Full Slate
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Full Slate 2 – Wedding Night (NC-17 for this part) |
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Full Slate 5 - Homecoming |
“You’re a what?” Rupert Giles exclaimed.
“Dad, I’m a vampire,” his son Randy replied. “I didn’t want to tell you, but Joan insists that it’s the right thing to do. That’s why I had to drop out of school, and why I couldn’t go into business with you in the shop. That’s why I moved out of the house.”
“Joan knew,” his father said, his anger increasing, “She knew, and she didn’t tell me. I suppose that Dawn knows too?”
“No, Dad, no. We didn’t want to frighten her. You know that she has a terrible fear of the undead, especially since...” his voice faded.
“Especially since our parents were murdered by vampires,” said Joan, entering the living room. The Giles’ had moved into the Summers’ home when Henry and Joy had been killed ten years earlier. Henry had left the guardianship of his girls to his old friend and Oxford roommate Rupert.
“And you vowed to hunt down all of their kind and destroy them,” Mr. Giles added. “And now my own son is one of them.”
“No,” said Joan, placing her hand on her childhood friend’s arm. “Not one of them. Randy’s different. He never lost his soul.”
Willow Rosenberg reached into the popcorn tub as the killer stalked his victim on the movie screen. Simultaneously, Joan’s cousin Tara reached in as well. As their hands touched, both girls felt the heat rush to their cheeks, and their fingers entwined amid the greasy topping. Willow’s boyfriend Alex Harris seemed oblivious to their emotions, concentrating only on the cinema screen. He reached for the popcorn as well, and the young women broke their digital embrace with regret. They knew that they had to tell the young athlete, but they both liked him too much to hurt him. Willow and Alex had been together since their second year of high school, and all their friends had assumed that they would marry and build lives together.
Willow had known of her sexual preference for years, although she fought the knowledge. After an argument with Alex, she had engaged in a brief flirtation with Osbert, captain of the computer club. Her experiment with him had failed, and the thought of spending her life in a lie, even with someone she cared about as much as she did Alex, left her cold inside. When Joan’s cousin had come to Sunnydale to attend college, her heart melted and she felt at peace for the first time, peace that was only disturbed by her concern for her boyfriend.
Alex put his arm around Willow’s shoulder, and she stiffened involuntarily, but he didn’t notice.
Tara saw the gesture and her face fell. She was supposed to transfer to UCLA in a week, and she panicked at the thought. How could she leave Willow, when she’d been looking for her all her life?
Dawn Summers curled up on her bed and sighed. She knew that he would never notice her, not the way she hoped. He thought she was just a kid. Life was unfair. She relaxed her hold on the navy jacket he had lent her that cool afternoon, while she watched him playing baseball. Tracing the patch with her finger, she breathed his name, “Harris”. “Oh, Alex,” she said to herself, “You don’t know that I exist.”
Rupert sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands. “What’s wrong, darling?” a soft voice asked. He felt strong fingers massage his shoulders, and some of his tension released, but not enough. She pressed harder, trying to knead out the knots that had formed at the base of his neck. “You are so tense, Rupey,” the voice continued.
“I have a lot on my mind,” replied her fiancé. “I don’t even know how to begin to tell you.” He turned to see Anya kneeling on the bed, wearing a little wisp of lingerie. As he embraced her, she smiled and drew him down onto her.
“We’ll talk later,” she said.
“He hates me now,” sighed Randy, sitting on a park bench. “He was disappointed before, but now he hates me.”
Joan placed her hand on his. “He could never hate you,” she said. “I’ve known you both since I was a kid, and I’ve seen you at each others’ throats, but he could never hate you. You’re his boy. He loves you.”
He squeezed her hand affectionately. “Thanks for trying,” he replied. “It was never the same after mom died. You never knew her, but she was so beautiful. He loved her so much. I think that’s the problem. He sees her in me, and it hurts him. Now he won’t even see that. I’m just a monster to him.”
“You’re no monster,” Joan said. “And he knows it. What happened to you was horrible, but it wasn’t your fault. You couldn’t have known that your psych prof was a vamp. She was evil, and crazy, and I’m glad I staked her.”
“I’m glad too,” he replied, “but that doesn’t help me now. I’m just so lucky that Ms. Drew was cursed. If she’d been a normal vampire I would have lost my soul, and I’d be one of those evil creatures that we fight. You’d have to kill me, then.”
Joan rested her head on his shoulder. “I don’t think I could ever do that.” She laced her fingers though his. He pulled away. “Randy, you aren’t really my brother,” she purred. “Not even my cousin. You know how I feel.”
Randy stood up and turned away. “It would be wrong, Joan. Before I turned, I believed I’d be taking advantage of our relationship. Now it would just be wrong. And how would Dawn feel?”
Joan stood beside him and turned his face towards hers with her hands. She pulled him down into a gentle kiss. “I know she’ll be upset,” Joan said, “but I can’t live my life for my sister. I don’t care if you are a vampire, you’re more a man, a good man, and I love you. Always have.”
He faced her now, and allowed his vampire visage to surface. “How can you love this?” he asked bitterly.
“Like this,” she replied, and kissed him again.
After the movie, Alex asked Willow if she would like to head to the Bronze for a while. “If Tara wants to,” she replied. “I mean, it wouldn’t be right to ditch her. How would she get home?” She looked at Tara longingly. “You want to come, don’t you?” she asked.
“Sure,” Tara answered, and followed them into the club. After finding a table, Alex excused himself and headed for the men’s room. Willow reached for Tara’s hand under the table and began stroking her fingers. Tara looked into the redhead’s eyes and was lost. Oblivious to their surroundings, she and Willow moved together, sharing their first kiss. As they embraced, the kiss became more passionate.
“Woah,” said a shocked voice. “What is going on?” The two young women broke apart as they realized Willow’s boyfriend had returned. “I don’t know whether to be upset,” said Alex, “or excited.” He thought a moment. “No, I’d say I’m upset.” He turned to leave. “I hope you two bitches are very happy.”
Tears came to Willow’s eyes, as she instantly regretted the pain she had caused her old friend. Tara put her arm around the other’s shoulder and held her close. “It’s better,” she whispered, “It’s better for him if he knows. There was no good way to tell him.”
“Then why do I feel like crap?” replied Willow.
A rustling in the bushes behind the bench brought Randy to instant alert. Three vicious vampires leapt out at the couple, and Joan pulled a stake from her pocket, lunging at the closest to her friend. “Stay away from Randy!” she cried, as the vampire exploded in a cloud of dust. The other two killers attacked Joan from both sides. As she kicked the right one in the abdomen to send him flying, Randy pulled the other away from her and swung him out towards the playground. He threw the dark vampire easily and it impaled on a tree branch and dusted. Randy and Joan reached the remaining vampire at the same moment and staked it together.
“Once again we have faced combat with the forces of darkness and triumphed,” announced Randy. “Once again good has prevailed. Once again...”
“You talk to much,” interrupted Joan. “I could stake you,” she said seductively, “or I could find other ways to shut you up.” Undoing his bow tie, and the top button of his shirt, she reached he hand under the fabric and stroked his chest.
Randy was embarrassed. “Stop it, Joan,” he said. “Quit playing around. I know what kind of girl you are.”
“Really?” asked Joan. “I wish you did.”
The next morning, Rupert and Anya walked hand in hand down the sidewalk leading to their magic shop. “You were wonderful last night,” she said.
“Was I?” replied her fiancé, stopping to clean his glasses.
She took them from his hand, reached up and placed them back on his nose. “I never want to fight again.”
He bent down and kissed her. “Nor do I, darling, though I don’t know how realistic that is. Patterns of behavior are difficult to change. I do know that I never want to leave you again.”
“I can’t believe you actually ran away to England,” she said petulantly.
“I wasn’t half way across the Atlantic before I realized what a fool I’d been.” He took her hands in his. “I loved the look on your face when you walked into the magic shop and saw me standing there.”
“I thought I was dreaming,” she replied. “I didn’t know whether to kill you or kiss you.”
“Well,” he said, as they neared the shop entrance, “I’m certainly glad you chose the latter.”
He put his key in the front door lock and turned it. The little gold bell over the door tinkled as they stepped inside. “Bloody hell!” he exclaimed at the violent disarray within. Statues and orbs lay smashed on the floor, volumes were ripped apart and herbs scattered everywhere.
“Oh, Rupert,” she cried, picking up a particularly expensive votive candle with a long crack through its base, “Who could have done this?”
“I don’t know, darling,” he said, holding her close, “But I plan on finding out.”
Two vampires walked warily through the tunnel into the old sewage treatment plant. The first carried the object of their quest tightly under his arm. While they knew their master would be happy that the book had been obtained, they weren’t sure how his gratitude would be expressed. Their jobs lacked security.
“Ah, so you have found it,” said The Master Vampire, a grin of pleasure creeping across his ugly face. He was the oldest of their kind, and the years had not treated him well. Bald, snaggle-toothed and wrinkled, his nosferatu quality was matched only by his sadistic wit. “Now I will be able to break the spell that holds me, and finally be free of this ridiculous prison.” He smiled at his minions. “Come here, boys.”
The two vampires knelt before him, the first holding the book out in supplication. Their master reached out smoothly and took the volume, turning to the center pages. “This will do. Thank you, gentlemen.” He raked his long fingernails across the forehead of the second vampire, leaving ragged welts, which would never heal. “I was expecting you back hours ago. You know how I hate to be kept waiting.” He scanned the pages, looking for a particular passage. “By tomorrow midnight, I can escape this hell hole, and make the whole town into a bigger, better hell hole. Afterlife is good.”
“Have you found if anything is missing, dear?” called Rupert across the room, as Anya compared the items in the shop to the inventory list.
She laughed nervously. “Nothing much. Just a book.”
“Oh really,” said her lover, walking to her and reading over her shoulder. “Which book?” He read the listing where her finger pointed. “What the hell were we doing with the volume of Rassion?” he exploded. “Don’t you know how dangerous that is? The book itself can cast incantations. It’s the most deadly volume on vampires ever written. Where did it come from?”
Anya wrinkled her nose nervously. “It was a special order. A customer paid us a lot for it. I tracked it down through our supplier in Istanbul, while you were in England.”
“Which customer?” he asked angrily.
“Oh Rupey,” she replied, “don’t be cross. I didn’t know. It was a Mr. Lindsay, from Wolfram and Hart, you know, the law firm? They just opened an office here in Sunnydale.”
Rupert took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He took the younger woman by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. The fear and guilt he saw mingled melted his heart. “Darling, I know you didn’t understand how dangerous it is. But why would a lawyer need such a volume?”
“Hobby?” she replied.
As if on cue the little bell tinkled, and the handsome young lawyer stepped into the shop. “Miss Anya, you called me? I’ve come for the book.”
Rupert put his finger to Anya’s lips. “I’ll handle this, dear,” he said. “I’m sorry sir, but we’ve had a break in. The book seems to have been stolen.”
“Well,” said Lindsay, “we paid a great deal of money for it. It’s essential to a...case we’re working on. Get it back.”
“Really sir,” continued the shop owner, “I don’t see how we can. We will of course refund your deposit...”
“Get it back,” the lawyer repeated. “Get it back or pay the consequences.”
Dawn had a free afternoon period, and instead of studying, left the high school grounds to watch Alex at football practice. He heaved the ball at his teammates, without any of the usual control he normally exhibited. Dawn could see that he was upset about something, and she longed to make him feel better.
He noticed her on the sidelines and joined her. “Hey, Dawn,” he said, “Shouldn’t you be at school?”
“Spare,” she replied. “I should be heading back in a minute. What’s wrong, Alex? I’ve never seen you throw that bad.”
He tossed the ball from hand to hand. “Nothing. I’m fine.” He put his hand on her head and rumpled her hair. “A-ok, kid.”
She hoped he wouldn’t notice the blush rising to her cheeks. She lay awake at night wishing he would touch her, and even though he treated her like a younger buddy, the feel of his hand on her head sent warmth through her.
“So,” he said, “when’s your cousin Tara heading out?”
“Why?” she asked.
“Oh,” he said nonchalantly, “No reason. Nice talking to you Dawn, but I have to get back to practice.”
“See ya,” replied the young girl, as she turned towards the road to hurry back to class. She decided to take a shortcut through the woods, since they should be safe enough in daylight. As she weaved through the trees, a strong arm reached around her waist and pulled her towards him. The man held some kind of acrid-smelling cloth over her face, and she passed out.
Tara and Willow sat together holding hands under a tree in the local park. “Don’t leave me,” Willow pleaded. “We just found each other. I can’t stand to have you go.”
