Duped and Dropped

By Buffyfire

Disclaimer: This is the thrid entry in my series. I don't own any of these characters, just the plotline.

Part 1

Buffy nearly dropped the plate that she was putting away. She looked at her mom with terror-filled eyes.

"You've got to be kidding me," she said bluntly, "I've been out of school a week and already you're trying to get rid of me?"

"I think it would be good for you," said Joyce, "I don't want you spending all summer cooped up here. The only time I ever see you leave this house is at night. A couple of weeks outdoors in the sunlight won't hurt you."

"But mom, camping? Aren't I a little old for this?" she shoved the plate into the cupboard, then turned to face her mother.

"Not for this group. They're mostly high school students."

"But I won't know anyone."

"That's exactly my point. You'll make some friends. Buffy, you need to make a change. All you ever do is go to that stupid dance club with the same four people. I want you to at least try something new and exciting."

Buffy cringed at the irony of her mother's words, thinking, If you only knew.

"Maybe I like those four people," she said.

"Buffy!"

Uh oh, Buffy thought, not her warning/threatening tone. Now I'll never get out of it.

Joyce sighed, "Please, just this once take my wise, motherly advice and if you don't have fun, I promise, I won't push you to go, next year."

Buffy hated making her mom plead with her.

"Alright," she gave in, "but just this once and NEVER again."


"Camping!"

A million emotions came into the word when Xander said it. He obviously was no fan of the great outdoors.

"That's what *I* said," said Buffy, taking a sip of her soda.

"Outside for two weeks with the bugs and the bears and the other weird creatures of the night!"

"I know, and it's not like I don't get enough of that around here. It's so unfair." She slipped her sunglasses onto her face as the sun rose high over the outdoor café' where she sat with her friends.

"I think it sounds like fun," said Willow, "just try looking at this from a positive view. At least you get a break from slaying. It's like a vacation."

"But it's two whole weeks! We could all be dead by the time she gets back," said Xander.

"He has a point," Buffy agreed, "vampires don't go on vacation. I don't know what could happen while I'm gone. I don't like leaving you two here but, I don't know what- hey, why don't you guys come with me?"

"Oh no," said Xander, "you won't catch me out there, a million miles from everything I hold near and dear. I'm not risking another '6th Grade Camp Fiasco'. No way!"

"Ok, I've obviously missed something," said Buffy, waiting for an explanation.

"You know how everyone goes on a hike at 6th Grade Camp? Well, Xander got lost on his and after all this time, he makes way too big a deal out of it," Willow explained.

"I was missing for two days!" yelled Xander in protest.

"We'll keep an eye on you. Please, don't make me do this alone," Buffy pleaded.

"I'll go," said Willow.

"C'mon, Xander," Buffy persisted, "it's either that, or you can stay here in boring Sunnydale and watch you're summer slowly pass you by. It's your choice." Xander sighed a rather annoyed sigh, "Fine, but if I get lost..."

"You can blame me all you want."


"You're going camping?"

This was a new reaction. It landed somewhere in between disgust and asking "Why?" Angel sat across from Buffy with a perplexed look on his face.

"It's not my fault. My mom thinks I'm not having enough social interaction or something like that. She keeps telling me that it would be good for me." Buffy had to speak loudly on account of the music coming from the stage and the other conversations in the room which added to the regular noise of the Bronze.

"Have you told Giles, yet?"

"He hit the roof. He thinks so much like Xander that it scares me. They both seem to think that the world will come to an end if I leave."

"What are Xander and Willow gonna do?"

"I convinced them to come with me."

"So, basically, you're telling me that I'm gonna be bored for the next two weeks."

"Sorry," she said, shrugging.

"When do you leave?"

"Crack of dawn, Saturday morning."

"Are you still going to Cordelia's party, Friday night?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

"Good, I'll need company."

The slowed music and became softer.

"You wanna dance?" he asked.

Buffy yawned, "A quick one. I'm tired."

A few minutes later, the song was over and they were on their way out.


The next two days went by slowly and Buffy had little sleep. She was used to having fits of insomnia where she couldn't explain it, but her body refused to let her sleep. However, this made Giles very happy, because whenever she couldn't sleep, she would go out hunting.

