Memory Part 2

[sparkysparky]

Part 2/?
See part PROLOGUE for summary and disclaimers

Byersville, PA
Saturday

"So, what are you and your other thirds up to today?"
Barbara Devenport asked her son.
Shopping. There's a mall wide sale the girls want to hit. I'm going
along as their fashion consultant."

"Do you need the dolly? What with all the bags you'll be carrying?"
Quinn's father, Jim, teased.

"No, I think I can handle it."

"Would the girls mind if Will tagged along with you. He needs some
new shoes, and I could use an afternoon with your father." Barbara
sent her husband a seductive look.

"Mum! Ewww! And yes, Will can come with me. The girls will have a
blast taking him shopping."

Barbara smiled and turned to her husband, who was already holding
out his credit card. She snatched it out of his hand and gave it to
Quinn. Jim groaned and shared a man-to-man look with Quinn. "Don't
wipe me out, ok?"

"Thanks Dad. I'll go get Will." Quinn returned a few moments later
with his four year old brother, who bestowed hugs and kisses on his
parents and then dragged Quinn to the door.

Barbara waited until she was sure the children were gone before
grabbing the paper out of her husband's hands and asking, with a
sexy smirk, "So, the children are gone all afternoon. Whatever shall
we do?"

Husband and wife shared a smoldering look and shouted
simultaneously, "TRAMPOLINE!"

~*~*~*~

Quinn buckled Will into the backseat of his '94 Honda Accord before
getting in the driver's side and carefully backing out of the
driveway.

He checked the rearview mirror and smiled when he saw Will bouncing
in his child-safety seat. "What's got you so excited little bro?"

"I want ice-cream!"

"Sure. We just have to get to the mall first."

"I'm going to get Batman shoes! No, Superman shoes! No—"

"Let's see what's at the store before making any decisions, eh bud?
They might have Spongebob shoes you want."

"No. Spongebob is a poopoo head. I want Batman!" Will crossed his
little arms over his chest and pouted.

"Sure, whatever you say, Will."

The trip to the mall was short, but by the time Quinn dragged Will
away from the pigeons in the parking lot, they were 5 minutes late.
"You're late mister!" Jaimie scolded.

"Hi Me! Hi Mar!" Will exclaimed, calling the two girls by the
nicknames he had given them when he was just learning to talk. He
was bouncing on the tips of his shoes and said proudly, "I'm getting
new shoes!"

"That's wonderful! Where's my hug?" Jaimie held out her arms just in
time to catch the sandy-haired boy who jumped into them.

Ann-Marie turned to Quinn and asked, "So, you still being followed?"

Quinn smiled slightly and replied, "Thought you didn't believe me?"

"I don't. I was just wondering how long your paranoia would last."
Ann-Marie said.

"Mar! Hold me!" Will demanded from Jaimie's arms. Ann-Marie gave
Quinn a look that said this conversation wasn't over, and held out
her arms for the little boy.

"Ok, ok, let's get started!" Jaimie insisted.

Four hours and a mountain of bags later, Quinn was on his way home
with a tuckered out Will in the backseat, sound asleep.

Quinn pulled into his driveway and noticed that the front door was
open. "What the…" Quinn trailed off. Thousands of scenarios ran
through his head, none of them good. His parents would never leave
the front door open on purpose. He got out of the car and considered
what to do with Will. He couldn't bring him inside, and leaving him
outdoors could be dangerous. He finally decided that the wisest
course of action was to lock the car and leave Will in the backseat.
Quinn locked the car and headed to the house. "Mom, Dad?" he called
as he walked in the door. There was no answer.

He searched the downstairs quickly, but there was no one around.
Quinn headed up the stairs, listening for any sort of noise. He
paused at his parent's bedroom door, which was open a crack. He
pushed it open and stepped inside. He didn't immediately see his
parents, who were lying on the bed. He went over to them and prodded
his father gently. "Mom? Dad? Are you all-right?"

"Little kitten, that won't help. The stars have dimmed their
brightness." The soft, cultured, Brittish voice came form the
shadows. It sent chills down Quinn’s spine.

