Chapter 45 – Where Do I Go
Where is the something
Where is the someone
That tells me why I live and die
Where do I go
Follow the children…
From the Hair Soundtrack
The bright city lights meant
they were close. It wouldn’t be long until they were at the Hyperion. The
source of the constant stream of messages that were assaulting Eli’s mind. From
the moment his Mum had left the house, they began. At first they were distant
whispers, but the closer his mother got the more demanding they became. Elijah
knew Mum was also receiving the same warnings, but she was pushing them aside
in her effort to deal with the more urgent problems.
That was a crucial mistake,
because the First was using her as a conduit to discover their weak spots. Drusilla,
who was still part an integral part of his mother, was attracted to the evil
they were facing, it fascinated her and she welcomed a chance to play with it. Mummy
didn’t see it. She couldn’t because it would be admitting to a weakness that would
be hard for her to accept. How could she tell everyone that she still suffered
under Dru’s influence? They would make her go away, and Elijah wouldn’t let
that happen. He did his studies on building mental walls to help his Mummy keep
the bad things away.
“Shit,” his father muttered,
glancing first at the instrument panel to where it said they were going almost
fifty on a side street. He shook his head, and then peered into the rearview
mirror. “Why now?”
The Navigator began to slow
down, making Eli look over his shoulder. There was a police car behind them
with its lights flashing. Journey whimpered and rubbed her eyes as she turned
around to see what was happening, too. Elijah patted her hand to let her know
that it was all right. Without coincidental intervention they would lose time
they didn’t have in getting to the hotel. Making a decision, Elijah waved his
hand as he sent out a silent command.
“Don’t stop, Daddy,” Eli
said, turning to look at his father. Then he added as Spike sent him a
quizzical look, “I jammed their radar.”
“Thanks,” Spike responded,
with a chuckle. “Probably shouldn’t encourage you doing that. Your mother would kill us both, but in this
case I think getting to her is more important then doing the right thing.”
“Go Daddy,” Journey
encouraged. “Mummy is waiting for us.
They turned another corner,
bringing them increasingly closer to their destination. It was then that a wave
of fear swept through him, making the little boy clutch the door handle beside
him. It was his Mum. Something was wrong with her. Sweeping the area, he knew
that someone was closer to the hotel then they were. Eli reached over, placing
his hand on his Daddy’s arm to get his attention.
“Call Raven,” he whispered.
“There’s trouble…it’s Mum.”
Spike didn’t hesitate, or
question his request. Instead he reached for his phone, and punched in Raven’s
express number.
~~~~~~~~
The ringing of her cell phone
startled Raven, making her jump. She threw aside Connor’s jacket covering her to
grab her purse that held the offending instrument. Lost in thoughts of her
nightmare, she’d almost forgotten where she was, and where she was heading, but
now she was back to reality with frightening clarity. It was a lightening flash
compared to the darkness she’d been traveling in.
“Hello,” Raven said,
flipping the phone on.
“Hey, Princess,” her
father’s voice came to her. “You on your way to the Hyperion?”
“Yeah,” she responded,
looking around her. They were already off the highway, and maneuvering through
the side streets. “We’re probably five minutes away…if that. Where are you?”
“We’re probably not that far
behind you,” Spike said. “Look, your mum is already there…”
“Why didn’t you go
together?” Raven asked, and then from the silence knew his answer. She sighed
even though it was something she was expecting. Sometimes to pass the tests placed
before you, everything had to be lost first, before one could clearly see their
choices. “Oh, Daddy,” she whispered. “What happened?”
“It’s not something I really
want to talk to you about,” he replied, letting her know that Dylan’s plan was
beginning to unfold. “Look, Elijah wants to talk to you. Everything else can
wait…hold on,” there was a fumbling as the phone was passed from father to son.
“Raven?” Elijah called to
her.
“Was it bad, brat?”
“Yeah,” Eli said. His voice
was filled with a sadness that tore his sister apart. “Mummy isn’t in a good
place. I made Daddy bring us tonight. The closer we get the worse the feelings
get…everything has started.”
