following me around, though, just like they always did. What is it? Are you going to start telling me what a loser I am and—"
"How long have you been dead?" Quinn interrupted.
"Dead?" the ghost asked, laughing sardonically. "Are you on something?"
Quinn furrowed her brows as she looked at the ghost; either she didn't know she was dead or she was trying to mess with Quinn. Considering the ghost's attitude, she really didn't know which one it was.
The ghost shook her head and said, "This is a new low, even for one of you cheerleaders."
The ghost began walking away and Quinn instinctively reached out to grab her arm, but it went right through the girl. It felt like Quinn put her hand in a bucket of ice water and sent chills down her spine. The ghost looked down at her forearm in the exact place Quinn's hand went through and then looked back up at Quinn. The Slayer could see the look of shock on the ghost's face right before she faded into nothing, leaving Quinn alone in the room.
"She didn't know," Quinn whispered to herself.
She suddenly felt bad that she wasn't a little more tactful when asking how long she'd been dead. It never really crossed Quinn's mind that the girl didn't know she was a ghost. How could a person not remember dying?
Sighing, she walked out of the room; she had a feeling she wasn't going to see the ghost for a while, and even if she did, she knew she wouldn't get any answers. She was just going to have to figure out who she was the hard way—by going through the school's records of all the students who'd died. Maybe then she could figure out the ghost's identity and help her move on.
Quinn patiently waited for the final bell to ring, and when it finally did, she gathered her stuff and waited for Rachel to do the same. She wasn't thrilled about having to ask for the brunette's help again, but she knew Rachel would be the person to go to. She had researched ghosts in the past and was really the only person that could potentially answer her questions. Still, she didn't like the idea of getting Rachel involved and was hesitant to do so.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Quinn," Rachel said when she was done and stood to leave.
"Wait," Quinn said the moment the other girl took a step forward.
"Yes?" Rachel asked.
Quinn sighed. "I—can we talk? Someplace else."
There were still far too many people in the room for her to feel comfortable about having a discussion on ghosts. The last thing she needed was for someone to overhear them and begin suspecting something. Far too many people already knew her secret and she wasn't about to add to that list.
"Okay," Rachel answered. "How about the training room."
Quinn shook her head. "Santana will be there."
"The choir room?" Rachel asked. "It should be empty today since I'm sure none of our fellow Glee members care enough to begin Mr. Schue's assignment for the week."
"That's fine," Quinn said as she stood.
Rachel nodded and led the way to the choir room. While they were in the hall, Quinn looked around for the ghost, but after disappearing earlier, there'd been no sign of her. Quinn wasn't surprised, though. She actually wondered if she would ever even see the ghost again, making this all for nothing.
"What would you like to discuss?" Rachel asked the moment the door was shut.
"There's a ghost on campus," Quinn said, walking toward the piano, and setting her bag down on the bench. "I know you did some research when we dealt with the ghost before."
"Has the ghost harmed anyone?" Rachel asked, furrowing her eyebrows.
Quinn shook her head. "She doesn't even know she's a ghost or at least she didn't." She turned toward Rachel, crossing her arms over her chest. "I've been seeing her around school the past few days. I first saw her Sunday night; I sort of argued with her and ended up walking through her. I wanted to find out who she is; I finally talked to her again today and asked when she died, but she looked at me like I was crazy."
"I read something about ghosts who don't know they're deceased, but I will have to look up the information again," Rachel said. "I believe I know what books to look in and I'm sure I still have the websites bookmarked. If you want, I can go home, get my laptop, and meet you back here later."
"I'm supposed to meet my Watcher in a few minutes, but if you want to meet me in the training room in an hour, that would be fine," Quinn replied.
Rachel nodded. "I will be back in an hour, then."
Rachel turned to walk away, but then turned back to Quinn. "Is there anything else you can tell me about this ghost?"