Quinn turned around, his eyes searching in the darkened room for the
person who had spoken. "What did you do to my parents?" Quinn
demanded, battling down his fear with thoughts of Will in the car.

A slender, dark-haired woman stepped from the shadows, wiping her
mouth with a handkerchief. "They were delicious, kitten. They'll be
such pretty dollies. Miss Edith wanted new playmates."

"I'm calling the police now," Quinn said, a small quiver in this
voice. Whoever this woman was, she was clearly crazy.

The woman moved with supernatural speed and had Quinn pinned to the
wall before he could move. "Where's my boy?" the woman's voice had
lost all traces of softness. "I know you have him. I want him back.
The stars have told me it's time."

Before Quinn could answer, the woman was flying across the room.
Quinn looked up and saw a black man holding out a hand to him. He
took it and when he was on his feet, he turned his attention to the
woman. She was pinned to the ground by a large, dark-haired man.

"Dru," Quinn heard the man say, "You're looking particularly insane
this evening."

"Come on, kid. We've got to go," the black man said impatiently. But
Quinn found that he was rooted to the spot.

The woman, Dru, laughed delightedly and exclaimed, "Oh, my dark
kitten has grown claws!" She clapped her hands excitedly

The dark haired man smirked and threw the woman to the ground. He
pulled a wooden stake from his pocket and prepared to plunge it into
Dru's chest. Dru just laughed, even as she rolled away and jumped
out the window. The man swore creatively.

"Come on, Xan. We've got to go. She could be coming back with
reinforcements."

"Right. Come on, kid. We've got to get you out of here!"

"But, my parents—"

"It's too late for them. I'm sorry kid, but Dru doesn't leave
witnesses."

"Are they dead?"

"If they're lucky," the black man said, dragging Quinn from the
room.

Quinn's eyes filled with tears and he let himself be led from the
house. He didn't notice when Alex joined them a few minutes later.

Quinn watched, eyes wide, as the dark haired man lit a match and threw it into the house. Flames shot up almost at once.

"You bastard!" Quinn exclaimed, rushing at the man in attack mode.

The black man grabbed hold of Quinn's arms and said, "Let him explain."

Xan gave Quinn an apologetic look and said, "Can't leave any evidence. Believe me kid, this will be easier in the long run. No questions, no answers." He turned his gaze to the black man and said, "I can't believe I didn't dust her when I had the chance!" the man muttered.

"We'll get the crazy bitch next time."

"There wouldn't be a next time if I had dusted the bitch this time,"
he said self-derisively. "Let's go before the police get here."

Quinn listened to the conversation in shock. These two men were
talking as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. And like they just hadn't burned down his house.

"You two all right?" a dusky voice asked from beside Quinn's car.

"Yeah, but Dru got away."

"Dru? She was here?" the woman asked.

"What did she want?" The speaker was a slender blonde man who was
holding Will in his arms.

"Who knows with Dru. Her dollies probably told her to come here."
The black man gave the woman a kiss and took the little girl from
her arms. "Hey baby, give Daddy a kiss."

"Hey, where'd the kid come from?" Alex asked suddenly.

"I'm Will. I came from the angels. Mommy told me so. Where's Mommy?"
Will asked. He looked at Quinn in question.

Quinn took his brother from the blonde man's arms and buried his
face in his brother's sandy curls.

"Kid, did Dru say anything to you at all?"

Quinn nodded. "She wanted her boy back. Said her dollies had told
her he was here."

The group exchanged shocked glances. "Do you think…Faith, is such a
thing even possible?" the black man asked.

Faith shook her head. "I don't know. Would explain why Dru was so
interested in this family. Andrew, have you come across anything
like this?"

"I'm as lost as you are. I've never heard of this before."

"I think we need to get to LA, and not on Monday," the black man
said.

"Robin's got a point. Maybe Wesley can shed some light on this for
us." Xan turned to Quinn. "Get in the car, kid. You're coming with
us."

"Says who?" Quinn asked. He didn't want anything to do with these
weird people. And he had parents, well ashes to bury, a fire to put out and a little boy to comfort.