On Friday evening, after an hour of hunting, when she entered her room through the window, she received a surprise. Angel sat on her bed waiting for her.

"Did you forget something?" he asked her.

"Huh?" she was obviously confused.

"The party."

Buffy gasped as it came back to her, "Oh, my God, I completely forgot!"

She rushed to her closet and clumsily fumbled with a blue, long-sleeved shirt and some black pants. She pulled the clothes roughly from the closet.

"Would this look good?" she asked him.

"Buffy, relax," he told her, "we have plenty of time. She won't mind if we're a little late."

"I know," she said, as she pulled on the shirt, "I just hate being late for these things."

Angel could hear the stress in her voice and asked her, "Are you Ok?"

"I'm fine," she said firmly, then realizing that she had sounded almost mean when she'd said it, she added, "Sorry, I just haven't had much sleep lately. I'm a little worn out."

"Would you rather stay home tonight?"

"No! My mom is on one of her rampages. Believe me, I welcome the chance to get out. If I stay here with her, I guarantee that one of us won't make it out alive," she yawned.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes! Look, why don't you wait for me outside? I'll be out in a little bit."

He shrugged and left the room, the same way he had entered, through the window. A few minutes later, she was done and down the stairs.

"Bye, Mom!" she called through the house.

"Wait, honey!" Joyce ran into the room, "Have you packed, yet?"

"I can do it, when I get home."

"Well, don't stay out too late. I don't want to have to get you up tomorrow."

"Don't worry, mom. I'll be up and out of the house, before you even
wake up."

"Well, alright, you, have fun."

"Bye, Mom," Buffy kissed her mother then left the house to meet Angel outside.

They walked briskly to Cordelia's house and finally reached it by 9:30. It was a huge house with a canyon for a backyard. In fact, because it was in the hills, there were quite a few canyons around.

Buffy knocked on the door, then lifted a hand to her hair to check for and bumps or loose hairs. Before she finished, the door opened and Cordelia stood on the other side.

"It's about time, get in here," she said.

They entered the house and found their friends inside. Willow and Xander stood by one of the windows talking. From where they were standing, they could survey the entire room, which consisted mostly of old people. The party was more Cordelia's parents' than it was hers. A few teenagers, who Cordelia explained were her cousins, lingered in various parts of the room.

"Hey," said Buffy to her friends upon arriving at the window.

"Hi," they both drawled obviously paying no attention. Instead their eyes were deeply focused on a corner of the room, where three girls were sitting.

"Uh, what are we looking at?" asked Buffy, turning her attention to the same corner.

"See those girls over there?" said Willow, "According to Cordelia, one of them's a man. We can't tell which one, yet, but I think it's the in the middle."

"The one on the left," said Buffy.

"I'm telling you Wil, it's the one on the right," Xander insisted.

"No, she's right," said Angel, "It's the middle one, look at her shoulders. Women simply don't have shoulders like that."

"What's wrong with her shoulders?" asked Buffy.

"They're too broad, look at them."

This continued for the next twenty minutes until Cordelia returned to them and declared that they were all wrong. They had been looking in the wrong corner. She showed them who it was and they all said, "oh" simultaneously.

The night went tolerably well. The only real problems were that first, two of Cordelia's cousins tried to pick up on Xander and Angel. Buffy having had very little sleep lately, was cranky and had a very short fuse. The situation nearly resulted in a fistfight and ended with Angel lifting Buffy up from the ground and actually carrying her to a separate part of the room. The second problem was Cordelia's uncle, who had made a complete spectacle of himself by getting completely drunk, not more than halfway through the night. By the end of the party, he was passed out on the couch.

At midnight, Buffy and Angel announced that they would be leaving.

"Are you guys walking?" asked Cordelia.

"We kinda have to, unless you're willing to give us a ride," said Buffy.

"Sorry, I can't, but you can probably take Uncle Tony's car. He's too drunk to drive home, so, he'll be staying here tonight."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's no problem. Before you leave, tomorrow, leave the keys under the front seat and I'll come by and pick up the car."

Tony's car was a beautiful, red '95 Corvette without a scratch on it. Buffy didn't think she would ever be more thankful to have her license.