Tara’s eyes filled with tears. “I don’t want to go. I don’t know what to do. All the arrangements have been made. I could quit school…”
Willow was shocked. “You have to finish school. I don’t want to screw up your life. There must be a way.” She pulled a hanky from her pocket and wiped Tara’s tears away. “Don’t cry. I’ll start.”
“Oh Will,” Tara said, embracing her new love, “what are we going to do?”
“So that’s the situation,” said Rupert to Joan and Randy, as they sat in the family living room. “It seems that this book is of great importance to the lawyer, but we don’t know who took it. Due to the dark magical nature of the text, I do not want to bring in the police. I daresay Wolfram and Hart want it even less. So the question is, where do we go from here?”
“Joan and I aren’t detectives, Dad,” replied Randy. “We fight vampires.”
“I don’t know,” said Joan, “lawyers, bloodsuckers…”
The phone rang and Anya moved to answer it. Her eyes opened wide with horror as she listed to the message on the other end. “Oh my god, Rupey, they say they have Dawn!”
Rupert rushed to the phone and listened. “If you do not bring the book to the parking garage by midnight tomorrow your daughter will die. Do not inform the authorities.” The electronic voice clicked off, as Rupert dropped the receiver to the floor.
“If we don’t give them the book, they say they will kill Dawn,” her guardian said numbly.
“No!” cried Joan. “They can’t mean that. They can’t...” her voice broke into a sob. “What will we do?” she whimpered.
Randy put his arm around her shoulder. “Don’t worry, love,” he said, “We’ll get her back.” He wished he were as confident as he seemed.
Dawn came to in a dark room. She was lying on a bed. She thought she might have been tied up, but to her surprise she was unrestrained. “Where the heck am I?” she thought. Getting down off the bed, she felt her way around the room to try and find out any details she could. Her hand touched a toggle switch on the wall, and as she flicked it up, light filled the room. Instead of the cell she expected, she realized that she was in a tastefully furnished bedroom. No, not a bedroom, a hotel suite. She tried the door, but it was locked from the outside. Looking out the window, she saw the lights of the city. “That isn’t Sunnydale,” she said. “I think I’m in Los Angeles.”
“I could do a spell,” suggested Anya. “I could find the book, or Dawn, or both.”
“Yeah, step mommy, that’s a great plan,” said Randy sarcastically. “Probably turn Dawn into a bunny rabbit. I’ve heard about your spells.”
“Don’t talk to Anya like that,” snapped his father. “She’s trying to help.”
“You told him about the bunnies?” asked Anya in disbelief.
“I came up in conversation. In any case, it is a possible plan. Though you must admit, darling, that when you try to work spells they rarely turn out the way you intended. I’d take a crack, but I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Tara,” said Joan. “Cousin Tara has been experimenting with magic. She could help, Uncle Rupert.”
“Right then,” he replied. “Call Tara.”
An hour later, Tara appeared at the Giles’ door hand in hand with Willow. “Will,” said Joan, “what are you doing here? And what...”
“You should know, Joan. You all should. Tara and I are out.” She waited for their reaction.
“Out where?” asked Anya.
Rupert patted her hand patiently. “I believe they mean that they are lesbians, dear.”
“Oh,” she replied. “Okey dokey. Now let’s get to that spell.”
“I can find Dawn, I think, if you have something of hers, like a lock of hair, but the book won’t be so easy.” Tara pulled a bag of powder from her purse. “Everyone, get in a circle.”
Joan ran upstairs to her sister’s room and found her hairbrush. She pulled the clump of hairs from the bristles and hurried back to the circle. “This should do,” she said.
Willow sat in an armchair and watched the group. “If you don’t need me, I’ll stay over here. Magic gives me the ooglies.”
“That’s okay, baby,” Tara replied. “We only really need three to complete the circle. Anyone else is a bonus.”
Randy looked at her with trepidation. “Would it make any difference if anyone were, say, a vampire?”
“Sure would,” Tara replied. “That would give us a magic boost. Why do you ask?”
“Because,” said Randy quietly, bowing his head. “I’m a vampire.” Joan squeezed his hand.
His father looked at him with pride. “That was very brave, son.” Randy beamed. “He’s a good vampire, all of you, so don’t be nervous,” Rupert continued. “We can all trust him.”
“Oh,” said Anya, “So that’s what you were trying to tell me last night. I’m not afraid. He’s a good kid, I knew that. A little mouthy, but one of the good guys.”
Randy started to snap at her, but he bit back his words. “Thanks, Anya,” he said.
Tara put the powder and hair in a bowl in the center of the circle, and instructed the group to join hands. As she chanted her incantation, the powder billowed up to form a cloud, and the image of a vast city dotted with lights appeared through the cloud. It zoomed in closer and closer until it focused on an old hotel, then closer still to a room, then finally to Dawn’s frightened face. “Los Angeles,” Tara cried, “She’s in a hotel in Los Angeles.”
“Oh no,” said Joan. “We don’t know anyone in LA.”
“There is no time to waste,” Rupert stated. “We’ll take my car and head straight out. Tara, could you find the hotel?”
“I think so,” she replied. “I saw a street sign, but not the exact address. I did see the room number. I’ll know the place when I see it again. We have to be careful. Her door is guarded.”
“My car won’t hold everyone. Willow and Anya, you stay here in case the kidnappers call back. Tara, Randy and Joan, come with me.” Rupert grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, stopping quickly to kiss Anya goodbye. “I love you,” he said to her. He bustled the others out the door. “Let’s go.”
Before they could climb into Rupert’s red sports car, a pair of vampires leapt at Dawn’s attempted rescuers. “Tara, Dad, get in the car. Joan and I will hold them off. Hurry.” Randy and Joan kicked and punched the vampires while the automobile sped off down the road.
“Traitor,” the taller vampire spat at Randy, “we came to offer you the chance to pledge allegiance to our Master, but you shame our kind.”
“He’s not your kind!” screamed Joan, as she drove a stake through his heart and watched him evaporate.
She was about to stake the other vampire when he said, “You will know the curse of Rassion when our Master is freed. No one will escape his wrath.” She held the stake high, but Randy held her arm back.
“Rassion, Joan. That’s the name of the book that was stolen. If we get the book back, we can trade it for Dawn.” He watched the young woman drop the stake. The second vampire broke free and ran towards his home base. “Follow him, Joan,” Randy cried. The two took off in pursuit.
“I was counting on Randy and Joan’s help,” said Rupert, as he pressed the accelerator. “I don’t know what the two of us alone can do to rescue Dawn.”
“Stop,” cried Tara, and Rupert hit the brake. The car skid to a stop as the occupants were thrown forward into their seatbelts. She rolled down the window and leaned out. “Alex,” she called, “Come here. Please.”
Alexander Harris was walking down the road dejectedly. He was startled to hear his name, and even more startled to see who was calling him. “What do you want, bitch?” he called.
“Alex, we need your help,” cried Rupert.
“Oh, Mr. Giles, I didn’t see you there.” He ran to the car. “What’s the problem?”
“No time to explain. Dawn’s been kidnapped. Come with us to Los Angeles, now. Please.” Rupert opened the door and Alex climbed in.
“I don’t know what I can do,” the young athlete said, “But I’ll try anything to help the kid.”
“Look,” pointed Joan. “He’s going into the old sewage treatment plant. Ew!”
“Then we’ll have to go in after him,” replied Randy. If we can get that book back, it will buy us some time to find Dawn.”
“They’re going to kill her either way, aren’t they?” asked her frightened sister, her lip quivering as the truth dawned.
“Not if we find her first,” he answered, holding her tightly. “I won’t let anything happen to her. Neither will you.”
Joan pulled away and checked her pockets for stakes. “I guess we’d better get in there, then.” She looked up at him and gained strength from his eyes. “Ready, Randy?”
“Ready, Jo…” He cut himself off. “Maybe you should stay out here. It’s going to be very dangerous in there. If anything happened to you...”
“Hey, don’t go all protective on me,” she pouted. “Who’s killed the most vampires here, anyway? We go in, we go in together.”
Her childhood friend smiled. “Ready, Joan,” he said.
As the car raced along the highway, the lights of LA shone out of the darkness. “We need a plan,” said Tara. “The door is guarded by two thugs, and they aren’t going to let us in. This is dangerous.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Alex, as he explained it to the others. Rupert nodded in agreement.
“Actually, that’s rather a good plan,” he said with surprise. “Well then, Harris, it’s up to you.”
Randy and Joan kept close to the walls as they navigated the inside of the old plant. Keeping to the shadows, they narrowly missed a few vampires on their way towards the Master’s lair. Joan turned a corner and stood face to face with a particularly mean looking bloodsucker. Before he could respond, she staked him into dust. Further down the corridor they could see the shapes of more vampires, a large group. They were outnumbered.
Randy took Joan by the arm and pulled her forward. “Hey,” he called, “I’ve come to join you. I brought you a human girl, very tasty.”
Joan looked at her love in shocked amazement.
Alex walked down the hotel corridor with a room service cart. He wore the staff uniform that Rupert had rented from one of the bellhops. His palms sweated on the cart handle, and he tried to breath slowly. “Big game,” he told himself, “Bottom of the ninth, bases loaded. Harris up to bat. Keep your cool. Everything depends on you.”
He approached one of the goons. “Room service. I was called to this room.”
“Yeah,” the big oaf said, “I guess it is time to feed her. I’ll take it in.”
“No,” said Alex, “I could lose my job if I don’t take it in myself.”
“Okay,” the goon replied, “I’ll go in with you.”
They entered the hotel room and closed the door. Alex turned and decked the big man with an unexpected right to the jaw. Before a shocked Dawn could call out, her friend covered her mouth with his hand. “Shh, Dawn,” he whispered. “Be quiet and I’ll get you out.” He took the plates from the cart and placed them on the desk. “Get in here, and hurry.” He lifted the edge of the tablecloth covering the cart and she climbed underneath. “Let’s roll.”
He knocked and the other guard opened the door to let him out. “Your friend says that there was enough food for both of them, so I guess you have to wait for dinner,” said Alex.
“No way,” mumbled the guard, and he entered the room. Alex swiftly closed the door and locked it. He pulled Dawn from the bottom of the cart and they both ran down the corridor towards the fire exit and stairway. They could hear the sound of the thug pounding on the door as they escaped.
Randy pulled Joan into the center of the Master’s chamber. “See what a lovely, er, wench I bring you.” The Master gestured for the pair to come closer.
“Don’t think I trust you for a moment,” he growled. “The only reason that I let you get this far was because I knew you couldn’t harm me.”
“Oh no?” cried Joan, as she lunged at him with a stake. She was thrown back by the invisible barrier that protected the ancient vampire.
“Before I kill you, I want to know who you are,” the Master said. “It’s just a little quirk of mine.”
“I’m Joan, the Vampire Hunter,” said the blonde woman.
“And I’m her boyfriend Randy.”
“Really?” said a delighted Joan.
“You fools,” said the Master. He tapped the cover of the volume lying on the armrest of his chair. “The prophecy of Rassion states that I can be destroyed by neither human nor vampire.”
“That’s too bad,” said Randy, staking the Master through the heart. “Because I’m both.” The dust cloud was particularly thick.
Two hours later, the group of family and friends sat together in the Giles’ living room. “Then Alex and Dawn jumped in the car and we drove back,” Rupert stated. “What about you two?”
“Once we had the book, we walked right through the crowd of minions,” replied Joan. “They didn’t even try to stop us. You were right. It’s a very powerful text.”
“Which is why I am loathe to give it to Wolfram and Hart,” sighed Rupert. “Whatever they plan for it must be evil indeed.”
Anya picked up the book and looked inside. “I don’t think you have to worry about that, honey. I’d give it to them.” She held up the book and flipped through the pages. “See,” she said, “It’s blank.”
Rupert grinned. “The Master’s death must have inactivated the text. We can give it to them in good faith. How wonderful.”
“Look, Anya,” said Randy. “I want to apologize. I’ve said some pretty nasty things to you, but it really wasn’t personal. It’s just, you’re so different from Mom...”
Rupert touched the frame of his late wife’s photograph. “Jenny was a beautiful person, but she wanted me to move on.” He cupped his son’s chin in his hand and looked into his eyes. “She’d be so proud of you.” The two men embraced affectionately.
Willow looked at Alex and sighed. “I’m sorry for what happened. I didn’t want to hurt you. I guess you’re a hero now.”
“Then in true heroic fashion,” he replied, “I guess I have to forgive you. Look, it isn’t your fault, either of you. Tara’s a good person. I want you both to be happy.” Willow threw her arms around him and hugged him hard. “Hey, the breathing,” he gasped.
“I just wish I knew what to do,” said Tara. “I can transfer back to U of Sunnydale, but I gave up my place in residence. I have nowhere to go.”