“I know,” Raven said, wiping
at the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. Her brother was scared of
losing everything. Even with all his powers, he wasn’t privy to the ending of
this one, and he wasn’t the only one that was frightened of losing the life
they had. “Hold on, okay? We’re going to win this one,” she told him with as
much confidence as she could manage.
“Get there as soon as you
can. She needs us.”
“Okay, squirt. We’ll be
there in just a minute…Take care of Daddy.”
After her brother’s murmured
agreement, she closed the phone, putting it down on the console between the
front seats. The moment her hand was free, Connor wrapped his around it. She
leaned against him for the strength he always gave her. Gone were their free
moments until the prophecy had played out. Nothing was ever going to be the way
it was before her father had left home. Although, it was a necessary action, it
still wrought a pain of regret for all the wasted time on things that didn’t
matter.
“Mum and Dad are fighting,”
Raven said, sitting back up to stare out the window. “They went to
“Your father will make the
right choices,” Connor comforted her, squeezing her hand. “Trust him.”
“I’m trying,” Raven said.
“It’s just hard when you look into Dylan’s eyes and know what he wants. He’s
just so…attractive in a bad way and Daddy is so…”
“He loves your mum with every
fiber of his being.”
Raven,
Elijah’s voice broke into her mind, something
is really wrong. Mummy is scared.
“Hurry,” Raven demanded.
“There’s trouble and my Mum is in the middle of it.”
Connor didn’t question her. He
pressed on the gas pedal pushing the speed of the car even faster. They were
only two blocks from the Hyperion, and somehow they reached it within seconds.
Without waiting for him, Raven hopped from the car, sprinting as soon as her
feet hit the pavement. She felt the pull of an evil presence, but she ignored
it as she burst through the front door of the hotel.
The doors banged into the
walls as Raven ran down the steps into the main lobby with Connor close on her
heels. She could hear the sound of another vehicle screeching to a stop at the
curb.
Someone is going to hurt her…
“Get away from my mother,”
Raven barked. She wasn’t sure what was going on but she could see that Rona and
Faith were in the midst of a struggle. She hurried to stand beside Faith who
was still in front of Buffy. It wasn’t hard to figure out that it was Rona who
was assaulting her mother. “If you ever threaten her again, I will personally
make you pay for it,” she added, slipping into an aggressive stance.
“I am so sick of this,” Rona
spat, stepping back. “This is bullshit.
Which side are you playing for anyway? You go away and all of a sudden you’re
like all goodie-two shoes or something.”
“You’re threatening my frickin’
mother,” Raven exclaimed. “What do you expect me to do? There is no way I’m
taking anyone else’s side but hers.”
“You would have a few weeks
ago,” Rona said, with a twisted smile. She held her hands out to her side. “No
one understood you but us…your sisters…and now you’re pulling this good, little
daughter shit.”
Raven knew there would be
trouble when she returned. Those few days in the woods had changed her on so
many levels. The love she once had for being a Slayer returned to her tenfold. The
ideals she’d been running from were now being embraced. Yes, a couple of weeks
ago, she would have stood beside Rona and her peers, against Buffy and the
others who had already ventured down the path they were just beginning to
traverse. Everyone else was to blame for her relationship with Connor going
bad, and nothing was her responsibility unless it brought her pleasure. It was
all clear to her now and she was ready to fight even if it meant alienating her
friends.
“I’ve matured while I’ve been
away,” Raven responded, reaching her hand out to her friend. “It’s given me
time to think…”
“You mean time to get laid,”
Kennedy interjected. “You come back here…thinking you’re all grown up and above
us.” She gestured toward the adults standing behind Raven. “Just like them.”
“They don’t think they’re
above you,” Raven said. Her hand dropped to her side again, but she felt it
being filled by Buffy’s. Her mother didn’t need to say anything for her to feel
the approval radiating from Buffy. It made her straighten up just a bit more.
In the entrance of the
hotel, she saw her father watching their interactions. In his arms was Journey
and holding fast to his hand beside him was Elijah. The loving expression on
her father’s face aimed solely at her warmed her soul unlike anything else
could in the world. Taking the power it wrought she turned her gaze back at the
other Slayers.
