Chapter 1
“Okay, time for little girls to be in bed.”
The blonde shook her head adamantly. “I’m not sleepy. Can you read me a story, Mommy?”
Joyce had a hard time saying no to her, but knew that she had to. “Daddy and I have a lot to talk about, Buffy. I’ll read to you tomorrow. Now, let’s get you all tucked in.”
She nodded and snuggled under the blankets.
Joyce pressed a kiss to her daughter’s forehead. “Sweet dreams, baby.”
Buffy smiled. “Night, Mommy.”
Joyce watched her little angel for a while longer, then left the room and closed the door behind her.
* * * * *
Buffy was ripped out of slumber by a loud noise coming from downstairs, jumping out of bed to see what it was. She heard voices and stood at the top of the stairs, kneeling down to look through the railing. She saw her parents arguing with another man that she wasn’t familiar with.
“Please, take whatever you want. Just leave us alone,” Hank Summers pleaded.
The man shook his head, reaching into his pocket to draw out a gun. “This ends here,” he spat, pulling the trigger and shooting Hank in the chest.
Joyce screamed and ran to her fallen husband’s side.
“It was just him that I wanted, but I can’t leave any witnesses.” He pulled the trigger a second time, a bullet landing in Joyce’s head.
She slumped to the floor next to the body of her husband.
Buffy gasped from the top of the stairs, tears streaming down her face.
He glanced up at her, not knowing that a child was in the house. He couldn’t take any chances and aimed the gun towards her, about to pull the trigger again, but was stopped by the sound of sirens outside. He wanted to deal with the cops even less and after giving one more look to the little girl, made his way out of the house. There wasn’t much she could do, anyway.
Buffy remained there in shock as a few police officers barged into the house.
They ran over to the bodies on the floor to feel for a pulse, but there were none.
“Hey, Miller? There’s a kid up there.”
The one in lead looked up at Buffy, carefully moving up the stairs as to not startle her. “It’s okay, you’re safe now. Let’s get you out of here.” He picked the child up and carried her down the stairs, knowing that it would be a very long night.
* * * * *
“Where is Buffy? I’m Anne Giles, a friend of her parents. I heard about what happened and that she was brought here.”
Officer Graham Miller nodded and led the distraught woman to the back of the station. “She’s still in a state of shock. We tried talking to her, but she hasn’t spoken a word to anyone yet.”
Anne took in the sight of Buffy sitting in a chair, a lost look on her face. Seeing your parents murdered was nothing for a six-year-old child to experience.
“Maybe you can get through to her,” he commented.
Anne kneeled down in front of the little girl, grasping both of her small hands. “Do you remember me, honey? We met a couple of times.”
Buffy finally focused on the person in front of her, more tears falling from her eyes. “I want my mommy and daddy. I saw them get hurt, but the people took me away.”
Anne’s heart was breaking for the child. “I’m sorry, sweetheart,” was all she could manage to get out.
“Where’s my mommy? I wanna go home.”
Anne held the sobbing girl to her chest, not knowing what else to do.
* * * * *
“Does she have any other relatives close by to stay with?”
Anne shook her head. “Not that I know of.”
Officer Miller sighed. “I suppose there’s always foster care.”
Anne didn’t like the idea of Buffy getting sent to some foster home, where she wouldn’t know anyone. “I could take her. I mean, I knew her parents. I would hate for Buffy to live with strangers.”
He thought about it, then nodded after a moment. “I’ll see what I can do.”
Anne nodded as well, knowing that she made the right decision.
* * * * *
“Come on in, Buffy. You don’t have to be scared.”
She took in her new surroundings, feeling out of place and wishing to see her parents again.
A little boy then came barreling down the stairs, staring at her curiously.
Anne smiled. “This is William, my son. You’ve met him before, but I don’t know if you would remember. William, this is Buffy. She’ll be staying here with us. I want you to make her feel welcome, all right?”
William nodded and took her hand in his. “I’ll show you my room.” He pulled her upstairs, not bothering to wait for a response.
Anne watched them go, already having a feeling that they would get along great.
* * * * *
“You can play with my toys if you want. I have a lot.”
She looked around his room.
“What happened to your mummy?” he asked after a moment.
Buffy felt saddened before answering him. “She’s in Heaven now. My daddy’s taking care of her.”
“My grandmum’s in Heaven, too. It’s a nice place, you don’t have to worry. My mummy always tells me how happy she is there. You wanna play a game?”
She nodded and noticed that he talked funny, but stayed silent and watched him take out Candy Land for them to play. It was always her favorite game.
* * * * *
“It was horrible, Rupert. Someone broke into their house and shot Joyce and Hank; the poor child saw the whole thing. I couldn’t just let them put her in a foster home.”
Rupert Giles nodded. “I couldn’t imagine going through something like that. They were such kind people. We’ll make a nice home for her here.”
Anne smiled and placed a kiss to her husband’s cheek. “Thank you, I knew you would understand. Joyce and Hank loved that little girl very much, I’m sure they would be happy to know that we were caring for her now. And it would be nice for William to have someone close to his age to play with; he’s always keeping to himself.”
Giles had to agree. At only eight-years-old, William was a very bright young boy. He wasn’t like other children his age. Instead of playing ball with the other boys, he would rather be inside with his books. He was always so shy and hardly associated at all with the other kids at school. Giles prayed that Buffy would be able to bring William out of his shell.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!