Joan took her hand. “You can move in here, Tara. I’m leaving.”
“What do you mean, leaving?” asked Rupert.
Randy put his arm around Joan’s shoulder. “I don’t know what you’ll think of this Dad, but we’re getting married.”
His father embraced them both. “Son, that has always been my fondest wish. I have always considered the Summers’ girls my own daughters. I’m delighted that it will be true.”
“There’s just one more thing,” said Randy, breaking away and facing Joan’s younger sibling. “Dawn,” he said, “I’ve always thought of you as my sister. I care about you more than you’ll ever know. But I have a secret that I can’t keep from you, and if you never want to see me again, I’ll understand.” He took a deep breath. “I’m a vampire.”
“I know,” she replied. “Tara told me. I want to see.”
Randy shifted his features into the frightening visage of the vampire. Dawn reached up and touched the lumps on his forehead. “You’re still my brother,” she said, “I’m not afraid.”
Joan, Randy and Dawn embraced. There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.
They had always dreamed of fairytale weddings; Anya with crowds of friends and admirers and fluffy pink taffeta bridesmaids; Joan with a chapel, a white lace dress, and Prince Charming. In the end, they chose a simple ceremony in a small hotel function room with family and friends, a joint ceremony uniting the girls with father and son. They couldn't be happier.
They did have their Prince Charmings, though. Randy and Rupert, elegantly dressed in black tuxedos, standing tall and proud at the front of the room, watching their girls as they joined them. Beauty that took their breath away (if Randy had had breath). Wonder in the girls' eyes at the splendour of their men. Joan finally appreciating Randy in a bow tie.
The Unitarian minister leading them through the vows that would join them "til death do us part", then encouraging them to "kiss their brides." Rupert taking Anya in a deep dip of a kiss, Randy gently pressing his lips against Joan's. Laughter and rice. Hugs and kisses from the onlookers.
Alex Harris' heart doing a double beat at seeing how grown up Dawn looked. Reminding himself that she was only fifteen. Dawn noticing him looking at her, and having her heart skip too.
Willow and Tara, holding hands, wishing for a world that would celebrate their union. Feeling complete within themselves nonetheless.
Family and friends, sharing the joy.
Rupert dropped the room key into the door slot, waited for the green light, and pulled it out. He pushed down the handle, opened the door, and holding it with his foot, swept Anya into his arms. He carried her over the threshold, letting the door swing shut behind him as he laid her on the king-sized bed. They kissed deeply. "Mrs. Giles," he said, as she pulled his tuxedo jacket from his shoulders. She loosened the bow tie and pulled it from under his collar.
"These shirt studs are a pain in the neck," she said, struggling to undo the front.
"You could have opted for a zipper," he replied, reaching around her body and undoing the buttons down the back of her dress. She let go of his shirt and turned, letting him deal with the little pearl buttons. They ran down her back like an army protecting her once-held virtue. One by one, they sat in defeat. He lifted the dress over her head, and soon her silk slip followed. Finally, he peeled her stockings and wisp of lace panties down her legs.
He had always loved her body. He never tired of the look of her. Once again he wondered at the fate that brought such a beautiful creature into his life. He had despaired of ever finding love again after Jenny died, and yet here he was with another wife, a beautiful glowing ember of a girl he loved completely.
She, losing patience with the studs, ripped his shirt open. She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest, rubbing her thumb over his nipple, and he groaned. She lay back and smiled as he took her breast into his mouth and sucked. He knew how she liked that. She writhed with pleasure.
Randy and Joan paused at their hotel door. He bent down and kissed her. "This is it," she said. He carried her over the threshold, then placed her gently on the floor inside. They kissed again.
She looked around at the suite, and gasped. It was decked with flowers; abundant with roses. The sheets were turned back, and the bed strewn with pink petals. "Do you like it?" he asked.
"I love it," she said with wonder. "I love you."
"I know it's been hard on you," he said, "waiting like this. I wanted you to be my wife; our wedding night to be special."
"I know that you didn't want to take advantage of me, of our relationship," she replied. "But do you know how long I've waited? I fell in love with you when I was ten years old, when you and your father came from England to look after Dawn and me. I feel like I've been waiting forever."
He stroked her cheek. "The wait is over," he said, "for both of us."
She picked up her bag from the floor and headed for the washroom. "Let me get ready, then. I'll see you in a minute."
"Wait," said Anya, "I'll be back in a minute." She rose from the bed and headed towards the bathroom. Her husband grasped her arm and pulled her back.
"Not tonight," he said. "No precautions. I'm ready now."
Anya threw her arms around him. "A baby?" she said. "Oh Rupey, you want a baby too?"
He kissed her tenderly on the forehead. "I can think of nothing I would like more than to create new life with our love."
Anya undid the buttons of his tuxedo pants and pulled them from his body with his briefs. He was obviously ready for her, as he always was. She pushed him back on the bed and mounted him, shuddering with pleasure as she moved, up and down, feeling him deep within her. He cupped her breasts in his hands and stroked the nipples with his thumbs, gently. She guided his right hand down, and sucked in her breath as the fire rose inside. She tightened her muscles, as they matched thrust for thrust, and felt him release as she crested.
Still within her, they rolled over. She felt his weight against her as she kissed him. He started to move away, but she held him tight. "I want to feel you in me for awhile," she whispered.
Joan opened the door shyly, wearing a peach lace peignoir. Randy stood waiting in a pair of silk pyjama pants and a long blue satin robe. They gazed at each other.
"You're beautiful," Randy gasped, seeing the way the nightgown draped her bosom, the lace revealing enticing glimpses of the skin beneath.
"So are you," she sighed, the robe framing his pale marble muscled chest and washboard abdomen.
She sat on the edge of the bed and he sat beside her. "I'm a little nervous," she said. "It's my first time."
"Mine too," he replied.
She was surprised. "But you're older. I always assumed..."
"Joan," he said, taking her hand in his, "How could there have been anyone else? I've always been in love with you." He pulled the lacy over robe from her shoulders. Such thin little straps held up the nightgown beneath. "Only, ever you."
She helped him out of his robe and touched his shoulder. It was cool, smooth. Not quite like marble, though, she thought, as she ran her hand across his chest. Flesh, too. Her breath came quicker, and feelings she had never known coursed through her body. "I'm ready, Randy," she said.
He kissed her and pulled her nightgown over her head. She was so thin, so small, but muscular. A dancer's build. Her breasts were small and pert, her stomach flat. Exquisite. She lay back on the bed, her golden hair cascading on the pillow. He smelled roses and spice.
He pulled his pyjama pants off and tossed them beside the bed. She lay with her knees bent and apart, ready to receive him. Her eyes were closed. "Look at me," he said, and she did, overwhelmed by the passion in his expression. So much love.
She reached out with curiosity and touched him. Hard and long, texture like velvet. Instinctively, she squeezed, and he gasped. "Now, please Joan," he said, as he pushed his way into her; buried himself in her.
Pain. She felt like she was being ripped in two. Pain, but pleasure. The feeling of pressure deep in her core. He pulled out a bit, and she rose to meet him. He thrust back deeply. How could pain and pleasure combine so perfectly? Her heart beat faster, in time with his rhythm, a heart beating for both of them. In and out, her breath, his body. In and out, faster and faster. Something exploded inside her. His face contorted in ecstasy.
It changed. No longer human, his was the face of the vampire.
Anya lay stretched out on her stomach, hugging her pillow, watching Rupert as he heated oil in a little pot over a candle. He poured a bit of the warm oil in his hands, and rubbed them together. Straddling his wife, he began rubbing her shoulders, massaging the scented oil into her muscles.
"Hmmmmmmmm." she moaned. "Chocolate mint. You know what I like." She pushed him up a bit and flipped over.
Retrieving more oil, he worked his hands along her collar bone and down onto her bosom. She ground her body into his with pleasure, as he kneaded her breasts gently. He leaned down to lick her nipple. "I'm rather partial to chocolate myself," he said.
"Rupey," she asked lazily, enjoying the feel of his hands as they stroked her midriff, "Where are we going on our honeymoon?"
"I thought you wanted to be surprised, dear," he replied, shifting down onto her legs so her could work the oil into her abdomen.
"Oh, that's good," she said, momentarily distracted. "I've decided that I want to know."
"I'm taking you to the Giles' family estate, in England," he smiled.
"Estate?" she exclaimed, sitting up suddenly and knocking him back. "You have an estate?"
"I have an estate. With servants, and gardens, and peacocks." He knew what her reaction would be.
"You're rich? I mean, I knew you had some sort of inheritance to buy into the shop, and that you've been supporting Joan and Dawn, but rich?" The colour rose in her cheeks.
"Stinking, actually. Wads of cash, along with the property." The look on her face was priceless.
She punched him. "And you never thought to tell me before?"
"Do you like your wedding present, dear?" he asked.
"I love it," she cried, throwing her arms around his neck. She ravished him.
Randy's face shifted back. "I'm sorry," he said. "It just came out."
"It's okay," replied Joan. "I love you. All of you." She turned her head and exposed her throat to him. "It's okay. I trust you."
Randy was shocked. She was in such a vulnerable position, lying joined with him, naked and exposed. How could she...?
"Joan, I've never...I mean, I came over with a soul." His voice dropped. "I've never bitten anyone."
"But the blood," Joan said, "don't you need blood?"
"I drink animal blood. It's been enough." The thought of biting humans had tempted him, but he had always been able to resist. Now, with her lying naked beneath him...
"Taste me, Randy. I want to be the first." She pulled him into a deep, passionate kiss, exploring his cool mouth with her tongue. She felt him hardening again inside her. She saw his vampire face resurface, and with a low growl he dropped his mouth to her throat.
She felt his teeth puncture her skin. It hurt for a moment, but the feel of his tongue as it lapped at her throat, the feel of lightness as the blood left her body, was almost as exquisite as the feel of him within her. Her legs curled around his body, and she pulled him close.
She tasted like liquid fire; sweet and salty. Her blood filled his mouth, and he swallowed deep. Heady, fulfilling. Everything within him was aroused. He took another mouthful, and started to rock, his body thrusting into hers once again. Suddenly, he was afraid. What if he had taken too much? His fangs retracted and he was human-faced once more.
She was fine. She was smiling. She looked at him as they continued their motion, her eyes open wide with pleasure. As she climaxed, he looked as though he were surrounded by sparkling lights. Almost as though he had a halo. "My only angel," she sighed.
They met their friends at the hotel restaurant for breakfast. It was a dark room off the lower lobby. Rupert and Anya yawned, exhausted. Randy and Joan held hands, playing with each other's fingers.
"Did you have fun with Willow and Tara?" asked Joan of her younger sister.
"Great," she answered. "We made 'smores. We all stayed up watching TV 'til forever. You guys can all go off and honeymoon as long as you want."
"It was fun," added Tara. "Dawn's my favorite cousin," she teased, knowing that she cared for her and Joan equally.
"We aren't going on a honeymoon, at least not yet," said Randy. "I need to get a job and save up some money."
"That's okay," said Joan. "I have enough to do redecorating his apartment."
"I've told you," Randy's father said, "Neither of you have to worry about money."
"And I've told you, Dad, that I want to make it on my own." Randy was adamant.
"At least go back to university. You could take night classes." Rupert was proud of his son's independent streak, but he knew that as a vampire, and a dropout, his chances were slim of finding anything worthwhile.
"No, Dad, I..." Joan cut her husband off.
"Yes," she said. "He'll let you put him through school."
"Both of you," added Rupert.
"Both of us," said his daughter-in-law. "As long as I can keep patrolling. The vampires of Sunnydale aren't going to wait for me to finish classes."
"I guess I'm outnumbered then," Randy acquiesced. "Thanks, Dad." He leaned over and kissed his wife. "So, is this what life is going to be like? Me agreeing with everything you say?"
Joan smiled. "Works for me," she said.
Randy and Joan said their goodbyes to Rupert and Anya, who were flying off to England for their honeymoon. The weary, happy couple returned to their hotel room and crawled into bed. Randy wasn’t used to being up in the day, and Joan hadn’t slept the night before, so they snuggled together as they drifted off.
They had extended late checkout to five pm (newlywed privilege), and the hotel clock radio blared at four. Joan woke up and stretched, and turned on the light in the room. Randy was still asleep, and he looked so innocent and peaceful that she hated to wake him. She crawled back beside him and kissed his forehead, saying “Wake up, sleepy,” but he didn’t stir. She tried kissing his mouth, which obtained the desired reaction.
He opened one eye. “Hey, Mrs. Giles,” he said.
“Hey, husband,” she replied. With only forty-five minutes to check out, she knew they should move, but she decided that rushing wasn’t an option, even though they could ill-afford an extra night’s stay. Making love one more time couldn’t hurt.