"Be careful with it," said Cordelia, "Tony's very protective of this car. He treats it better he treats than his own kids, who thank God aren't here to see him like this."

Buffy hopped into the front seat and started it up. It purred like a kitten. She backed out of the driveway and soon they were on a winding road, back to town. When they were finally alone, Angel said to her, "You're really enjoying this aren't you?"

"Oh, yeah, I love this car and I'm normally a car person."

"Well, don't get too attached."

Buffy smirked at him, "Why are you jealous?"

"Of a car? Why, should I be?"

"Probably."

Angel laughed, "Don't tell me I'm being replaced."

"I don't know, my mom says that if I get good enough grades this year, she'll buy me a car as a graduation present. I think I want this one."

"You do know I'm gonna make you chose right? It's me or the car, Buffy."

Buffy was silent for a moment, then burst out laughing. It was harder than she'd laughed this in weeks. She was finally truly enjoying herself. She stepped harder on the gas and rounded the corners, quickly on the curvy road.

Buffy saw a turn ahead and realized almost too late that she was going too fast to round it safely. Had it not been for the truck on the other side of the street, rounding the corner at exactly the same time, they would have made it. Instead, the Corvette broke through the fence at the side of the road, and went right down the side of the canyon. It rolled on its side down the hill, throwing its passengers violently against the interior of the car. Finally, it reached the bottom, where it stopped, but not for long. The ground from underneath the car, collapsed. The car fell into an underground tunnel, where it stayed, with both passengers still inside and completely unconscious.


"Alright everyone, let's get going."

Willow checked her equipment, then followed the rest of the group.

"C'mon, Xander," she said as she passed him.

"Where in the world is Buffy?" he asked.

"I don't know, but I'm sure she'll catch up. She probably just slept in, this morning. You know Buffy, she hasn't been sleeping lately, she'll be here." Xander shrugged, then picked up his backpack and followed her up the path.

"I can't believe they're making us hike to each camp," he complained.

"And in the hot sun on top of that," Willow added. To make matters worse, within three minutes of walking, the entire group had started singing.

"She better be here," said Xander.

They walked for what seemed like forever to a flimsy camp, which was nowhere near the effort it took to get there. The cabins were old, dirty and didn't even have running water. Willow found the girls cabin and settled in, or at least she tried to. She put her sleeping bag on the bed and listened to the loud squeak that it made. When she sat on it, her opinion of the camp worsened, when a large group of rodents ran out from under it. She screamed as a snake chased a rat from the room.


One of the other girls said to her, "Don't worry, it's just a garden snake, it won't hurt you."

Willow didn't care. The idea of animals living under her bed brought back a lot of childhood trauma. She promised herself that if she saw any frogs, she was going home.

Xander's experience wasn't much better. He was surrounded by tree-huggers and nerds. The kid he shared a bunk with was allergic to just about everything. The only decent kid in the whole cabin was a tall boy named Matt Lyndoc who recognized Xander from English class.

"Hey," said Matt to get his attention.

Xander looked up at him and replied with a "Hi." Matt approached him and said, "You seem to want to be here as much as I do. What dragged you out into the middle of nowhere?"

"A girl."

"You too? Who you here for?"

"Buffy Summers, well, she was supposed to be here, anyway."

"What happened?"

"I don't know, but she didn't show this morning. How about you?"

"Michelle Marks. When I heard she'd be out here, I couldn't resist, but hey, aren't you going out with Cordelia Chase?"

"Yeah, I was doing this as a favor to Buffy, we're just friends. She has a boyfriend."

"Really? Who's she going out with?"

"Uh, someone not from our school. She's into the older men."

"Oh, hey, why don't you bunk with me? My bottom bunk is empty and I don't want you to catch any of that kids nerd germs. I need someone to hang with out here."

"Sure," said Xander, glad that finally something was going right.

He moved his stuff to the bottom bunk and then he and Matt went outside to find Willow. They found her sitting alone on a bench outside of her bunk.

"What's wrong, Will? Are the other kids not playing nice?"

She looked up at him with disgust, "Why did we let ourselves get dragged out here? There are animals living under my bed."

"It's not much better in our cabin," said Matt.