"You don't have a choice. If you want your brother to live, you'll
come with us," Alex said. He motioned to Andrew, who gently took
Will from Quinn. "Dru is not going to rest until she gets your
brother. We can help you."

"Look, I don't know what's going on. My parents are dead, you say
this crazy bitch wants my brother and expect me to come with you, no
questions asked? Why should I?" Quinn felt as if his whole world had
come to a crashing halt.

"Look kid, we can't stay here any longer. Dru could be on her way
back, and I am not in the mood for a fight tonight. So, get in the
car, and we will tell you everything on the way to LA." Faith opened
the back door to the black SUV and buckled her daughter into the
child safety seat.

Quinn had no choice but to follow as Andrew did the same with
Will. "Look," he said, "call me Quinn. My name is not kid."

"Whatever you say kid. Get in the car."

~*~*~*~

"Hey, isn't that Quinn getting into that car?" Jaimie asked as she
drove towards Quinn's house. She and Ann-Marie were on their way to
kidnap him for a night of dancing at The Edge.

"Yeah. He doesn't look too happy. Do you think that he was right?
That he was being followed and now his stalkers are going to kill
him?" Ann-Marie asked breathlessly.

"Don't jump to conclusions. It's probably some relative that we
don't know anything about. There's nothing to worry about."

They looked at the burning house the speeding car and exchanged a glance and nodded together. "Right, then. We follow."

Jaimie waited until the SUV was almost around the corner and then followed after it. There was no way she was going to let some psychos kill her friend.

~*~*~*~

In a car, West of PA
Saturday

"So are you going to explain, or am I going to call the
police and have you arrested for kidnapping and arson?"

They had been driving for hours. Quinn hadn't asked anything
yet because he didn't want Will to overhear any of the conversation.
But, Will was sleeping now, as was the other little girl, who's name
Quinn had discovered to be Elizabeth.

Alex was driving, with Robin in the passenger seat, Faith
and the children in the way back and Andrew and Quinn in the middle.

Alex looked in the rearview mirror and met Quinn's eyes.
Their gazes met for a moment and Quinn had the feeling that Alex was
sizing him up. Finally Alex looked away and said, "Drew would you do
the honors?"

Drew eagerly turned to face Quinn, while at the same time
Faith and Robin groaned. They were both all to aware for Andrew's
penchant for dramatic story-telling.

Andrew was quiet for a moment, composing his thoughts, and
then began. "This story is not for the faint of heart,"—he was using
his best Masterpiece Theater voice—"it starts thousands of years ago
when monsters of terrible evil were terrorizing the civilized world.
A group of men, frightened for their families and their families'
families, called forth a human girl and imbued her with the strength
of a thousand warriors, and the cunning of a thousand more, and then
pitted her against the evil beings. This girl was the first of the
Slayers, the chosen one, the one girl who would stand alone against
evil and fight for the innocent, the protector of humankind, the—"

"Andrew!" Three annoyed voices shouted at the same time.

"What?" He pouted.

"Just get on with the telling already!"

"Sorry. I got carried away. Now where was I?"

"The chosen one," Quinn said disbelievingly.

"Right. Anyway, the men who called forth the first slayer
made sure that the line would continue until the end of the world.
They became the first watchers, and when one Slayer died, another
was called forth, and on and on it went for a millennia. About 10
years ago or so, a new Slayer was called. Her name was Buffy
Summers."

"And what exactly do these slayers, um, slay?" Quinn asked,
still not sure what to think.

"Oh, vampires, zombies, Hell Gods. You name it, Buffy has
probably slayed it," Xander quipped from the front seat.

"Xander! I'm telling the story!" Andrew scolded.

"Sorry, love. Please, continue."

"Wait? Vampires? There's no such thing!" Quinn insisted, and
was shocked and a little hurt when the adults broke into
laughter. "There's not! Vampires and other demons are not real!"

"Sorry, kid. But you just met one face to face," Robin said.

"What? Who?"

"Drucilla."

-end part 2 –