Afterwards they lay together, as Randy stroked the small wound he had left on her throat the night before. “Did I hurt you, pet?” he asked.
“Quite the contrary,” she smiled.
“What time is it?” he asked. He looked at the alarm clock. “Quarter to five. Bloody hell, we’d better hurry!”
They rushed about the hotel room shoving possessions in their travel bags, trying to put the rental tux back in the bag without too much damage, and attempting to pack her wedding dress without wrinkling it. Joan picked a long white envelope off the floor. “What’s this?” she asked.
“Dunno. Dad gave it to me this morning at breakfast. Open it, love.” He tried to juggle the bags and open the room door.
She picked up her bouquet and one of the bunches of roses Randy had arranged for to bedeck the room, and went to the door. “Let me help you. I’ll open this when we get to the checkout.”
They headed to the lobby. Randy went to pay the attendant at the desk, who said, “Your room has already been paid for, sir. Your father put it on his bill.”
Randy was a little chagrined, since his father knew that he didn’t want handouts, but relieved that he had one less expense to worry about. He watched Joan open the envelope.
“Oh, Randy,” she said, “He’s booked us a week in a fancy hotel in LA, and there are theatre tickets. We can have our honeymoon after all.” She threw her arms around her husband and hugged him. “See, here’s the note.”
Randy read: “Son, I know you want to make it without the family fortune, but I want my children to have a happy honeymoon before you get on with your lives. Consider this a wedding gift. Love, Dad.”
Randy smiled, “Well, Joan, I guess we’re going to LA.”
High over the Atlantic, Rupert Giles held his bride’s hand. “Happy, dear?” he asked.
“Are we nearly there yet?” she replied. “This is a very long flight. I mean, I knew England was far away, and we did have that little stopover, but this is a long flight.”
“We have hours left dear,” he answered patiently. “We’d best make the most of it.”
“Rupey,” she moaned in his ear, “Have you ever heard of the mile high club?”
Rupert removed his classes and cleaned them vigorously with his handkerchief. “I understand your impatience, darling, but we’ll be landing soon enough. I would have thought that last night would hold you for one day.”
“Oh,” she pouted, “Do you really feel that way?” She lowered his tray table and reached under it.
“I can certainly see your perspective,” he moaned. Just then the stewardess came by with the drink cart.
“Champagne for the newlyweds?” she asked.
“Yes, please,” replied Anya, taking the plastic cup with her left hand.
“Not right now, thank you,” said Rupert.
Dawn, Tara and Willow sat in front of the Giles’ TV, sharing a tub of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey. “So,” said Tara, “Randy and Cousin Joan are off on a honeymoon anyway. Though LA isn’t quite as romantic as England.”
Dawn smiled. “The way those two are, I think anywhere would be romantic. Sometimes they make me sick.”
“Oh, yeah,” said Willow. “You love it. All your favorite people are getting together. You couldn’t be happier.” She held Tara’s hand with her left while delving into the ice cream with her right.
“Not all my favorite people.” She sighed.
“Alex is way too old for you, said Willow.
“Hey,” replied Dawn, “Who said anything about Alex?”
Randy and Joan drove to LA in his father’s red convertible. They pulled up in front of the hotel and he gave the keys to the attendant. “Wow,” said Joan, “This is fancy. I could get used to this.” She walked hand in hand with her husband into the lobby. “Look at the wood. Look at the antiques. And all the brass. It’s so beautiful.”
“This is generous of dad,” said Randy, “But don’t get used to it. We can’t afford something like this. Fighting evil doesn’t pay this well. In fact,” he sighed, “It doesn’t pay at all.”
“Don’t worry, honey, everything will be all right.” She smiled with encouragement. “Your father will put us through school, we’ve agreed, and then you’ll find something. Something you can do at night, or from home. While we fight the forces of evil.” Her eyes opened wide at the big chandelier hanging overhead. “Anyway, I don’t need this, nice as it is. I have you.”
Randy led them to reception. “Mr. and Mrs. Randy Giles. I believe the reservation was made by my father, Rupert Giles.”
“Ah, yes, Mr. Giles,” said the attendant, “The honeymoon suite.” He called a bellman over to take their bags, and headed up the elevator. The antique wrought iron doors closed and the lift rose.
“Here we go, sir,” said the bellman, opening the door and handing Randy the key. “Will there be anything else?”
“No, that’s fine,” answered Randy, fishing in his tweed pocket for a tip.
“Don’t worry about that sir,” said the bellman. “Everything’s been arranged.”
The newlyweds stepped into the suite. It was magnificent. Joan walked through the sitting room in awe, looking at the antiques and prints lining the wall. “This is amazing,” she said.
Randy stepped into the bedroom. “Look at this.” A large canopy bed filled the room, with burgundy silk sheets turned down at the top. On each pillow sat a Godiva chocolate. “Dad’s really gone all out. I wonder what step mommy thinks of our family digs.”
Joan pulled him on to the bed. “I’m sure that they’re having a wonderful time. However, at the moment, I have other things to think about.”
Rupert pulled into the long estate driveway in his rental car. He drove down the tree-lined path and parked in the semi circle in front of the manor. He exited the right hand door, and opened the passenger side for Anya. “So,” he asked, “What do you think of the place so far?”
She looked at the great oak doors. “All this is yours?”
“No,” he replied, “All this is ours.”
They walked up the steps, and Rupert pulled a key from his pocket. He placed it in the lock and turned it. Pushing the great doors open, he called, “Hello, Fenwick, anybody home?”
The head butler hurried into the front entrance. “Oh, you’re here sir. Very good. And may I say sir, how wonderful to have you home at last.”
“Thank you, Fenwick,” Rupert replied. “I’d like you to meet Mrs. Giles. Anya, Fenwick has been with the family since I was a lad.”
“Lady Giles, ma’am, a great pleasure to meet you. We were so happy to hear of the master’s marriage. And of course young master Randy’s, as well.” Fenwick pulled a cord, and a young man joined them. “Evans,” he said, “Take Sir Rupert’s bags from the automobile.”
“Right away, sir,” the young man replied.
“Sir Rupert?” Anya gasped. “You’re, like, royalty?”
“Not exactly,” he laughed. “Fenwick, are the rooms ready?”
“Of course, sir,” the butler replied.
“Good. Lady Giles and I will be retiring. We’ve had a very long and tiring journey.” Rupert took her hand and led her up the stairs. She almost tripped from the distraction of the family portraits that lined the staircase.
At the top of the stairs, she stopped and stared at the full-length portrait of a beautiful, dark-haired woman in a bridal gown. “Who is this?” Anya asked. “She’s beautiful.”
“That’s Jenny,” Rupert replied, “Randy’s mother.”
Randy and Joan decided to walk back from the theatre. They were unfamiliar with the area, and found themselves in an alley.
“Looky here,” said a raspy voice. “Hors d’oeuvres.” A trio of vampires leapt out of the darkness. Without thinking, Randy shifted into his vampiric visage.
“Here, Joan,” he cried, pulling two stakes from under his jacket and tossing her one.
“Honey,” she answered, “You think of everything.” They each staked a vampire, watching the figures dissipate into dust. Randy rose his stake to strike the third.
“Oh great,” the doomed creature exclaimed, “Not another vampire who’s turned on his own kind. I suppose you have a soul too.”
Randy held the stake in the air. “What did you say? What about a vampire with a soul?”
“Geez,” the vampire answered, “You must be from out of town. All the vamps in LA know about the Dark Avenger.”
“How do we find him?” asked Joan.
“Hell, you’re even hanging out with a human? How pathetic,” the vampire sneered.
“I’ll show you how pathetic I am,” said Joan, placing the point of her stake on his chest.
“Okay, okay, I get the message.” He thought for a moment. “This time of night, he’s probably not far. He waits to protect idiots like you who wander around after the theatres let out. Just look around.”
Joan relaxed her grip on her stake, and the vampire ran off in the other direction. “If I see him, I’ll tell him you’re looking for him,” he laughed.
“Joan,” said Randy, taking his wife by the shoulders, “Do you know what this means? I’m not the only one. I’m not the only noble vampire with a soul.”
The room was beautiful, but old fashioned; not to her taste. The whole manor was damp and drafty. She snuggled next to her husband for warmth, chilled under the thin blanket. He slept soundly. Not unexpected; he was home.
She heard a sound in the night. Faint at first, then louder, the sound of a woman weeping. Anya’s eyes opened wide in horror as a translucent, glowing figure glided through the room. It hovered over the bed, and shrieked, pointing its long, skeletal finger at the young woman in the bed. Anya screamed.
Rupert sat up suddenly. Anya was shaking with fear. He put his arms around her and drew her to him. “What’s wrong, dear? Bad dream?”
“Didn’t you hear it, Rupey? Didn’t you see her?” She shook in his arms.
“See who, dear?” he asked.
“The ghost. The ghost that was in our room.” She started to cry. “I think she wants to kill me.”
“Shhh, darling.” He kissed her brow, “It was the wind. This old place often makes strange noises in the night. You had a nightmare. You’re not used to it here.”
“I don’t care what you say, Rupert Giles,” his wife exclaimed, “It was a ghost.”
“If we stay here, do you think he’ll come?” asked Joan. “It’s getting pretty late.”
“You’re right,” replied Randy. “There’s nothing to say that he’ll be here. It’s just…”
“I know,” Joan said, taking his arm as they started to leave the alley. “I means so much to you, to find him. To know that you’re not alone.”
“Oh,” Randy replied, kissing his wife, “I know I’m not alone. But I would like to think that there was someone else like me; another vampire who didn’t think of preying on humanity, who didn’t see people as cattle. Someone who wants to use his powers to help others.”
“A friend,” said Joan.
“Yeah,” Randy replied. “A friend.” He pulled her close. “Maybe tomorrow night.”
“Riding, like with horses?” asked Anya as she buttered her toast.
“Yes, with horses. That would be the best way, considering that there are no camels on the estate,” smiled Rupert, breaking off pieces of toast and spreading them with jam.
“Oh Rupey, that sounds like so much fun! Can we ride with the hounds?” she asked with enthusiasm.
“Well, we don’t really have a hunt scheduled today. I think we’ll have to settle for a quiet ride in the countryside.” He paused. “Have you ever ridden before, dear?”
“I did ride the head pony at the fair. I was five years old.” She frowned. “That isn’t what you mean, is it?”
“Not exactly.” He patted her hand. “Not to worry. You can ride Marmalade. He’ll take good care of you.”
Marmalade was a quiet old horse. When friends came to the estate, it was Marmalade that was saddled up for the children. Rupert helped her up onto the horse, then mounted his own steed, Blaze, and they were off.
Rupert rode slowly, in deference to Anya, though he knew Blaze wanted to be let out at full gallop. He would do that later, when his wife was safely back at the manor. She seemed to be enjoying herself, and the old mare knew the route better than Rupert. He was thrilled to share something he loved so much with his bride.
Suddenly, Marmalade reared up. Anya screamed and held on for dear life. The horse bolted unexpectedly, and it was all Blaze could do to keep up with her. They ran on for a kilometer, until the old mare stumbled trying to jump a fence. She fell heavily, and Anya went flying.
Rupert leapt from Blaze and ran to his wife. She lay quietly in the field, a bloody gash on her head, but her breathing was regular. “Anya,” he cried, holding her still body in his arms, “Anya!”
She opened her eyes and looked up into his concerned face. “Rupey, what happened?” She started to get up, but wobbled into his arms. “I thought you said she was a quiet horse?”
“She is darling, always has been.” He led her to Marmalade, but the horse lay with its neck twisted. She was dead. “Something spooked her.” He held his wife tightly with relief. “Something, but I have no idea what.”
The next evening, Randy and Joan decided to wander around the theatre district after supper. “Maybe we could go to movie landmarks tomorrow night?” Joan asked. “This isn’t really a theatre city. I know you want to find him, but…”
“But the chances are pretty slim. I know.” He squeezed her hand. “You’ve been patient with me, and this isn’t much fun for you. From now on, you pick the tourist spots.”
They walked down a narrow laneway towards their hotel, and were stopped by a menacing figure. “Give me all your money,” he threatened, “Or I’ll...”
Randy had shifted to his vampire state, and the mugger backed away. “Geez, what are you? Get away from me.”
A tall figure leapt from the rooftop on to the mugger. He bent the criminal’s head back and sank in his fangs, drinking deeply. The mugger fell to the ground, lifeless.
Joan pulled a stake out of her boot and lunged at the stranger. “Hey,” he cried, “What are you doing? I just saved your life.”
“You killed him,” Joan said.