"Not really," Quinn said with a shrug. "She has an attitude. And judging by her clothing, I'm guessing she hasn't been dead more than ten years. I thought I might be able to go through all the students who've died over the years; maybe there's a picture and I can find out her name."
"What do you hope to do if you discover her name?" Rachel inquired.
"I'm not really sure," Quinn said, smiling slightly. "I should help her to move on, right? Maybe if I figure out who she is, I can figure out how to do that."
"That would probably be a good idea, yes," Rachel agreed. "It would be a shame to be here the rest of her existence; I'm sure she would be much happier if she could move on to wherever we go when that time comes."
"I can't imagine much worse than being in high school forever," Quinn remarked.
"So we'll help her," Rachel said with a determined nod.
"Rachel," Quinn said when the brunette turned to leave.
"Yes?" Rachel asked, turning around again.
"If the ghost starts to lash out or become violent, I want you to stay away," Quinn said.
"Don't worry," Rachel replied. "I won't get in your way or do anything against your wishes."
With that, Quinn watched as Rachel finally made her way out of the room. She sighed to herself, wondering if she had made a mistake by asking for Rachel's help. It seemed to be happening a lot lately and Quinn really didn't want to make it a habit. With the Council coming soon, though, she felt like she needed to get this taken care of sooner rather than later, and if there was anyone who could help her, it was the brunette.
She just wished things were easier. It was hard being around Rachel, and every time they were in the same room together, Quinn felt like she had an ache in her heart. It was a constant reminder of everything that'd happened and she just wanted it to go away. She often thought that that's what she should have wished for when she had the chance. Maybe then she could finally be happy again and get back to a semi-normal life instead of feeling empty all the time.
As soon as Quinn came out of the bathroom stall, she came face to face with the ghost girl. She jumped, but managed to stifle the scream that was threatening to escape. It wasn't that she was actually afraid of the ghost, but her sudden appearance startled Quinn. She'd been alone when she came into the bathroom and she hadn't heard anyone come in. She supposed the ghost had just went through the wall, however, or maybe even materialized out of thin air.
"Can you not do that?" Quinn asked. "Announce yourself next time."
"Oh, I'm sorry," the ghost said, sounding completely sarcastic.
Quinn rolled her eyes as she walked to the sink. "I bet."
"Shouldn't you be off with your cheerleader friends or something?" the ghost asked. "You know, throwing slushies in people's faces or telling them how pathetic and useless they are."
"I told you I'm not a Cheerio," Quinn said evenly.
"You may not be one now, but you still love to play mind-games with people, right?" the ghost asked. "I saw you talking with those other two cheerleaders. I know you're up to something, but it's not going to work."
"Brittany would hurt anyone and Ana—she would, but that's not what's going on here," Quinn replied.
"If I was really dead, how would I be here talking to you?" the ghost asked. "The smart thing would've been to ignore me like all your friends; at least it would have been a little more convincing."
Quinn sighed and looked at the ghost through the mirror. "Look, I'm sorry I told you the way I did, but I had no idea that you didn't know, okay?"
"Didn't know what?" she asked with a huff.
"You're—a ghost," Quinn said after a moment of hesitation.
The other girl laughed loudly as if it was the funniest thing she'd ever heard. "A ghost? If you really expect me to believe that, you're even dumber than you look."
Quinn scowled at the jab and said, "I know you saw my hand go through you yesterday. I saw the look in your eyes when it happened."
"No," the ghost shook her head, "that's not what happened."
"It is," Quinn replied.
"Do you think this is the first time one of you has tried to do something like this?" the ghost asked. "Last year, I began talking to this guy online only to find out it was one of the Cheerios. The year before that, several grabbed me after a game and tied me up, leaving me under the bleachers all night. I'm not falling for it this time; I'm not dead."
The lights in the bathroom flickered for a moment before going back to normal. Quinn knew the ghost was angry and closed her mouth, afraid to upset her further. She didn't know what the ghost could do, but judging by the last one she'd encountered, she could probably hurt her. Quinn continued watching her closely; the ghost was still staring up at the lights with a slight frown on her face. Quinn could tell the ghost didn't quite believe what she was saying, but she also obviously didn't want to believe the truth.