They’re scared, too, Elijah whispered in her mind. They
don’t want the death he promises them…they want what you wanted only a few days
ago.
With those words, Raven
understood a lot of what was happening to the other Slayers. They were where
she was before Connor took her away. And she knew from Buffy and Faith’s past
accounts that they once experienced it as well. Life was a precious commodity,
but it needed to be defended against those who took it for granted.
“I understand where you’re
coming from, Rona…Kennedy…everyone but they’ve already been through what we’re
just starting to go through. No, we don’t want to die, and no, we didn’t ask for
this life, but it’s ours. With their help, maybe we’ll survive a little longer
than other Slayers have through the years.”
“We’re just their little
pawns to play with,” Kennedy argued. “Buffy just runs around, lording her
superior authority over us without giving us any choices.”
“You have a choice,” Spike declared,
moving among them to stand beside his wife and daughter. “You can stay or go. I
don’t really care, but I won’t have my wife treated like this, or any of us.
Rave is right; we’ve already paid the price for this life more than once.”
Raven, be careful…the First is controlling one of
them, Elijah told her. It’s too noisy in here. I can’t figure out
which one.
“Go to hell, vampire,” Rona
sneered. “You deserved everything you got.”
~~~~~~~
Connor moved along the
fringes of the Slayers. He still preferred isolation to being in the midst of
all these people. They made him uneasy, and he could taste the fear that hung
heavy on the air. It was here. The First, controlling with lies. It was so much
easier when the only opponents he had to deal with were creatures that he could
both see and touch. Kill them, and it was over with.
Not like this. How could you
fight something that wasn’t really there except in the games it played within
your mind or in the guise of deceased people that you once knew? At one time he
waited to see if Holtz would appear to him, but soon realized that even if he had
that he wouldn’t have listened because he knew the truth now. The past no
longer influenced him. It was over with, and only the living concerned him.
“Everything okay?” Angel asked
when he stopped next to his father.
“As well as can be expected
with an ancient evil stalking us,” Connor responded, with a shrug. “I don’t
understand why they want to be on their own. It’s much more dangerous that
way.”
“Yes, it is. Women in my day
did as they were told,” Angel mused, then laughed. “No, they didn’t.” He
sighed. “I don’t understand them either.”
“Maybe it’s not our job to
understand. Maybe we are only here to help them,” Connor replied, remembering
the things he’d been told. “Or at least I am.”
It was his place. To be
there with Raven, to help her in her destiny, and thus fulfill his own. By
taking her as his mate, his fate was sealed, and he was content with that.
~~~~~~~
Raven pushed past Rona,
diving into the middle of the Slayers. She didn’t even question Elijah. It was
here, just like her mother had felt, like she’d felt when she’d gotten close to
the building. Turning in a circle she tried to figure out who it was…and what
he wanted from them.
“Shut up, Rona…everyone,”
Raven demanded, turning back to the girl. It wasn’t her, because it would be
too obvious. Rona was the distraction so the First could fulfill his plan. The
chaos of a fight just brought the evil more pleasure. It was the time of
betrayals that would divide their ranks and one of the adults would be the
sacrifice. It was the only logic that made sense. “You don’t understand. You’re
so caught up in making a point that you’re missing what is really happening.”
“And what is that?”
“The First is dividing us,”
Raven declared, once again trying to make a connection with her comrades,
hoping to discover just who was friend or foe. “He’s making his case. If we are
so arrogant that we will no longer listen to our teachers then we are doomed
when the final battle begins. We will have nothing honorable left, but that
arrogance which will fail us in our quest. It’s time to pick your side, and
show where your loyalties lie. If you don’t want to stand with us, and learn
what they can teach us, then leave now.”
Not one of them moved.
Instead they turned to each other, the murmuring returning as they tried to determine
what they wanted. There was motion as they spoke to each other, girls closing
ranks then dividing as they decided where they stood. Raven watched as Spike handed
Journey to Buffy. The tender look between her parents gave her hope for their
future. She smiled wistfully as Buffy took over rocking the little girl who was
still half asleep.