The stranger licked the blood from his lips. “And he was a killer.” He looked at the slender blonde woman, and Randy who had shifted back to human features. “What are you two doing out here this late, anyway? You both crazy?”
“I think,” replied Randy, “That we were looking for you.”
Rupert supported Anya as they walked up the steps to the manor. “I don’t know what could have caused Marmalade to behave that way,” he said.
“I do,” replied Anya. “It was Jenny.”
Rupert paused and stared at his wife. “That’s ridiculous. I know we’ve seen some strange things, but even if ghosts existed, Jenny was a kind and gentle woman. She would never try to hurt anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone.” Anya brushed Rupert’s cheek with her fingers. “I’m your wife. I’m staying in the home that you shared, where she had your child. I’m the other woman.”
“Anya,” Rupert caught her hand in his and kissed it. “I know you’ve been through a terrible fright, and you’re in a strange environment, but think about what you’re saying. Jenny died fifteen years ago. There’s no reason to believe that this has anything to do with her. You go and lie down, and I’ll ask Fenwick to see that you have a nice supper brought up to you. Can you manage the stairs?”
She pulled herself up with the banister. “I’m fine. I’ll see you in a bit.” She slowly climbed the long staircase, pausing in front of the portrait at the top. “I know you love him, Jenny. So do I. I’ll take care of him. Please, leave us alone.” She swore she could hear the faint sound of moaning, but it was only the wind.
“Are you the Dark Avenger?” Randy asked.
The tall, dark-haired vampire laughed. He dressed all in black; black jeans, black shirt, long black leather coat. His shoulder length hair was greasy. “Some people call me that,” he answered. “Why are you looking for me?”
Randy shifted back into his vampire face. “I heard you had a soul,” he said, “Like me.”
“Another vampire with a soul.” The stranger looked at Randy, weighing him with his eyes. “Too bad for you. A soul’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” He gestured to Joan. “Who’s she?”
“My wife,” Randy answered.
“Vampire and a human? That’s pretty sick. Still, she is sort of cute.” He reached out to Joan, but she backed away.
“Don’t touch my wife,” said Randy, with a low growl.
“What’s the problem?” asked the stranger. “I don’t bite. Well, that’s not strictly true, but I don’t bite innocent women. Just muggers, rapists and killers.” He bent down and went through the pockets of the dead man’s pants. “Fifty dollars. Not bad.”
“Randy,” said Joan. “It’s late. I think that we should go.”
“What’s the trouble?” asked the stranger. “We just met. It wouldn’t be sociable to run off so soon.” He held his hand out to Randy, who didn’t take it. “Hmpt, whatever. My name’s Liam, and these are my streets.”
“Well, Sir Rupert,” said old Nate, the grounds keeper, “I ‘aven’t ‘eard tell o’ the place bein’ ‘aunted. Never was in your day, mind. Y’a ‘ear funny stories, ‘bout most a these ol’ manors, but who knows? If ya’ got any questions, ya should call on ol’ Matilda.”
“Matilda?” asked Rupert. “I remember that name...”
“She’s the ol’ witch woman in town. You remember her. Crazy as a ferret, some say, but she knows the strange things that ‘appen ‘ere ‘bouts. You could get ‘er to the house, no trouble. ‘Ear she owes the family a favor, what with them letting her live ‘ere on the grounds when her cottage burned down in ‘52.”
“Bring her here, please,” asked Rupert.
“So, your soul was restored by a gypsy curse,” said Randy. “I have mine because of a curse, too. My sire was cursed. She’s dead.”
Liam took a long drag on his cigarette. “So you never knew what it was like to be soulless. Lucky you. It’s hell. At least, it seems like it when you get it back.” He kept his eyes on Joan. “I could lose mine again. Part of the curse. One moment of pure happiness.” He leered at Randy’s wife. “You could make a man happy.”
“That’s enough,” said Randy. “You may chose to live your life this way, draining criminals and stealing from them; living on the street. I’m glad you help people. I’m glad you save them from other vampires.” He took Joan’s hand and they started to walk away. “We choose to live differently. We fight evil, but not for gain. Virtue is its own reward.”
“Does he always go on like this?” Liam asked Joan.
“Yes,” she said proudly, taking her husband’s arm. “He does.”
“Join hands,” ordered the wizened little woman. She took Rupert’s in her left, and Anya’s in her right, while they completed the circuit. “Let the séance began.”
“Séance,” muttered Rupert under his breath. “This is asinine.”
“Shhh,” whispered Anya. “She’ll hear you. And you said you would humor me.”
“I wouldn’t worry,” her husband replied. “The old thing’s as deaf as a post.”
“Jenny Giles, we call on you,” intoned the old witch. “We ask you here among us. Show us a sign. Come to us.”
The candle in the middle of the table blew out. “That was odd,” said Rupert. A low moaning noise spread through the darkened room. It grew to a female shrieking. “Ruuuuperrrrt,” it called. “Leeeeavvvve herrrrrrr…”
Anya screamed. Gashes appeared on her face, then her arms. They oozed blood. “Anya,” cried Rupert, pulling away from Matilda, but she held his hand surprisingly fast.
“This is but an illusion,” she said. “Maintain the circle.”
A white spectre appeared before them, a female figure with flowing robes. It leaned towards Anya as if to choke her. “Sonya,” gasped Rupert.
“Who?” asked his terrified wife.
“Jenny’s sister,” Rupert replied. “She died in the motor accident that killed Jenny.”
“Miiiiiine” cried the ghost, pointing at Rupert.
Another glowing form appeared, and struggled with the first. Their images faded and reappeared, dancing and fighting. Finally, the second figure engulfed the first, and it disappeared.
“No accident,” said the victor softly.
“Jenny?”
“Be well, my love.” Both Rupert and Anya felt a kiss brush across their foreheads, and the figure was gone.
Randy and Joan lay together in the canopy bed. “He was horrible,” said Joan, “But kind of sad.” She cuddled her husband closer. “So different than you.”
“I expected so much,” Randy replied, “I was bound to be disappointed. I thought an ensouled vampire would be noble. Yes, he was helping innocent people, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he charged them for it. He seemed to revel in killing the guilty. There was nothing noble about him. What difference did his soul make, really?”
“Maybe it isn’t the soul,” pondered Joan.
“What, pet?”
“Maybe that isn’t what makes you different, not really. Look at Liam. He has a soul, but he has no one to care about him. He’s isolated himself, living on the streets.” She kissed his shoulder. “You have a family; people who love you. You’ve never been alone. I don’t know; I’m not saying that you wouldn’t have been different without a soul, but who you are seems to depend so much on, well, who you are. Am I making any sense?”
“I know this much,” replied Randy, “Vampire or human, I would always love you.”
“I know,” she said softly, kissing him. “But I wanted you to find a friend.”
“Joan, let’s ask Alex Harris over for dinner next week. He did help rescue Dawn.” He paused. “He’s a nice fellow, don’t you think?”
“I know my sister thinks so,” she smiled, covering her husband with kisses.
Dawn opened the door to see two sets of couples. “Wow, you’re all home early,” she exclaimed. “Weren’t you having a good time?”
“It was drafty,” said Anya. “And there were ghosts. One of them tried to kill me.”
“LA is an interesting city,” said Joan, “But we missed our family.”
Dawn threw her arms around them all. “I’m glad you’re home. I missed you all.”
“You know what they say,” Randy added. “There’s no place like home.”
“I don’t know, Tara,” Willow Rosenberg said to her girlfriend, looking over her shoulder at the book of spells. “You’re getting pretty good at this magic stuff, but couldn’t this be dangerous? I mean, messing around with time…”
Tara reached back and stroked Willow’s cheek. “I know this makes you uncomfortable, baby, but it’s just a little time travel spell. I really want to try it out. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.”
Willow leaned over and nuzzled the witch’s neck. “Go ahead,” she sighed in Tara’s ear, “I’ll sit over here and watch.” She sat down in the corner of the couch as Tara sprinkled a circle of chalk dust around herself in the middle of the living room rug. “Um, sweetheart,” she asked, “Isn’t Mr. Giles going to be upset that you messed up his carpet?”
“I’ll vacuum it up later, silly,” Tara replied. “He and Anya are at a movie with Dawn. They won’t be back for hours.” She handed Willow a stem of dried Queen Anne’s lace. “Hold onto this if you’re not joining me in the circle. It will protect you from the spell’s effects.”
Willow held it gingerly. “What effects?” she asked. “I thought you were just going to see back in time, like a TV screen you said.”
“That’s what I’ll see,” Tara replied. “In the circle. I can’t guarantee that energies won’t seep out into the rest of the room. Better to be safe than sorry.” She looked at Willow’s concerned expression. “Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be okay.”
Her lover twirled the wildflower in her fingers. “It’s not just you I’m worried about. No offense.”
Tara left the circle and embraced the redhead. She kissed her firmly on the lips. “I would never, ever let anything happen to you. This is safe.”
Willow smiled nervously. “Okay. If you say so. Spell away.”
Alex and Randy climbed the steps of the back porch of the latter’s family home. “Thanks for stopping here with me,” Randy said. “Joan wanted me to pick something up for her.”
Alex looked at his watch. “We have time. The game doesn’t start for an hour.”
“Good.” Randy fished the keys to his father’s house out of his pocket. “I don’t really follow basketball, but thanks for asking me along.” He put the key in the lock and turned, then stepped inside with his friend. “Dad and stepmommy are out with Dawn, so I think the house is empty. Unless Tara is home.”
The witch gathered her implements around her and began the chant. “If I could turn back time. If I could find the way...” Willow giggled.
Tara smiled. “Just kidding.” She picked up a small red ceramic bowl and placed in an herb. “Here’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” She struck a wooden match, and dropped it on the dried leaves, watching the smoke rise. She took a cheap dollar store digital watch and smashed it with a hammer, dropping the broken pieces in the bowl. “Time shatters, bonds are broken, worlds unwind.” She leaned over the bowl and breathed in the fumes of the rosemary and melting plastic. “Chronos, keeper of time, reveal that which was. Reveal. Five years past. Reveal.” She sat staring into space, but the images wouldn’t come. “Shoot,” she said, “It didn’t work.”
Willow hopped off the couch and joined Tara on the floor. “The picture here in the book is a little sundial. Maybe it doesn’t work with digital watches. Or maybe you have to use Latin. Or maybe...”
“Maybe I’m just a lousy witch,” interjected Tara. “Maybe I’ve been deluding myself.”
The redhead put her arm around Tara’s shoulder and rested her head there. “You’re a really good witch. You found Dawn when she was kidnapped. You do neat things; I’ve seen it. You bewitched me.”
Tara kissed her gently and said, “Maybe I’ll try again. Later...”
The girls were interrupted by a crashing sound from the kitchen.
Randy and Alex had made it to the middle of the kitchen floor when they were engulfed by a misty orange cloud. It grew in density, swirling around them, shifting colors to green, blue and finally black before dissolving around them. “What the bloody hell was that?” asked Randy.
“I don’t know,” answered Alex, “But it made my clothes grow.”
Randy stared at Alex. The athlete had lost height and muscle mass. It was like the years had stripped away. “Good Lord,” said Randy, stepping back and tripping, knocking a plate from the counter to the floor.
Alex stared at Randy. “Since when do you have rosy cheeks?” he asked. “Mirror in the living room,” Randy exclaimed, and they made a dash for the kitchen door, colliding with Tara and Willow as they tried to rush in.
Tara lay on the ground, looking up at the two men. “Oh my goddess,” she said, “Did I do that?” She smiled. “It worked. Not the way I thought it would, but it worked.
Willow stared at her ex-boyfriend. “Oh, my God. I remember you like this.”
The two men rushed past them into the living room. Alex stepped in front of the mirror. “No way!” he gasped. “I don’t want to go through this again.”
Randy pushed him aside. “I can see myself! Do you know what this means?” He grinned widely. “I’m not a vampire anymore.”
A key turned in the front door lock and Rupert Giles, his wife and foster daughter entered the room. He looked at the mess on the carpet and scowled, then looked in shock at his son’s reflection in the mirror. “Randy, what...”
Dawn stared at Alex. Why did he look so much younger? And, if possible, cuter?
Alex stared at Dawn, teenage hormones racing through his body. What a beautiful girl. What incredible hair. Those eyes. That smile. “Uh, hi Dawn,” he said. “Something happened.”
“Dad,” said Randy, “I have no idea...”
“I do,” said Tara. “It’s my fault. I was doing a time travel spell, and I didn’t know they were here. It backfired. I turned back their time five years.”
“When I was sixteen,” said Alex.
“And I,” added Randy, “Was human.”
The group was sitting around the living room when there was a knock at the front door. Joan rushed in. “I came as soon as you called, Dad. I did have to dust a vampire on the way…” She stopped in front of her husband. “Honey, are you wearing makeup?”