"Where do you go when you're not talking to me?" Quinn hesitantly asked after a few moments of silence.
"Class," the ghost answered.
"And when you're not at school?" Quinn prodded.
"I—" The ghost paused as if she was trying to think; her brows were furrowed together in concentration and Quinn could see the confusion in her eyes.
"You don't know, do you?" Quinn asked. "When was the last time you remember being outside of school?"
The ghost didn't say anything as she leaned back against the sink basin. Quinn wondered if she should leave and give the ghost a moment or if she should stay. She really didn't know what to do in this situation. What was the proper protocol when you tell someone they're a ghost? She really wished Brittany or Rachel was there with her. She had a feeling they would be a lot better at this than she was.
"Why are you doing this?" the ghost eventually asked, her voice laced with anger.
"I'm just trying to help," Quinn answered.
"I never asked for your help!" the ghost yelled, walking past Quinn, and disappearing from sight.
Quinn sighed and rubbed her forehead in frustration. She really hoped the next time she talked to the ghost that she could find out a little more about her. That obviously didn't happen, and she was left knowing just as little as she did before. Rachel agreed that she needed to find out more information on the ghost, but so far, Quinn hadn't been able to look into it very much.
Rachel had given her everything she could find about ghosts, but now they needed to find pictures of all the students who'd died. They were supposed to meet up after school, but Quinn only had so much time. Her Watcher still wanted her patrolling every night to look for the pack of vampires. Even though Quinn had been out there, they had attacked someone the previous night, and Quinn only found out about it that morning. The Council wasn't happy that another person was dead and Quinn was angry with herself for letting it happen. She was frustrated and wanted to solve this ghost situation quickly; she had too much else going on and what little patience she had was running out.
There was a knock on the training room door and Quinn quickly stood to open it. Rachel was a little late, which wasn't like her, and Quinn was a little worried about it. She was just about ready to go out and look for her when the knock sounded. When she opened the door, Rachel's arms were loaded down with books and Quinn hurriedly reached out to take some of the load. She looked down to see what she was holding and noticed they were all McKinley High yearbooks.
"Thanks," Rachel said, giving her a smile. "It took me forever to get here. I had to make two trips from the library; there's still a pile in the locker room if you would like to get them."
"Why didn't you get me?" Quinn asked, walking to grab the rest.
"I didn't want to burden you," Rachel said as she shrugged off her backpack, which looked like it was about to rip in half under the weight it was holding.
"Rachel—"
"I didn't even know if this would work, so I didn't want to waste your time if it's a terrible idea," Rachel cut her off. "I just thought if I got the yearbooks from the library, you may find this girl in one of them. I thought it may be easier than going through the newspapers, looking for students who have died."
"You still should have gotten me," Quinn said, shaking her head. "You're doing me a favor, after all; you shouldn't have to carry all this by yourself."
Rachel shrugged. "I figured you have more important things to worry about than carrying half the library here. You could be training or—"
"Next time, let me know, okay?" Quinn said, interrupting Rachel.
"Is there going to be a next time?" Rachel asked.
Quinn opened and closed her mouth. She wanted to say no because she'd vowed a long time ago to not involved her friends in this anymore, but she'd broken that vow on more than one occasion. She constantly tried to tell herself that it was because Rachel was so good at research, but she knew part of it was because she missed having the other girl around. It seemed like it was becoming harder and harder to cut the brunette out of her life.
"I think we should start with the newest and work our way back," Rachel said, ending the silence. "They should already be in order, starting with the ones in my bag." She unzipped it and pulled out one of the books, handing it to Quinn. "I doubt I will be of much use with this since I haven't seen her, but I will point out anyone that looks the way you have described."