"Yeah, we're up to our ears in nerds," added Xander.

"Sounds like fun," she said sarcastically.

"Oh, it is, me and Matt here take bets on who's gonna have the next asthma attack."

"Do you have any friends in your cabin?" asked Matt as the three of them started to walk around.

"No," said Willow, "everyone is so rugged. Except for Michelle, who's nice, but she doesn't talk to me at all. She keeps to herself, mostly."

"Well maybe, she'll come out her shell by the end of the trip."

"I hope so, I don't want to be bored this whole time."

"And if you're really lucky, Buffy will show up soon," said Xander.

Part 2

"Mmmm," Buffy moaned as she turned over. It took her a moment to realize that she was not at home in her bed, where she'd hoped to be. She opened her eyes and to find only darkness. She sat up quickly and looked around to find that she was in, what looked like, a cave or underground tunnel. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she realized that it was, in fact, a tunnel that was about thirty feet long and ten feet wide. Large piles of rocks, which reached to the fifteen foot,
high ceiling, blocked off both ends as though the sides had been caved in on purpose. A huge hole was in the ceiling, through which, she could see the moon and below the hole was a beat-up, red '95 Corvette.

A second later, she realized that she wasn't wearing a shirt. There was some type of bandage all over her left shoulder. In fact there were bandages all over her body.

"Buffy?"

She looked around, "Angel?"

Angel stepped groggily from a shadow, where she guessed he had been sleeping. He walked to where she sat and knelt beside her.

"Are you Ok?" he asked.

"I don't know, I think so, I just- Ow!"

She tried to get up and quickly learned not to put weight on her left wrist.

"Where's my shirt?" she asked.

"It's over here."

He walked to the car, where the blood on her shirt was drying.

"Sorry, but I had to get to your shoulder," he said handing it to her.

"It's alright," she said as she put it on carefully.

"So, where are we?" she asked.

"Some kind of underground cave, I think."

"No, it's- it's more like a tunnel or something. Look at these pipes."

She touched one of the pipes that lined the wall and quickly took her hand back. The pipes were scalding hot and dripping with water. They were obviously water pipes, which led to the nearby community of houses.

"Well, how do you propose we get out of here?" she asked.

"I don't know, the ceiling's too high to climb out."

"If you give me a boost, I can probably jump to the top."

"Maybe, but we should wait a couple days."

"What! I don't want be down here that long. How will we survive down here for two days? There's no food and no water."

"There's plenty of water, all we need to do is break a pipe. Unfortunately, food is another story, seeing as how there's nothing down here." Buffy sat down against the wall and he took a seat next to her.

"Don't worry," he said, "someone will realize that you're missing and eventually, they'll get us out of here. They'll notice that you're not there for that camping trip and they'll call your house."

"The camping trip! I think they come through this canyon on their way to the last camp, they may pass by here."

"But, they won't show up for another couple weeks. Can you last that long?"

As he spoke, she got up and went to the car. She was looking for her purse, which she had thrown in the back seat.

"I don't know, probably" she told him, "and what's all this 'you' stuff? You're down here too, remember. I-" It was then that she glanced into the front seats. There was blood covering them. Her attention was especially drawn to the passenger side. There was much more blood where he'd been sitting than in the driver's seat.

"Oh, my God," she said, "you won't last that long will you? How long can you go?"

"About as long as you can, probably no more than ten days. If that fall hadn't taken so much out of me, I would say longer, but under the circumstances... If we're lucky some animal will fall in here, that way we're both saved, if not..." he trailed off.

"Well, what am I, chopped liver? I mean, if worse comes to worst you can always-"

"No."

"And why not? I'll let you."

"No!" he crossed his arms as if to say "End of discussion."

God, he's being stubborn, she thought.

"Well, you may feel differently in a few days," she said.


Grrrrrr, not again, thought Willow.

This was the third puddle she'd stepped in today. She hated hiking. She also hated the fact that they moved to a new camp every three days. She had, what felt like, a ton of equipment strapped to her back, about a million bug bites and a very muddy right foot. The more she camped, the less she liked it. Xander, on the other hand, was having a blast. He and Matt, were near the front of the line laughing and doing manly things, which left Willow with virtually nothing to do, accept to bring up the rear with Jenny Ledger and Michelle Marks.