He took her hand and led her over to the couch. “It’s a long story,” he said.
“Your hand is warm,” Joan noticed. “Your hand is warm! You, you aren’t...”
“I’m not a vampire anymore.” He sat on the couch and took her on his lap. Her eyes were wide with amazement.
“How,” she asked. “Why?” She looked around the room. “And what happened to Alex?”
Tara explained the spell to everyone. “And,” she concluded, “I don’t know how long this will last, or even if it’s temporary, so don’t ask me.”
“Gee, this beats our news all to hell,” said Anya.
“What news is that?” asked Randy.
“Anya and I are expecting a child,” his father replied.
Randy felt the resentment grow in the pit of his stomach. He couldn’t see why his father would want to start all over again. He wasn’t sure what he’d seen in Anya in the first place. As much as he’d tried to get along with her, as much as he’d tried to accept that his father had moved on, it still hurt. He refused to let it show. Joan had already jumped off his lap to hug her in-laws. Randy stood up and shook his father’s hand. “Congratulations, Dad.”
Rupert pulled him into an embrace. “Thanks, son.”
Randy took off his jacket and threw it on the chair in the bachelor apartment he shared with Joan. She picked it up and hung it in the closet. “Wow,” she said, “You really are preoccupied. You’re usually the neat freak.”
“It’s been a difficult night to absorb,” he replied.
“I’m worried about my sister,” Joan said.
“Why Dawn, of all things?” he asked.
“Because she has a humongous crush on Alex.” She sighed deeply. “It wasn’t a problem before. But now. Did you see the way he looked at her?”
“Like a starving man in a room full of steaks. Course I did. You’re right to worry.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll miss him. We were just getting to be mates. He doesn’t even talk the same way anymore. But there’s no point in worrying about it tonight.”
Joan reached under the turtleneck sweater she had finally convinced him to wear in lieu of a dress shirt and bowtie. She placed her palms on his firm chest. “You feel so warm,” she said. “It’s incredible.”
“Keep that up, and I’ll start feeling hotter.” He pulled her towards him and kissed her.
“Your mouth is warm, too,” she said.
“Do you like it better?” he asked.
“Different.” She smiled as he unbuttoned her blouse. “I like you any way I get you.” An unpleasant thought hit her. “We need to use precautions now, I guess. We’ll have to wait.”
He pulled a little box out of his trouser pocket. “Not necessarily. I nicked these from Dad’s nightstand. It’s not like he’ll be needing them for a while.”
“Naughty boy,” she said. “But you do think of everything.” She sat on the edge of the bed. “I was proud of you tonight.”
“What do you mean, pet?” he asked.
“The way you pretended to be happy for Anya and Dad. I don’t think they noticed, but I could see how torn up you were inside.” She took his hand and kissed it.
“It’s none of my business, love. It’s their life.” He brushed the hair from her neck and nuzzled her throat, touching the scar he had left on their wedding night with the tip of his tongue. That part of their life was over, perhaps for good. Would she miss it?
“What about our life?” she asked. “This might be our only chance, if this doesn’t last...”
“For a baby?” They had never spoken of children, knowing that it was impossible. “We can’t afford it, we’re still in school, and you know I don’t want father to help. But we should think about it.”
She picked the box of condoms off the bed and looked at it. “But not tonight. So, how do these things work, anyway?”
Alex was waiting at the end of the driveway when Dawn ran out to meet him. “Wow, hi,” he said. “I didn’t think Mr. Giles would let you out so late. I mean, I hoped…”
“He knows how grown up I am.” Her face flushed. She was a terrible liar. “Actually, they think I’m in bed. I snuck out the window.”
“Won’t you get in trouble?” he asked.
“Only if they catch me.” She walked beside the newly transformed teenager. “Does it feel weird? I mean, being sixteen again?”
“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s weird. It’s like, I remember being older, but it’s all kind of fuzzy. Like I’m remembering a movie I only saw once. In black and white. With bad reception.” He caught her hand in his, and was thrilled when she let him. “I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I can’t go back to college like this. I sure as hell can’t play football, or baseball. Not with twenty year olds. I don’t fit in.”
She was afraid her palm felt sweaty. She’d had dreams like this. Maybe not exactly like this, but they did involve being with Alex. “I guess you wouldn’t want to go back to highschool.”
“A big no,” he replied. “I remember enough to know that I never want to live through that again.” Her hand was warm. The warmth was spreading up his arm, and into other areas. “I guess I could get a job.”
“I guess.” What if she fainted? It would be so uncool. They walked around the block quietly. When they were almost back to her house, they stopped.
“You should get in,” he said, “Before they miss you. I don’t want to get you into trouble.” He looked down into her big, luminous eyes. “Maybe tomorrow night?”
“Sure,” she said. What if he kissed her? She would die right on the spot. He was. He was leaning his head down and kissing her. She felt his lips on hers. Wow. Oh God, he was slipping his tongue into her mouth. She would die. She would die right there and then, but she would die happy.
He couldn’t believe she was letting him do this. Her mouth was so soft. Her tongue was…it was exploring his teeth. God, that felt good. Their tongues wrestled, and the little bit of adult left in him knew that it was too much too soon. He pulled back with regret. “I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” she nodded. “Bye.” It was easy climbing the trellis back to her bedroom window. She practically floated up it.
Over the next few days, Alex and Randy tried to adjust to their new lives. Alex pounded the pavement for a job, but no one wanted to hire a sixteen-year-old boy with no references or ID. He couldn’t use his own; he didn’t look like the photo. He was afraid to go back to the college dorm where he lived. Rupert took pity on him and let him sleep on the couch, not knowing of his growing relationship with Dawn. He met her after school for long walks, invariably leading to kisses that went a little farther every time, before he managed to pull back. The reason for doing so was receding into the backrooms of his mind, and it was getting harder to let go. She would follow him anywhere he led.
Randy became more and more frustrated with his human body. He tried training with Joan, who had been grooming herself to hunt vampires since she was a young girl. He realized how much he had depended on his vampiric strength and agility when patrolling with her. In his own mortality he was awkward and weak. It would take years to get him up to his wife’s level of competency. There were compensations, though. He sat with Joan on a blanket in the park, with the picnic goodies spread out before them. He leaned back and felt the sun’s rays deep in the skin of his face. He hadn’t realized how much he missed it. What must it be like for the older vampires, the ones who had lived in shadow for a hundred years?
“I hope you’re wearing sunscreen, honey,” Joan said. “Your skin is so pale. You’ll burn badly if you aren’t careful.”
“Don’t worry,” he replied, “SPF 30.” He picked up a leg of fried chicken and bit down. This was something else he had missed more than he knew. “I’d better be careful with this too. I’ll be weighing a ton if I’m not.”
She kissed him, licking a bit of the fried batter from the corner of his mouth. “I’ll keep you training so hard you won’t be able to gain an ounce. And even if you do, I’ll still love you.”
“Did you think about what we talked about?” he asked.
“I did. I know there’s no way we can afford it, but if you’re willing to accept Dad’s help, and stop scowling, I think we’d be foolish not to take the opportunity.” She wrapped her arms around him and held tight. “I’d love to have your baby.”
Dawn pulled gently back from Alex’ lips, breathing heavily. “I want to go to the pier,” she said.
“You’re too young,” Alex protested. “Heck, I’m too young now.”
“I don’t care. I’m ready.” Dawn pulled a small plastic wrapped disc from her pocket. “I stole this from Joan’s nightstand. Let’s go.”
All mature thoughts vanished from Alex’ mind as he followed Dawn to the outskirts of town to the beach. The pier was a notorious spot for those who wanted inexpensive privacy. It was a cool night, and luck was with them. The beach was deserted. He let her push him down into the sand in the shadows. No one would see them. Their kisses were frenzied, abandoned, and he gasped as she undid the buttons of his shirt. “I want to be yours,” she whispered. “Only yours.”
“You are,” he replied, slipping his hand under her top.
Randy smiled to see his wife wearing the penoir she had worn on their wedding night. This was a huge step, an impractical step, but it felt right. He could picture her, nine months from now, holding an infant. A beautiful baby with laughing eyes and blonde hair. A little Joan. He kissed her, pushing her back onto the bed.
“You’re really going to try again?” Willow asked, not wanting to see her lover disappointed once more.
“Yep,” Tara replied. “Practice makes perfect. Here’s your Queen Anne’s Lace.”
“I won’t need it,” Willow said, climbing into the chalk circle with the witch. “I’ll be safe here with you.”
“But baby, you’re afraid of magic.”
“But not of you.”
Tara started the incantation, step by step according to the text, adding an extra match this time in case the last hadn’t been hot enough. Like before, nothing appeared to happen. “Rats,” she said. “This hobby isn’t working. Maybe I should take up needlepoint.”
Alex felt his belt tighten. His belt, his shoes, the tops of his socks...He pushed the girl away. “Oh, Dawn, I’m so sorry! What was I thinking…”
Dawn looked in horror at the man in front of her. “Arrrrghh!” she cried. “This can’t be happening.”
“I am sorry, Dawn,” he said with regret. “You don’t know how sorry.”
Randy bent over his wife’s naked body. She was exquisite. How could he deserve this? He kissed her and felt the excitement surge through him.
Joan looked up and gasped. “Your face, Randy. It’s…changed.”
He felt his forehead. “Bloody, bloody hell!” he exclaimed. “Not now.” He flopped back on the bed. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” she said, fighting back tears. “If it wasn’t meant to be…” She drew her body as close as she could to his. “I told you, I love you. All of you. Any you. It’s enough.”
Randy and Alex sat together talking in the campus bar after the game. “I was so stupid,” Alex said. “I was not letting my mind lead me, if you know what I mean.”
“For what it’s worth,” Randy replied, “I do understand. We almost took a step we weren’t ready for.”
“It’s just that…” Alex paused.
“You love her.” Randy looked at his friend and saw the guilt mingled with the truth. “I sympathize. I’ve been a twenty one year old in love with a sixteen year old.”
“What did you do?” Alex asked.
“I waited.” He took a swig of his beer. “It was worth it.”
Rupert Giles stood in the arrivals area of the airport with his daughter-in-law. “She should be coming through the gate any minute now.” He put his arm around her shoulder.
“God, I miss her so much. I wish I could have gone with you to visit her.” Joan craned her neck to see over the others waiting there, but Rupert shook his head.
“Not yet.” His face lit up. “There she is! Over there.” They pressed their way through the crowd, to meet the tall young woman.
“Dawn,” Joan squealed, hugging her sister close.
“Joan,” her sister replied in turn.
“Look at your hair, it’s so short,” Joan said.
“Look at yours, it’s so long.” Dawn grinned widely. “I’ve missed you. It’s good to be home.” She looked around the airport. “Just you guys?”
“You did pick a day flight,” Joan teased. “Tara’s at work. Anya’s at home with the little guy. Randy ... well, that’s obvious. You’ll see them tonight. I mean, if you’re up for it.”
“I can’t wait. Willow and Tara, they’re okay?” Her sister nodded. “Do you ever see Alex?”
Joan’s face clouded. “Sometimes.”
“Here, dear, let me take your bags.” Rupert picked up his foster daughter’s luggage as they walked out the door.
As she sat in the back of the car, sun beaming down on her face, Dawn started to drift off. Her mind wandered back to the day, five years before, she had decided to leave America for England. After Tara’s spell regressing Alex and Randy five years into their past, after she and Alex had almost done what she had always wanted in the sand by the pier, after seeing the look of horror on Alex’ face when he realized what he’d almost done, she couldn’t stand to be in Sunnydale any longer. She couldn’t stand to see his face. The pain was too great.
So she’d begged her foster father to send her to school in England. She finished high school at the best of what “you Americans” called private school, then went on to three years of university. It was a wonderful time, and she’d miss her many friends. But it was time to come home. Time to face life again. Time to face Alex again. If he still remembered her.
Her breathing slowed, and she slept, her hand clasped tight in her sister’s.
When they entered the home in Revello Drive, Randy was waiting in the living room. He put out his arms to the young woman he had always considered a little sister. She ran to him and embraced him. “I missed you so much, Randy.”
“Missed you, pet.” He looked into her face. “You’re almost as tall as I am.”
“Don’t think I’ll catch up now.” She looked around the living room. “It hasn’t changed, but it feels so different. Where’s Anya?”
“Getting my son up from his nap,” Mrs. Giles called from the staircase. She walked down the stairs with a little boy in tow, brown haired like his parents. He was rubbing his eyes.
“Hi, Ethan,” Dawn exclaimed, running to meet him. “How’s my little brother? Remember me?”