Quinn nodded and walked to the mat since it was probably the most comfortable place in the room. Rachel followed suit, sitting down a respectable distance from her. Together, they began going through the yearbooks; every little bit, Rachel would point out a girl, but it was never the right one. As they went back through the years, Quinn began to wonder if she was even pictured in any of them. She seemed like the type who would skip out on picture day and it would be just Quinn's luck.
"I find it a little strange looking through these," Rachel commented.
"Why is that?" Quinn asked.
"I don't know." Rachel shrugged. "I keep wondering what's become of everyone; how many of these people are no longer alive or if they managed to make it out of Lima and live their dreams. Everyone looks so hopeful in their senior pictures and I can't help but wonder how many actually fulfilled their future plans."
Quinn knew what Rachel meant; she tried not to look at the things the seniors had written, but she found herself reading over their plans for the future. She recognized some of the people from around town, but most she'd never seen before. She liked to imagine that they made it out, but her realistic side doubted it. Every year, only a few people went out of state to college and most of them ended up right back in Lima eventually. It was as if the town sucked people back in, never allowing them to truly leave.
"Looking for me?"
Quinn jumped at the sudden voice and looked over her shoulder to find the ghost standing just behind her. When she looked at Rachel, the brunette was looking at her curiously.
"Are you alright, Quinn?" Rachel asked.
"You didn't—you can't see her, can you?" Quinn realized.
"See who?" Rachel asked before her face showed understanding. "She's here, isn't she?"
"Yeah," Quinn said, looking over her shoulder again. "And, yes, we are looking for you since you won't tell me your name."
"Why should I tell you my name?" the ghost asked.
"Because it would save me a lot of trouble," Quinn said, trying not to roll her eyes in annoyance.
The ghost smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Good luck with that."
"You're not in any of these pictures, are you?" Quinn said, dropping the yearbook she was holding, and rubbing her temples.
"She isn't?" Rachel asked, looking disappointed. "Did she tell you that?"
With one last satisfied smirk, the ghost disappeared into thin air, leaving Quinn glaring at nothing. Huffing, she turned back toward Rachel and picked up the yearbook again.
"Is she gone?" Rachel asked.
"She's gone," Quinn replied.
"Is she really not in the yearbooks?" Rachel asked.
"Who knows," Quinn said with a shrug. "Maybe she's not, but maybe she knows we're on the right track and wants to throw us off."
"So we're still looking?" Rachel asked.
"We're still looking," Quinn confirmed.
She had no idea if the ghost girl was in the yearbooks or not, but she wasn't going to stop until she'd gone through the rest of them. It's not like she had anywhere else to be at the moment, anyway. The sun was still up, so she still had some time before she had to patrol, and she really wanted to find this girl more now than ever.
Quinn paused when she heard the sound of laughter; she looked around, but didn't see anything, so she quietly walked further into the cemetery. The closer she got to the mausoleum near the edge of the grave yard, the louder the laughing and voices became. It was clear there was more than one voice and she hoped this was the group of vampire she'd been looking for.
Stopping next to the cement structure, she paused and listened. From the sound of it, there were at least five voices—three male and two female—but possibly more. At first she thought they may be inside, but as she crept around the corner, she realized they were at the back of the mausoleum. She didn't want to alert them to the fact that she was there, so she quickly peeked around the corner to see if her estimations were correct.
She was right about there being five vampires, but it looked like they also had a human with them. The girl was fairly young—she looked no older than twenty—and she was being held by one of the vampires, her arms behind her back and her mouth covered. Quinn had planned to take her time and possibly separate the group, but that was no longer an option. She had to get in there before they killed the girl, and she knew she probably didn't have a lot of time.
As quietly as she could, she grabbed an extra stake from her bag, a cross, some holy water, and her crossbow. If she was lucky, she could at least dust one of the vampires before it knew what hit it, but then she was going to have to fight the other four. If she was really lucky, they would be too stunned at her sudden appearance and maybe she could get a second one before they reacted. That didn't seem likely, though.
