Slayerless

There was a noise from behind her, a kind of shuffling sound. It was like someone was dragging a heavy weight and it was getting closer. Willow glanced round but there was no one there. She was in a long dark corridor that seemed to go on forever. The walls were lined with identical doors as far as the eye could see. Squinting, she tried to make out if there was anyone there but she couldn’t see anything. 

An eerie white glow seemed to be coming from underneath every door and there were voices just on the edge of hearing. With no one in sight, she tried to open the door nearest her, thinking the voices must be coming from inside. It was locked tight. Turning to the door on the other side of the hallway she tried that as well. Locked.

A frown creased her brow. This place was vaguely familiar but she couldn’t quite place exactly where she was or how she had gotten here. She stood for a moment, turning her head this way and that, looking back the way she had come and then ahead to where she was going. There was no difference and suddenly she felt a dizzying feeling of vertigo as she realised she had gotten herself all turned around - she didn’t know whether she was coming or going.

As the panic began to build in her she heard a gentle voice from directly behind her whisper “Willow”.

She spun quickly, the door behind her was wide open and she wondered briefly why she hadn’t heard a thing. Beyond the door was a large darkened room, with indistinct shapes at regular intervals. Warily she stepped into room, looking for whoever had spoken. There was no one there, just row after row of single tables, each with a plastic chair positioned directly behind it. All of them were facing her and even though there was no one sitting at the desks, Willow found herself shrinking away from the imagined scrutiny. From behind her the dragging shuffling sound came closer and she turned towards it, dreading what she might see.

The hallway on the other side of the door seemed to be incredibly bright, a pure white light streamed in, obscuring her vision. Suddenly a dark distorted shadow appeared in the doorway. Despite herself, she let out a tiny scream and backed away as quickly as possible. 

She bumped into one of the desks which she could have sworn hadn’t been as close as it ended up being. Struggling for a second, she lost her balance and crashed onto the floor. The shadow loomed larger although she still couldn’t make out what was casting it. An inhuman screech filled the air and suddenly she knew. The Hellmouth was open.

Scrabbling backwards she knew she had to get help, she wasn’t strong enough to stop this creature, the only thing she could do was get away from it and stay safe until someone else could kill it. She needed Buffy.

A tentacle reached out and latched onto her ankle, just as it had the last time. She screamed again, tears running down her face as she realised she was all alone this time; Buffy wasn’t coming to help her.

With that realisation she knew she was doomed. She screwed her eyes closed and offered up a prayer to whatever deity might happen to be listening as she felt herself being pulled towards the doorway again.

“Willow.”

Her eyes flew open at the sound of her name. The blinding white light was gone, as was the pressure around her ankle. Gingerly she pushed herself to her feet. She was no longer in the classroom and she was still very much alone. She glanced around, confused, trying to get her bearings. She was in another hallway. 

There was an antiseptic tang in the air and broad coloured stripes painted on the floor branched off into the distance. As soon as she saw them she knew instantly where she was, after all she’d been here on a daily basis for the past week. Sunnydale General Hospital. Intensive Care Unit. There were the usual beeps and schlumping sounds coming from the respirators but the ward was curiously empty.

Without making any conscious decision to move, Willow found herself heading towards room 4B – Buffy’s room. As she drew nearer, she began to hear the voices again.

Gently she opened the door and felt her jaw drop as she took in the scene before her. Buffy was lying on the bed, comatose, in the same position she’d been in since the accident. There was a glowing soft light surrounding her and all around her bedside were robed figures.

They were chanting in some arcane language and Willow could feel the nascent magicks within her respond to the sheer power of the mystical energies around her.
“What are they doing?” She whispered the question, not really expecting an answer, and was more than a little taken aback when a gentle voice came from beside her.
“It’s a lullaby”
“But she can’t sleep! Don’t they know that? I need her!” she realised how selfish that sounded and added quietly, “*we* need her.”
The taller blonde girl standing just behind her nodded sadly.
“They know, perhaps better than anyone, they know how much the world needs the Slayer. But they want to control her.”
Willow put her hands on her hips and turned to face the strange girl.
“It’s the Council isn’t it? Those … those….” She stopped, struggling for the perfect word to sum up how she felt about the Watcher’s Council and not finding it.
The blonde laughed softly, “No, it’s not the Council. They’re Mitera.”
“They’re who-now?”
“Mitera. They’ve been here since the beginning, they have a connection with the Slayer line which goes much deeper than any Watcher could ever hope to have. But they keep to the shadows, hidden, until they’re needed.”
“Why are they needed? Is it because Buffy’s in a coma, is that it?” Hope flared in Willow as she thought about women with this kind of power helping Buffy wake up. Maybe she didn’t need to be the one after all! The girl beside her shook her head.
“You don’t understand, they’re not waking her, they’re stopping her from waking. You have to stop them, before they destroy who she is.”
Willow shook her head frantically, “No, no no no no! I can’t stop them, I don’t even know who they are! Can’t someone else do it?” She pleaded with the other girl but the stranger just shook her head.
”You are the only one who can do this Willow. She needs you.” With a sweeping hand movement, she gestured towards the bed and Willow’s eyes widened even further as she saw what was happening.

The robed women were each holding tiny wickedly sharp sickles and were systematically using them to cut into Buffy. Willow tried to shout out, to take a step forward, but the eldest woman looked up and a surge of power filled her as she froze Willow to the spot. 

Her eyes completely black, the white-haired matriarch regarded the young witch and Willow felt her resolve withering against that stare. She tried to move again but she was completely immobile, tears ran down her face as she realised she was powerless. The other women continued slicing into her friend and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

From the foot of the bed one of the Mitera choked back a sob as she wielded her knife. Holding her hand above the Slayer’s abdomen, she gently brought the blade down and carved out a small piece of flesh. Carefully, almost reverentially she placed it in a porcelain bowl and carried it to the side of the room. Her face was hidden by the cowl of her robe and only a few strands of ash-blonde hair escaped. Willow stared at the woman in horror as a vague sense of recognition formed. 

As Willow watched in shock, the light that surrounded Buffy grew to encompass the bowl. It grew brighter until she was forced to shut her eyes against the glare. Through her eyelids she could sense a flash and then the brightness was gone. She opened her eyes again and blinked furiously to clear her vision – the bowl with its gruesome contents was gone, and in its place was a young girl. It was Dawn, the girl Xander had brought to Giles’ apartment.

A whimper from the bed dragged Willow’s attention back to the macabre scene before her. Buffy was awake! Her friend stared at her, pleading with her eyes as the matriarch held a sickle above her heart. As the blade plunged down, the Slayer whispered, “Help me.”

Willow lunged forward screaming. Something was still holding her back and as she struggled against the blockage she realised all the light had gone. Abruptly she was clear and fell to the ground with a thump. Dazed a little, she looked around for the women who had been carving up her friend only to realise they weren’t there. No one was there. She was in her own room, lying on the floor at the foot of her bed. Pushing herself onto her hands and knees, she took a deep breath and tried to calm her nerves. Had it all been a dream then?

Shakily she reached for the bedside lamp and breathed a sigh of relief as the glow filled the room chasing away the remnants of the dream. She puzzled over it for a moment, it wasn’t very often that her dreams were so vivid or so easy to recall when she was awake. Sitting on the bed she remembered what the blonde girl had told her about these women who were attacking Buffy – the Mitera she’d called them. Maybe Giles knew who they were. She reached for the phone and dialled the number, not caring what time it was. As she waited for an answer she saw in her mind’s eye the expression on Buffy’s face and heard the pleading in her voice as she’d whispered “Help me.” 

to be continued....