“No,” Ethan pouted. “You’re not my sister. Joan’s my sister. Randy’s my brother. Don’t know you.”
“Yes you do, sweetheart,” Anya insisted. “Last year, when we went to Daddy’s big house in England. You remember Dawn. She’s Joan’s sister.”
“No.” Ethan climbed onto the couch. “Don’t like her.”
“Ethan,” his father said, “that isn’t very nice.”
His young son sat sullenly. Randy sat beside him. “I like Dawn. She’s very nice. You should like her.”
“Well, if you like her…” Ethan considered. “Don’t care. Don’t like her.”
“It’s okay,” Dawn said. “You don’t have to like me. But I’m going to be around now, so you’ll have to get used to me.”
Her little brother-in-law wiggled his mouth back and forth in concentration. “Hmm. ‘Kay. Can’t have my room. Can’t have my toys, neither.”
Dawn put out her hand and shook his. “Deal.”
They passed the bowls around the big dinner table, filling their plates from them. Dawn took a big chunk of roast beef from her platter. “Nice not to have to think about mad cow disease.” She looked across at her cousin Tara. “So, any new and exciting spells?”
“I…I don’t do magic anymore. I gave it up.” She caught her lover’s eye. Willow gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Why?” Dawn asked. “You were so into it.”
“I wasn’t that good. Actually I kinda sucked. I still help at the Magic Box, though.”
Anya nodded. “She’s very helpful. Knows a lot.”
“I know things,” Tara agreed, “but I’m not good at doing them.”
“But you found me when I was kidnapped,” Dawn insisted. “That was amazing.”
“So,” asked Willow, changing the subject, “how was your flight?”
“Good.” Dawn cut her meat and dipped a piece in her mashed potatoes. She chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. “Willow, how’s Alex?”
“Alex? Okay. Not great.” She sighed. “He got injured in a game. You know he was going to school on a football scholarship. That fell apart. Of course, he couldn’t play professionally. He works in a sporting goods store.”
“Is he married? Just curious.”
“No. I’m afraid I don’t know much about him. We sort of drifted apart.” She smiled wanly at Tara. “I don’t think he ever quite forgave me.”
“We were mates for a while,” Randy added. “But when he got out of the hospital, we lost touch. Think he resented that I was in school an’ he wasn’t. He went through a very hard time.” He picked up his glass of pig’s blood and drank. “Guess I shoulda tried harder. He needed a friend.”
“You did try, honey.” Joan patted his hand. “He didn’t want it. His loss.”
“Which store?” Dawn asked.
“Sunnydale Sports, on Main Street.” Willow said. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Dawn replied. “Thought I might drop in and say hi.”
Joan stepped from the shower, vampire dust from her after dinner hunt washed away. “I’m glad tomorrow’s Saturday. I could use a good sleep in. It was nice of my boss to give me the time off today to meet Dawn, though.” She picked her hairbrush off the dresser and ran it though her long blonde hair.
“Here, love, let me.” She sat on the edge of the bed, as Randy knelt behind her, stroking her tresses with the brush.
She purred. “You always know how to make me feel better.” She bent her head forward as the brush tugged through her hair. “Dawn’s so beautiful. I really thought she’d meet someone special in England. She was asking a lot of questions about Alex, don’t you think?”
“Probl’y just wants to catch up. She’s been gone a long time.” He stopped brushing and kissed her shoulder. “D’you really need a hundred strokes?”
“No, silly.” She took the brush and threw it on the dresser. “I can think of things I’d rather do.” She turned and looked at her husband. “I hope that’s all Dawn wants. If she’s still carrying a torch for Alex, after all these years, I’m afraid she’s going to be disappointed.”
“Dawn’s an adult. She can take care of herself.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “I’d much rather concentrate on taking care of my wife.”
Dawn met Joan at her apartment for lunch. “Randy asleep?”
“Uh huh.” Her sister poured her a glass of milk and passed her a peanut butter sandwich. “I was going to make something fancy, but I decided to go all American.”
“Thanks. You know I love peanut butter.” She bit into her sandwich. “So hwr ugs dwin?” She took a big swig of milk. “Sorry. How are you guys doing?”
“Pretty good. It’s tough on Randy. He hasn’t been able to find anything since he graduated. Hard to find a job that lets you work nights, never days, and where no one asks what’s in your thermos on breaks. I had the time advantage to find a job. I graduated first. He had to do it with night classes. I’d hate to see him take something like a security guard, or a bouncer. He’s too smart.” She sighed. “And too proud. He didn’t want to take money from his father, imagine how he feels living off his wife.”
“Is there anything he could do from home? Computers?” Dawn asked.
“Unfortunately, he just doesn’t have the knack for it. But I’ll show you something.” She jumped up and ran to the desk, pulling a sheaf of papers from the drawer. “This is his novel, so far. He’d kill me if I let you read it, but it’s good. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe, one day…”
“You’re proud of him, aren’t you?” her sister smiled.
“Damn straight,” Joan replied. She put the papers back in the desk.
“I am, too.” She paused for a moment. “What happened to Tara? Why did she give up magic? It seemed important to her.”
Joan picked up the empty plates and put them on the counter. “After the spell she did before you left, the one that went wrong, she lost her nerve. I don’t think witchcraft can work without confidence, and she lost hers. Nothing she tried went right after that.” She sighed. “And then, a spell backfired, and Willow ended up in the hospital. Nothing major, but Tara put it all aside. Said she had priorities. So, what are you up to this afternoon?”
“Not sure. Maybe do some shopping.”
Joan brightened. “You want me to drive you to the mall?”
“That’s okay. I was thinking of taking a walk downtown.” Dawn took another sip of her milk.
Joan’s face fell. “Be careful.”
“Downtown? In broad daylight? I don’t think any beasties will be after me. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Joan replied.
Dawn walked into Sunnydale Sports. She remembered the store, remembered buying a pair of figure skates here. It seemed smaller now. She heard a familiar voice. “Yes, Mrs. Humphries, I know it’s a pretty ball. But if your grandson plays soccer, I really don’t think that basketball’s what he’s looking for. Yes, I think that’s a much better choice.” There was something about it, the sound of it, the gentleness in dealing with the elderly lady, the humour. She’d wondered how she’d feel when she saw him again. She didn’t expect the thrill she got, just from the sound of his voice.
She could tell just by looking at his back that he had gained weight. Gone was the lithe, athletic body she’d remembered. As he walked Mrs. Humphries to the cash register, she noticed with shock his obvious limp. She’d known of his injury, known it had kept him from the game. She didn’t expect it still to be causing him pain. Her heart went out to him.
He turned with his customer towards the door. Noticed her standing there. “Miss, can I help you?” He froze. His face went slack. “Dawn?”
“Hi Alex. It’s great to see you again.”
“When…when did you get back?” Struggled for his composure. “I hadn’t heard…”
“Yesterday.” She smiled at him. He was still her handsome Alex. “I was wondering. Could we go somewhere? Get a coffee?”
“Wow. You drink coffee.” He looked confused. “You’re so grown up. You must be…”
“Twenty-one,” she finished. “I’m twenty-one now. All legal. I can even have a beer now, if you’d rather.”
“You have an accent. It’s cute.” He shook his head. “I mean, it sounds like Mr. Giles. Well, England for four years, I guess you’d pick up the accent. Coffee, sure, why not?” He called to the stockroom. “Hey, Ramone, could you come fill in for me? I’m taking my break.”
“So, that’s my sorry excuse for a life.” Alex took a bite of his donut, and washed it down with some coffee. “How about you? I figured you’d come back engaged to Prince William, at the least.”
“Actually, I was engaged,” she replied. “For about five minutes.”
“What happened?”
“He was no prince.” She picked up a napkin and wiped some powdered sugar from her mouth. “About what happened, before I left…”
“Dawn, I’m sorry. I’ve played it over a million times in my mind. I was stupid, and I almost wrecked your life.”
“No,” she said. “You didn’t. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do. You need to know that.”
“I’d never want to hurt you, kid.”
“You may not have noticed, Alex,” she sat up straight in her chair, “but I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Believe me,” he replied. “I noticed.”
“So now what?” There was hope in her eyes. He feared it was blinding her.
“Now nothing. Now you get on with your life, and I get on with mine. You should know something Dawn.” He put his hand on hers. “I’m not good enough for you.”
Dawn was at the Giles’ home when the phone rang. Rupert picked it up. “Hello, Tara. I thought you were coming over?”
“Uncle Rupert, I…I…I’m at the hospital. It’s…it’s…oh God, can Joan come? I need her. Oh god, I can’t…”
“Tara, what’s wrong? Tell me.”
“Willow.” Her voice dropped so low he could barely hear her. “My Willow’s dead.”
Joan held her sobbing cousin. “What happened? Can you tell me what happened?”
“We were…we were crossing the road, at the light. We didn’t do anything wrong Joan, I swear. Willow didn’t do anything wrong.” Her voice rose in frenzy. “She would never do anything wrong. It wasn’t her fault, it was mine. I should have done something. It was mine…”
“Shhh.” Joan held Tara tightly. “It wasn’t your fault, whatever happened. You would never want to hurt Willow.”
“A car. It came so fast. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t. Willow, she pushed me away, but the car hit her. So much blood. My baby’s blood. She was broken, like a little doll. My little doll. Oh Joanie…”
“How could you stop it? It was a car. You couldn’t stop it. It was an accident.”
Tara’s eyes were haunted. “I tried to do a spell. I saw it coming, and I tried to do a spell to stop it. But I couldn’t. I gave up the magic and I couldn’t stop it and it’s my fault and I couldn’t stop it and it’s my fault and she’s dead and I want her and…and…” She collapsed in her cousin’s arms.
Joan helped her onto a chair. “It wasn’t your fault.” But her voice was less convincing, this time.
Tara sat shiva with Willow’s parents. They had been shocked, at first, to know who their daughter really was, but over time their daughter's girl had become like their own. Mrs. Rosenberg held Tara’s hand tight, sitting in her living room, greeting family and friends.
Randy and Joan stopped to speak to them. “Willow was like family.” Joan said. “We loved her.”
Anya and Rupert stood with little Ethan, clouded with sorrow. The boy took a cookie from one of the many trays. “Where’s Willow now?” he asked. “I want to see Willow.”
“Shhh,” his mother hushed, picking him up and holding him close, tears in her eyes.
Dawn saw Alex talking to Mr. Rosenberg. “Can I speak to you?” she asked the younger man. “Outside?” He followed her out the sliding doors to the patio.
“This sucks,” Alex exclaimed. “She was a good person. I cared about her for a long time. I knew her. She didn’t do anything to deserve this. Her life mattered. Why couldn’t it have been me?”
“That’s stupid.” Dawn’s voice was cold. “Her life matters. Your life matters. She doesn’t have any more choices. You do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I look at you, and I see a kind man, a good man. You have a decent job, friends, or at least you could. Randy misses you. Tara needs all the friends she can get. After all life’s thrown at you, you still have a sense of humour.” She looked into his eyes. “And you still have someone who loves you, has always loved you, no matter how much she’s tried to forget you.”
“Dawn, I…”
“Not here.” She took his hand and pulled him towards the back gate. “I remember you used to like to go for walks.”
He limped beside her. “I can’t walk as fast as I used to.”
“I don’t care.” She opened the back gate, heading towards the street. “I can take it slow, for now.”
Rupert Giles stood in the arrivals area of the airport with his daughter-in-law. “She should be coming through the gate any minute now.” He put his arm around her shoulder.
“God, I miss her so much. I wish I could have gone with you to visit her.” Joan craned her neck to see over the others waiting there, but Rupert shook his head.
“Not yet.” His face lit up. “There she is! Over there.” They pressed their way through the crowd, to meet the tall young woman.
“Dawn,” Joan squealed, hugging her sister close.
“Joan,” her sister replied in turn.
“Look at your hair, it’s so short,” Joan said.
“Look at yours, it’s so long.” Dawn grinned widely. “I’ve missed you. It’s good to be home.” She looked around the airport. “Just you guys?”
“You did pick a day flight,” Joan teased. “Tara’s at work. Anya’s at home with the little guy. Randy…well, that’s obvious. You’ll see them tonight. I mean, if you’re up for it.”
“I can’t wait. Willow and Tara, they’re okay?” Her sister nodded. “Do you ever see Alex?”
Joan’s face clouded. “Sometimes.”
“Here, dear, let me take your bags.” Rupert picked up his foster daughter’s luggage as they walked out the door.
As she sat in the back of the car, sun beaming down on her face, Dawn started to drift off. Her mind wandered back to the day, five years before, she had decided to leave America for England. After Tara’s spell regressing Alex and Randy five years into their past, after she and Alex had almost done what she had always wanted in the sand by the pier, after seeing the look of horror on Alex’s face when he realized what he’d almost done, she couldn’t stand to be in Sunnydale any longer. She couldn’t stand to see his face. The pain was too great.