A few steps later, she found herself on the ground. She looked at her feet and seeing the tree branch she had tripped over, growled to herself again.

"Are you Ok?"

Willow looked up and saw Michelle standing above her with an out-stretched hand. Willow took it and got to her feet.

"Yeah, I think so," she answered as they began to walk.

"You don't seem to be having much fun," said Michelle.

"I'm not, hopefully this next campsite will be better than the last one."

"Could you believe that place? I'll be picking leaves out of my hair for weeks."

"You're lucky all you had was leaves."

Michelle smiled, "So, is trip this the only thing getting you down?"

God, am I that obvious? Willow thought.

"Well, there's that and there's the fact that I've been abandoned by my best friends."

"They're your best friends?" Michelle asked, gesturing to Xander and Matt.

"Actually, just Xander, I don't know Matt that well. My other best friend duped me into coming here and then didn't even show up herself. What about you? No offense, but you really don't seem like the camping type."

"My parents made me go. They make me go every year."

"Is it always this bad?"

"Actually, this has been the best trip yet."

"What make this better than any other year? Isn't it the exact same trip?"

"Well," Michelle sounded almost sheepish, "Matt's never been on one before. That's a good enough reason for me."

"Oh," said Willow suddenly understanding her motives, "Why don't you talk to him? I mean, I don't know either of you really well, but I've never thought of either of you as shy. Life is short, seize the moment. My friend, Buffy told me that."

"Buffy Summers? You're friends with her?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"She just seems so weird. She's always hanging around in that creepy library and she gets into a lot of trouble."

"She's a big reader and the getting into trouble part, think of it like a curse or something. She really tries to stay away from a bad situation, when she can." Michelle shrugged, "So, you really think I should talk to him?"

"You'll never know how he feels unless you ask him."

"You're right. I don't know what people are talking about, you're not so bad."

"Thanks...I think."

They continued to walk for another hour or so until finally they reached the camp. This one wasn't much to look at, but at least its cabins had utilities. There were two boy's cabins and two girl's cabins. Michelle invited Willow to bunk with her, which Willow graciously did. They had a race for top bunk and Willow won, just barely.

In the boys' cabin, again Matt and Xander also bunked together. This time Xander got the top bunk. After settling in, they went outside to find Willow and were surprised to see Michelle with her. The four of them walked around for awhile and tried to find something to do, only to find that there wasn't much. Finally, Michelle said, "I know, follow me you guys."

Not seeing any other options, they followed her.

"I've been on this trip so many times that I've learned everything about the area around it," she explained to them.

She took them through the forest until they came to a path, which ran along side a spring. At the end of the path was a clearing and in this clearing was a waterfall and a bunch of large rocks, which formed a circle. In the middle was a smaller circle for building a fire.

"Wow!" said Matt.

"How did you manage to dig up this place?" asked Xander.

"Like I said, I come here every year," she replied, "I came across this place years ago and I've come back every year ever since."

She ran to one of the rocks and lifted it up, "Oh, my God, I can't believe it's still here. I'm surprised no one's stolen it, yet."

She pulled from under the stone a long stick with small stones in its crevices and a large piece of crystal attached to one end. With this came three green stones and two red ones, which had fallen off of the stick.

"What is all this?" asked Willow.

"This," she said holding up the stick, "is a witch's wand. These stones fell off of it, but I can't figure out how to put them back. I found these things here when I found this place. I think witch's used to use this place to cast spells, that's why there's two circles of rocks."

"Can I see it?" asked Xander.

"Sure," she handed him the wand.

He sat down on a rock, picked up the stones and one by one, found a place for each, where they stayed.

"How'd you do that?" she asked, "I've been trying to figure that out for years."

"I don't know," he answered, "I just did."

He shrugged and handed the wand back to Michelle when suddenly, the sound of a whistle filled the air. The four of them turned to the sound, then looked at each other in annoyance, knowing that the whistle meant that they would have to leave.

"That means dinner," said Matt, "hey everyone, meet back here at midnight tonight. We'll have a round of scary stories."

They all agreed, then headed back to camp.