Quinn patiently waited for one of the vampires to get into a better position since she currently didn't have a good shot. As one burst out laughing, he turned his back toward Quinn and she let the arrow fly. Without hesitating, she threw the bottle of holy water at one of the female vampires and it broke, hitting her directly in the face. She knew the holy water wouldn't kill the vampire, but it would certainly cause some pain and hopefully be enough of a distraction that the vampire would be off her game.
The moment the bottle left her hands, Quinn ran toward the vampires before any of them seemed to realize what was happening. She threw a couple punches before the vampire responded with a kick. Another one grabbed her from behind, so she kicked the one in front of her, using the momentum to flip over the other vampire's back, leaving it little choice but to release her. The vampire threw a punch as he turned, but Quinn blocked it with her forearm and stuck the stake into his vulnerable chest.
She quickly looked around to make sure their hostage was okay, but Quinn couldn't really tell. She was definitely alive, but she was on the ground, barely moving, and Quinn didn't know if she was hurt or just in shock. As she was looking, one of the female vampires tried to hit her, but she ducked just in time, sweeping the vampire's feet out from underneath her. Quinn tried to stake the vampire, but she blocked it and then head-butted Quinn. The move knocked Quinn onto her back and she flinched at the pain in her nose.
The female vampire jumped on Quinn, and the blonde struggled with her to gain the upper hand. She was trying to determine where the other two vampires were while she was on the ground. The one she hit with holy water was nowhere to be seen, but the other was walking toward her with a sword in his hand. Quinn groaned in frustration and used her free hand to pry the vampire's face away from hers, scratching it in the process. When she let go, she quickly grabbed the cross in her pocket, making the vampire scramble away when she thrust the object toward it.
Just as Quinn stood, the other vampire tried jabbing Quinn with the sword, but she jumped to the side. He tried again, but missed, and Quinn punched him before turning around and kicking the vampire behind her. It sent the female vampire back a few paces and Quinn spun, thrusting the stake into her chest. Just as the vampire exploded, Quinn felt a sharp pain in her side and looked down to see a decent sized gash along her side.
When she turned around, the vampire had the sword raised again, but before he could lower it, she reached up and struggled to take it from him. The pain in her side was making her a little dizzy, but she tried to put it out of her mind. She released one of her hands from the hilt and punched the vampire in the stomach. He was still gripping the sword tightly, though, so Quinn grabbed her other bottle of holy water and smashed it over both of their hands. She felt the glass cut her in a few spots, but she didn't let go. As the water went over their hands, the vampire's hand began to smoke and he finally dropped the sword, which Quinn quickly gripped and swung, beheading the vampire.
Quinn looked around for the fifth vampire, but it was still nowhere to be seen. Figuring it ran off after being hit in the face with holy water, Quinn turned her focus to the girl on the ground.
"Are you okay?" she asked as she approached and kneeled down.
The girl looked up at her with a terrified look. "I think so. What was that? Who were those people."
Quinn shook her head. "It's not important. Do you have a car around?"
The girl nodded and pointed to the edge of the cemetery. "It's over there."
Quinn helped the girl up as she stood and said, "You really shouldn't be out here after dark."
Quinn had her hand on her side, trying to stop the bleeding, but it wasn't slowing. Looking down, she wondered if she should go to the emergency room, but she had to get to her car first. Unfortunately, it was a few blocks away, and she still had a bit of walking to do. She cut through a small graveyard, and as she walked between the tombstones, she heard a sniffle. Part of her just wanted to walk on, but she paused and looked around.
"What are you doing here?" Quinn asked in surprise.
"What do you care?" the ghost asked.
Quinn approached her and looked down at the gravestone she was staring at. "Sara Jane Burke. Is that you?"
After going through all the yearbooks, they still hadn't found her. Quinn vaguely remembered the name as being one of the students not pictured, though.
"They're all dead," Sara said.