So she’d begged her foster father to send her to school in England. She finished high school at the best of what ‘you Americans’ called private school, then went on to three years of university. It was a wonderful time, and she’d miss her many friends. But it was time to come home. Time to face life again. Time to face Alex again. If he still remembered her.
Her breathing slowed, and she slept, her hand clasped tight in her sister’s.
When they entered the home in Revello Drive, Randy was waiting in the living room. He put out his arms to the young woman he had always considered a little sister. She ran to him and embraced him. “I missed you so much, Randy.”
“Missed you, pet.” He looked into her face. “You’re almost as tall as I am.”
“Don’t think I’ll catch up now.” She looked around the living room. “It hasn’t changed, but it feels so different. Where’s Anya?”
“Getting my son up from his nap,” Mrs. Giles called from the staircase. She walked down the stairs with a little boy in tow, brown haired like his parents. He was rubbing his eyes.
“Hi, Ethan,” Dawn exclaimed, running to meet him. “How’s my little brother? Remember me?”
“No,” Ethan pouted. “You’re not my sister. Joan’s my sister. Randy’s my brother. Don’t know you.”
“Yes you do, sweetheart,” Anya insisted. “Last year, when we went to Daddy’s big house in England. You remember Dawn. She’s Joan’s sister.”
“No.” Ethan climbed onto the couch. “Don’t like her.”
“Ethan,” his father said, “that isn’t very nice.”
His young son sat sullenly. Randy sat beside him. “I like Dawn. She’s very nice. You should like her.”
“Well, if you like her…” Ethan considered. “Don’t care. Don’t like her.”
“It’s okay,” Dawn said. “You don’t have to like me. But I’m going to be around now, so you’ll have to get used to me.”
Her little brother-in-law wiggled his mouth back and forth in concentration. “Hmm. ‘Kay. Can’t have my room. Can’t have my toys, neither.”
Dawn put out her hand and shook his. “Deal.”
They passed the bowls around the big dinner table, filling their plates from them. Dawn took a big chunk of roast beef from her platter. “Nice not to have to think about mad cow disease.” She looked across at her cousin Tara. “So, any new and exciting spells?”
“I…I don’t do magic anymore. I gave it up.” She caught her lover’s eye. Willow gave her a sympathetic smile.
“Why?” Dawn asked. “You were so into it.”
“I wasn’t that good. Actually I kinda sucked. I still help at the Magic Box, though.”
Anya nodded. “She’s very helpful. Knows a lot.”
“I know things,” Tara agreed, “but I’m not good at doing them.”
“But you found me when I was kidnapped,” Dawn insisted. “That was amazing.”
“So,” asked Willow, changing the subject, “how was your flight?”
“Good.” Dawn cut her meat and dipped a piece in her mashed potatoes. She chewed thoughtfully, and swallowed. “Willow, how’s Alex?”
“Alex? Okay. Not great.” She sighed. “He got injured in a game. You know he was going to school on a football scholarship. That fell apart. Of course, he couldn’t play professionally. He works in a sporting goods store.”
“Is he married? Just curious.”
“No. I’m afraid I don’t know much about him. We sort of drifted apart.” She smiled wanly at Tara. “I don’t think he ever quite forgave me.”
“We were mates for a while,” Randy added. “But when he got out of the hospital, we lost touch. Think he resented that I was in school an’ he wasn’t. He went through a very hard time.” He picked up his glass of pig’s blood and drank. “Guess I shoulda tried harder. He needed a friend.”
“You did try, honey.” Joan patted his hand. “He didn’t want it. His loss.”
“Which store?” Dawn asked.
“Sunnydale Sports, on Main Street.” Willow said. “Why?”
“I don’t know,” Dawn replied. “Thought I might drop in and say hi.”
Joan stepped from the shower, vampire dust from her after dinner hunt washed away. “I’m glad tomorrow’s Saturday. I could use a good sleep in. It was nice of my boss to give me the time off today to meet Dawn, though.” She picked her hairbrush off the dresser and ran it though her long blonde hair.
“Here, love, let me.” She sat on the edge of the bed, as Randy knelt behind her, stroking her tresses with the brush.
She purred. “You always know how to make me feel better.” She bent her head forward as the brush tugged through her hair. “Dawn’s so beautiful. I really thought she’d meet someone special in England. She was asking a lot of questions about Alex, don’t you think?”
“Probl’y just wants to catch up. She’s been gone a long time.” He stopped brushing and kissed her shoulder. “D’you really need a hundred strokes?”
“No, silly.” She took the brush and threw it on the dresser. “I can think of things I’d rather do.” She turned and looked at her husband. “I hope that’s all Dawn wants. If she’s still carrying a torch for Alex, after all these years, I’m afraid she’s going to be disappointed.”
“Dawn’s an adult. She can take care of herself.” He leaned forward and kissed her. “I’d much rather concentrate on taking care of my wife.”
Dawn met Joan at her apartment for lunch. “Randy asleep?”
“Uh huh.” Her sister poured her a glass of milk and passed her a peanut butter sandwich. “I was going to make something fancy, but I decided to go all American.”
“Thanks. You know I love peanut butter.” She bit into her sandwich. “So hwr ugs dwin?” She took a big swig of milk. “Sorry. How are you guys doing?”
“Pretty good. It’s tough on Randy. He hasn’t been able to find anything since he graduated. Hard to find a job that lets you work nights, never days, and where no one asks what’s in your thermos on breaks. I had the time advantage to find a job. I graduated first. He had to do it with night classes. I’d hate to see him take something like a security guard, or a bouncer. He’s too smart.” She sighed. “And too proud. He didn’t want to take money from his father, imagine how he feels living off his wife.”
“Is there anything he could do from home? Computers?” Dawn asked.
“Unfortunately, he just doesn’t have the knack for it. But I’ll show you something.” She jumped up and ran to the desk, pulling a sheaf of papers from the drawer. “This is his novel, so far. He’d kill me if I let you read it, but it’s good. I know it’s a long shot, but maybe, one day…”
“You’re proud of him, aren’t you?” her sister smiled.
“Damn straight,” Joan replied. She put the papers back in the desk.
“I am, too.” She paused for a moment. “What happened to Tara? Why did she give up magic? It seemed important to her.”
Joan picked up the empty plates and put them on the counter. “After the spell she did before you left, the one that went wrong, she lost her nerve. I don’t think witchcraft can work without confidence, and she lost hers. Nothing she tried went right after that.” She sighed. “And then, a spell backfired, and Willow ended up in the hospital. Nothing major, but Tara put it all aside. Said she had priorities. So, what are you up to this afternoon?”
“Not sure. Maybe do some shopping.”
Joan brightened. “You want me to drive you to the mall?”
“That’s okay. I was thinking of taking a walk downtown.” Dawn took another sip of her milk.
Joan’s face fell. “Be careful.”
“Downtown? In broad daylight? I don’t think any beasties will be after me. I’ll be fine.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Joan replied.
Dawn walked into Sunnydale Sports. She remembered the store, remembered buying a pair of figure skates here. It seemed smaller now. She heard a familiar voice. “Yes, Mrs. Humphries, I know it’s a pretty ball. But if your grandson plays soccer, I really don’t think that basketball’s what he’s looking for. Yes, I think that’s a much better choice.” There was something about it, the sound of it, the gentleness in dealing with the elderly lady, the humor. She’d wondered how she’d feel when she saw him again. She didn’t expect the thrill she got, just from the sound of his voice.
She could tell just by looking at his back that he had gained weight. Gone was the lithe, athletic body she’d remembered. As he walked Mrs. Humphries to the cash register, she noticed with shock his obvious limp. She’d known of his injury, known it had kept him from the game. She didn’t expect it still to be causing him pain. Her heart went out to him.
He turned with his customer towards the door. Noticed her standing there. “Miss, can I help you?” He froze. His face went slack. “Dawn?”
“Hi Alex. It’s great to see you again.”
“When…when did you get back?” Struggled for his composure. “I hadn’t heard…”
“Yesterday.” She smiled at him. He was still her handsome Alex. “I was wondering. Could we go somewhere? Get a coffee?”
“Wow. You drink coffee.” He looked confused. “You’re so grown up. You must be…”
“Twenty-one,” she finished. “I’m twenty-one now. All legal. I can even have a beer now, if you’d rather.”
“You have an accent. It’s cute.” He shook his head. “I mean, it sounds like Mr. Giles. Well, England for four years, I guess you’d pick up the accent. Coffee, sure, why not?” He called to the stockroom. “Hey, Ramone, could you come fill in for me? I’m taking my break.”
“So, that’s my sorry excuse for a life.” Alex took a bite of his donut, and washed it down with some coffee. “How about you? I figured you’d come back engaged to Prince William, at the least.”
“Actually, I was engaged,” she replied. “For about five minutes.”
“What happened?”
“He was no prince.” She picked up a napkin and wiped some powdered sugar from her mouth. “About what happened, before I left…”
“Dawn, I’m sorry. I’ve played it over a million times in my mind. I was stupid, and I almost wrecked your life.”
“No,” she said. “You didn’t. You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do. You need to know that.”
“I’d never want to hurt you, kid.”
“You may not have noticed, Alex,” she sat up straight in her chair, “but I’m not a kid anymore.”
“Believe me,” he replied. “I noticed.”
“So now what?” There was hope in her eyes. He feared it was blinding her.
“Now nothing. Now you get on with your life, and I get on with mine. You should know something Dawn.” He put his hand on hers. “I’m not good enough for you.”
Dawn was at the Giles’ home when the phone rang. Rupert picked it up. “Hello, Tara. I thought you were coming over?”
“Uncle Rupert, I…I…I’m at the hospital. It’s…it’s…oh god, can Joan come? I need her. Oh god, I can’t…”
“Tara, what’s wrong? Tell me.”
“Willow.” Her voice dropped so low he could barely hear her. “My Willow’s dead.”
Joan held her sobbing cousin. “What happened? Can you tell me what happened?”
“We were…we were crossing the road, at the light. We didn’t do anything wrong Joan, I swear. Willow didn’t do anything wrong.” Her voice rose in frenzy. “She would never do anything wrong. It wasn’t her fault, it was mine. I should have done something. It was mine…”
“Shh.” Joan held Tara tightly. “It wasn’t your fault, whatever happened. You would never want to hurt Willow.”
“A car. It came so fast. I tried to stop it, but I couldn’t. Willow, she pushed me away, but the car hit her. So much blood. My baby’s blood. She was broken, like a little doll. My little doll. Oh Joanie…”
“How could you stop it? It was a car. You couldn’t stop it. It was an accident.”
Tara’s eyes were haunted. “I tried to do a spell. I saw it coming, and I tried to do a spell to stop it. But I couldn’t. I gave up the magic and I couldn’t stop it and it’s my fault and I couldn’t stop it and it’s my fault and she’s dead and I want her and…and…” She collapsed in her cousin’s arms.
Joan helped her onto a chair. “It wasn’t your fault.” But her voice was less convincing, this time.
Tara sat with Willow’s parents. They had been shocked, at first, to know who their daughter really was, but over time their daughter’s girl had become like their own. Mrs. Rosenberg held Tara’s hand tight, sitting in her living room, greeting family and friends.
Randy and Joan stopped to speak to them. “Willow was like family.” Joan said. “We loved her.”
Anya and Rupert stood with little Ethan, clouded with sorrow. The boy took a cookie from one of the many trays. “Where’s Willow now?” he asked. “I want to see Willow.”
“Shh,” his mother hushed, picking him up and holding him close, tears in her eyes.
Dawn saw Alex talking to Mr. Rosenberg. “Can I speak to you?” she asked the younger man. “Outside?” He followed her out the sliding doors to the patio.
“This sucks,” Alex exclaimed. “She was a good person. I cared about her for a long time. I knew her. She didn’t do anything to deserve this. Her life mattered. Why couldn’t it have been me?”
“That’s stupid.” Dawn’s voice was cold. “Her life matters. Your life matters. She doesn’t have any more choices. You do.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I look at you, and I see a kind man, a good man. You have a decent job, friends, or at least you could. Randy misses you. Tara needs all the friends she can get. After all life’s thrown at you, you still have a sense of humor.” She looked into his eyes. “And you still have someone who loves you, has always loved you, no matter how much she’s tried to forget you.”
“Dawn, I…”
“Not here.” She took his hand and pulled him towards the back gate. “I remember you used to like to go for walks.”
He limped beside her. “I can’t walk as fast as I used to.”
“I don’t care.” She opened the back gate, heading towards the street. “I can take it slow, for now.”