Things were beginning to
escalate fast, and from what Eli was able to relay to her, not only would the
Slayers be divided but the adults as well. The first battle was a trial would
be to hold onto everyone on their side. Losing anyone to the First’s lies would
create a permanent rift, a weakness they could never recover from.
There’s fear…really bad, Elijah told her. She’s going to lose it. Soon.
Who is it, Eli?
I don’t know. It’s too much…I can’t figure it out.
Damn it, I need a clue…something.
Her pain is so big. It hurts me, too.
Raven turned to her brother
who was still standing on the steps by the front door. He was crying. It nearly
destroyed her to not be able to tell him to put up his walls so that he was
protected from the agony of feeling everyone’s hurt. She needed him
though. They all needed him. She could
only pray that he would survive this mental assault intact and be able to
handle the price of his gift.
Forcing herself to look
away, she once again tried to find the one. No one stood out. If only she could
freeze them where they were, she could take the time to study their
expressions. But they were still talking amongst themselves; she turned to look
at the adults on the opposite side of the room. Buffy was staring at Elijah,
and Raven knew that their mother was trying to comfort him and help him through
his ordeal. Giles, Wesley and Faith stood together, waiting for someone to make
their next move, and lastly Spike had moved to stand beside Angel. The two
vampires were talking to each other; their whispers were indiscernible to
anyone else.
Shaking her head in
frustration, Raven turned back to her brother, in hopes that that he was able
to figure who the pawn was that the First was manipulating.
~~~~~~~
It was an honor to be able
to serve the Powers that Be. Her grandmother had taught her that in the last
few days. The comforting voice from her childhood kept the nightmares away, and
taught her the true meaning of what her dreams revealed of others like
her. Dana now knew what her mission in
life was, to take out the ones the others trusted and reveal the truth that
they didn’t understand.
Vampires couldn’t change. In
the end they would return to their evil ways, just like the monster who took
her family away from her. She would make these vampires pay for it. Exultation
raced through her at the glory that would be hers. Peace would be her reward
for ridding the world of them.
She slipped through the
other girls toward her prey. No one paid her any mind as they talked about such
silly things like whether they would leave or not. This was their life as
preordained from the beginning. To have the power to make things right, to
protect others from the evil of the world, and Dana wanted to revel in it. Her
grandmother would be there to guide her, and protect her against future evil.
A smile danced across her
lips as she saw the vampires stand side by side. It would make things so much
easier that way. All she would have were mere seconds to take them both out
without a fight. If she had to fight she would, because she only had one goal.
Destroy the evil.
Dana slipped behind them,
staying on the fringe of several other Slayers, until she was ready. Patience
was something she’d learned in the series of foster homes she’d lived in. Maybe
one day…maybe in a few minutes…but now she knew it wasn’t far away.
~~~~~~~~
Why wasn’t Daddy with her
and Mummy? Why didn’t Angel come and hold her? Journey sniffled, burying her
face in her mother’s shoulder. Mummy swayed a little more in an effort to soothe
her, but she didn’t want to be comforted. There was lots of bad stuff
happening, but she wasn’t sure what it was. Her brother was all upset, and
Daddy was tense, while Mummy was sad.
The fight earlier had scared
her, because Mummy left. It used to be when her parents fought that they would
yell for awhile then they’d go away so they could kiss and stuff. Not this
time, and she knew they were all worried that Daddy would go away for good and never
come back. Why couldn’t they just go home and forget all this stuff?
“It’s going to be all
right,” Mummy soothed, kissing her forehead gently. “Don’t worry about
anything.”
It was then that she saw the
strange girl slipping through the Slayers to stand behind Daddy and her Angel.
Connor was there, too. It wasn’t good. Her little body tensed as she watched
what would happen. Clutching her mother’s shoulders, she whispered, “Mummy,
that girl…”
She didn’t get a chance to
finish the thought. The Slayer raised her hand that was clutching a stake, and
just as she plunged it toward her father’s back, Journey screamed for her
Daddy.
to be continued…