"What do you—"
Quinn stopped as she looked along the row of headstones and saw that they all bore the same last name. James Burke, Sandra Burke, Jonathan Burke, and Sara Burke's gravestones all had the same date of death. Sara's was the youngest—born September 5, 1988, died May 2, 2004—and her grave was at the end.
"It was a car crash," Sara said.
Quinn looked over at her. "You remember?"
"I keep seeing flashes," Sara replied, furrowing her brows. "I was fighting with my brother over the radio and my mom told us to stop. I told her that I hated her because she wouldn't let me listen to a song I liked. The next thing I remember was honking and then nothing."
Quinn closed her eyes for a moment; she could imagine how horrible it must be for her to just now realize her life was over. Not only was her life over, but her family was gone, too.
"I'm sorry," Quinn said. "I should have—" Quinn sighed. "I'm sorry you found out like this; I thought you knew you were a ghost. If I'd known, I wouldn't have just sprung it on you. I'm sorry about your family, too."
"Will I get to see them again?" Sara asked. "If I'm not here, will I be with them?"
"I don't know," Quinn said honestly. "But I would imagine so."
The ghost looked at her. "Can you help me?"
"I can try," Quinn answered. "I have some friends that are better at this kind of thing than I am; I'm sure they'll be able to help you."
"The girl in the room with you last night?" Sara asked.
"She's one of them," Quinn replied. "Another friend is a witch. She's the blonde Cheerio you saw me talking to a few days ago."
"How soon can you do it?" Sara asked.
Quinn shrugged. "How soon do you want to do it?"
"As soon as possible," Sara said, looking down. "Unless—what if there's nothing. What if I just disappear? Would that be better than this."
Quinn sighed. "I wish I could tell you I knew, but I don't. I like to think there's something else out there—something better than here."
The ghost looked down at the headstones, reaching out for one, but her hand just went through it. "I wonder if they'll even want to see me. The last thing I said to my mom was that I hated her. I fought with my brother all the time. I would say things to them just to hurt them."
"I'm sure your parents knew you loved them," Quinn replied. "You were just being a teenager."
"I hope so," Sara whispered.
"We can probably do a spell tomorrow to help you move on," Quinn said. "I'll call Brittany and let her know to get whatever she needs for it. Do you know where the choir room is?"
"Yeah," the ghost replied. "I hear you guys singing in there."
"Can you meet us there tomorrow morning?" Quinn asked. "Unless you want more time."
"Tomorrow morning is fine," Sara said.
"Do you—want a ride anywhere?" Quinn asked, knowing it was probably a stupid question.
Sara shook her head. "I can get anywhere I want to be quicker than your car."
"I figured, but I thought I should ask" Quinn remarked. "I'll see you in the morning."
The ghost nodded and Quinn turned to give her some time by herself. As she made her way to her car, she pulled out her phone to send Brittany and Rachel a message. She wanted to let them both know to meet her at the choir room in the morning and to let Brittany know she was going to be home late. The gash on her side was still bleeding rather badly and she thought it may be a good idea to go to the emergency room. She didn't know how she was going to explain it, but she was sure she'd think of something on her way there.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked, looking at Quinn in concern.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asked.
"You keep holding your side," Rachel stated.
"It's nothing," Quinn said, shaking her head.
Rachel narrowed her eyes as she stared at Quinn. "Raise your shirt up."
"No," Quinn said, scoffing.
"Quinn Fabray, I know you are lying to me," Rachel said, putting her hands on her hips. "Now, either tell me what's wrong or I will make you show me."
Quinn sighed. "I got cut last night; it's no big deal."
"Cut!" Rachel said in alarm. "With what?"
"A sword," Quinn mumbled.
"You were cut with a sword and you want me to believe that it is no big deal?" Rachel asked. "Did you go to the doctor? I'm sure it could easily get infected if you neglect—"
"I went," Quinn said, interrupting her before she go into a rant about infections again. "They gave me a few stitches and put a bandage on it."
"Well—good," Rachel said with a nod of her head.
"Rachel, can you help me?" Brittany called out.
Rachel glanced at Quinn before walking over to assist Brittany. Quinn looked around, wondering where Santana had gotten off too, but realized she probably didn't want to know. So, she walked over to Sara, who was standing near the side of the room, observing everything Brittany and Rachel were doing. Quinn stopped next to her, leaning again the whiteboard, and following her gaze. Rachel was placing candles along the room while Brittany was making a circle out of some kind of white powder.
"This is going to send me on?" Sara asked.
"Brittany says it will," Quinn replied.
"And you trust her?" Sara said, turning to look at Quinn.
"If there's one thing Brittany's good at, it's magic," Quinn replied. "And dancing." Quinn smiled. "She's also an excellent dancer."
"I know," Sara commented. "I've seen her in here. I would watch you guys sometimes through the window."
Quinn looked up, catching Rachel's eye, who immediately looked away.
"Okay, what is going on with you and the brunette?" Sara asked
"If I don't tell you, will you haunt me?" Quinn joked.
"Maybe," Sara replied.
Quinn smiled and shrugged. "There's nothing going on; we dated, we broke up."
"You dated her?" Sara asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes," Quinn said, feeling her defenses already rising.
The ghost hummed and Quinn stared at her with a scowl on her face. She was used to people making little comments or giving her looks, but it never failed to not piss her off. It was as if no one could understand what she saw in Rachel
"What?" Quinn asked rather forcefully.
"I didn't say anything," Sara said with a nonchalant shrug.
"You didn't have to," Quinn replied.
"I'm just surprised," Sara commented.
"Really?" Quinn asked. "I couldn't tell."
"I'm just saying she doesn't seem like the type you'd be dating," Sara said. "You seem more like the big, dumb jock type like all the other cheerleaders."
"Not all cheerleaders are the same," Quinn stated. "In case you haven't noticed, Brittany's one and she's helping you right now. Oh, and that other Cheerio I'm friends with? They're dating each other."
"Why do you care what I think of cheerleaders?" Sara asked. "You're not one anymore, remember?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "That doesn't mean I like my friends being stereotyped."
"Or maybe you want to be one again," Sara said with a smirk.
"I think we're ready," Brittany announced. "If you would stand in the circle, we can start."
The ghost walked forward, looking over her shoulder. "You know I'm right."
"I don't know that," Quinn replied.
"Fine, be that way," Sara said.
Quinn crossed her arms as Sara walked into the circle. She stayed back to let Brittany do her thing, as did Rachel, who walked over to her. Neither Brittany nor Rachel could see the ghost, so Brittany just had to trust the ghost was doing what she said, when she said it. Sara was doing it all, though, clearly determined to move on from that existence.
"So, what don't you know?" Rachel inquired.
Quinn hummed and looked at Rachel. "Nothing."
"Okay," Rachel said with a slight sigh.
A light began to glow in the middle of the circle exactly where Sara was standing. Brittany was chanting some words in Latin while Sara repeated them. The light intensified and the ghost locked eyes with Quinn, giving her a slight nod. Quinn nodded back and a few moments later, there was a flash, and then the light and Sara were both gone.
"Did it work?" Brittany and Rachel asked in unison.
Quinn sighed. "It worked."
"I hope she's at peace now," Rachel commented softly.
A small smile formed on Quinn's lips. "I have a feeling she is."
"Really?" Rachel asked.
"Really," Quinn replied.
She had no way of knowing for certain, but something told her Sara was with her family now.
As Quinn opened the door to the auditorium, Rachel's voice was still echoing through the room. She'd waited until the brunette was finished, not only because she loved listening to her sing, but because she was still going over in her head what to say. The moment she stepped through the door, though, everything flew out of her head.
"Quinn," Rachel said when she finally noticed Quinn walked up the aisle. "What are you doing here this early? Is everything okay?"
"I don't want to die with regrets," Quinn said, standing at the bottom of the stage. "Sara—she was talking about all the things she regretted and how she was afraid her family wouldn't want to see her. I don't want to do that. I don't want to die regretting things, and in my line of work, it could happen any time. I like to think that it won't happen anytime soon, but one slip-up and it could all be over."
"Is this about the other night?" Rachel asked, her eyes gazing down to Quinn's side.
"This is about more than that," Quinn replied.
"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.
Quinn took a deep breath, releasing it slowly. The whole drive to school, she was planning out what to say to Rachel, but now she couldn't think of any of it. Rachel always seemed to have that effect on her; she would take one look at the brunette and everything she was thinking would be out the window.
"Quinn, what are you—"
"I hate being lied to," Quinn stated as she walked up the steps, onto the stage. "I hate it because people did it my whole life. Guys would lie to me to try to date me, girls would lie because they wanted to be my friend." She shook her head. "I've never really been able to trust anyone; not my family, not my boyfriends, not my friends. "
"Quinn—"
"But I trusted you," Quinn interrupted again. "With everything, and then you lied to me, too. I never thought you would and you did. You have no idea how much it hurt, and on top of that, you didn't trust me. You didn't trust me to do what I had to do; you didn't trust me to be a good enough Slayer."
She could hear Rachel's sigh before she said, "I'm so sorry. I—"
Quinn grabbed Rachel's waist and pulled the brunette the remaining distance, their lips crashing together. Rachel let out a small squeak in surprise, but the surprise didn't last long. She began kissing Quinn back just a fervently as the blonde was kissing her. Quinn had missed this feeling so much and poured everything she felt into the kiss.
Rachel's hands buried themselves in her hair as Quinn lifted the brunette's feet off the ground. Before she knew it, Rachel's legs were wrapped around her and she was lowering them to the stage floor. Her tongue slipped into Rachel's mouth, just as the other girl's back made contact with the cold floor. A moan echoed through the room, but she wasn't sure which one of them it came from, and she was too busy remembering what it was like to touch Rachel to really care.
"It's about damn time."
Quinn groaned as she pulled her lips away from Rachel's. "Go away, Santana."
The vampire smirked. "Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"
"Now!" Quinn barked.
"Okay, okay—I get the hint," Santana said, holding her hands up.
Rachel started giggling and Quinn flopped onto her back. "Why is she always such a pain in the ass?"
"Because she's Santana," Rachel stated.
Quinn grunted in acknowledgement and turned to look at Rachel. She reached out to touch the brunette's face and whispered, "Please don't ever lie to me again."
"I promise I won't," Rachel quietly replied. "You have to know that I never meant to hurt you. I thought I was doing the right thing; I thought I was protecting you. It's not that I wanted to lie, but can you say you wouldn't do the same thing if you thought you were protecting me?"
"No." Quinn sighed as she kissed the side of Rachel's head. "How about no lying to each other, okay? Even if we think we're protecting the other person."
"Okay," Rachel said with a nod.
"I missed this," Quinn said softly, resting her forehead against Rachel's.
"So did I," Rachel replied.
"I'm sorry I didn't do this sooner," Quinn said, averting her eyes from Rachel's.
Rachel shook her head. "Your feelings were perfectly valid."
"I wasted so much time, though," Quinn replied.
"It doesn't matter," Rachel said. "You're here now." Rachel smiled. "If you can forgive me, I can forgive you."
Quinn laughed and looked at the brunette. "Deal." The bell rang above them and Quinn groaned. "Do we have to go to class?"
"We do," Rachel answered, looking amused.
Quinn sighed as she stood. "Are you sure?"
"I refuse to let us turn into delinquents," Rachel replied. "Even if it is tempting."
"Can I walk you to class?" Quinn asked, holding out her hands to help Rachel up.
Rachel smiled as she put her hands in Quinn's. "I thought you'd never ask."