That night at 11:55, Willow and Michelle sneaked out of their cabin. It was harder than they'd expected due to the parent chaperones surrounding each cabin. They had to distract one by throwing a rock in the opposite direction. Upon hearing the noise, she went to where she'd heard it, giving girls the chance to dash into the forest. They arrived in the clearing right on time and found the guys waiting for them. They had already started a fire in the small circle and they sat on the rocks around it.

"You guys have any trouble getting out here?" asked Xander.

"Just a little," Michelle replied, "who's going first?"

"Well, since I'm the one who called us all out here, I'll go first," said Matt, "Now my story is true and it happened in this forest."

"You'd be surprised how many times I've heard that one," said Xander.

"Seriously, this is a true story. A few years ago, there were reports of hunters being mauled by something in this forest."

"Those were reported as bear attacks," said Willow.

"You're right, they were *reported* as bear attacks, but it was never proven. A friend of mine was up here hunting last year, with his dad and he said he saw something. One thing he assured me was that this was no bear, it was way too big. He shot at it, which made it run off."

"And this is scary, how?" asked Willow.

"You, guys don't believe me? You will, when the attacks start."

"Oh, please," said Michelle, "I come up here every year and we've never once been attacked."

"That's because you're surrounded by adults with hunting rifles 24 hours a day. If it found us out here right now, none of us would make it out of here alive."

"Ok, you're turn is up," said Xander, "let's move on to something else."

"What's wrong, Xander, afraid?"

"Yes, I'm afraid of falling asleep in the middle of you're story and being left out here."

"Ok, but when the attacks start, just remember, you've been warned."

That was the last they talked of Matt's giant creature. Going around the circle, they each told a mildly scary story, then deiced to leave.

"Wait!" said Michelle, "I have one more story."

Xander yawned, "Make it fast, I'm tired."

They all sat back down on the rocks and she began. "I tell this story every year, right here in this spot. Strangely, I have a bigger crowd than usual to tell it to this year.

"Well, this story begins about ten years ago, the first time that I went on this trip. I was wandering around these woods and I got lost, I was missing into the night. At around midnight, I stumbled into this place and saw eight women. Just by looking at them I could see where they stood with each other. Three of them were working together; they were taking water from the stream and filling these big, clay jugs. Two of them were off in different directions, they didn't seem to exactly belong to the group; they seemed really distant. One of them was overseeing everything, she was the leader. Two women stood at her sides, they were like her friends, servants, bodyguards, and advisors all rolled into one.

"The leader saw me. She called all of the women into a circle, then asked me to join them. I was afraid at first, but as I got closer, I saw they're faces, which were, strangely, comforting. The leader was very beautiful. She had long red hair, like fire and dark green eyes. The others varied. They each had kind of an exotic look to them. They would have dark hair and bright blue eyes or blonde hair with eyes that looked almost black and all of them were like this. Well, we stood in a circle and joined hands. They all began to chant something. It's been so long, now, that I don't even remember what we said, but for some reason, I started to do it too. It was like something was controlling me and when it was over, I looked like this."

She took out her wallet and showed them a picture of when she was seven.

"Before that trip, I looked like this." She took out another picture in which she looked very different. Her hair was light blonde in this picture and her eyes were hazel, unlike at that moment, when her hair was so dark that in the night it looked black and her eyes shone like emeralds in the firelight.

"That's impossible," said Matt.

"That's what *I* said," Michelle continued, "When we broke the circle, the leader gave me her wand and told me that I could never take it away from here or there would be consequences. She also said that after fifteen years, they would return here and they wanted me to join them when they did. I looked at this wand for a long time and when I looked up, they were all gone. I was found about an hour later, by one of the group leaders."

"How many people have told this to?" asked Willow.

"I don't know. No one's believed me, but I continue to come here every year and tell my story to anyone who decides to become my friend and is willing to listen," She put the wand back under the rock, "Now, I think we should get back."

They all stood and left the site with thoughts of, "Wow" on their minds.

On the way back, Michelle and Matt walked together. They talked about miscellaneous things, but waited until Xander and Willow were far enough ahead that they wouldn't be able hear the conversation before getting serious with each other.

Xander noticing that they had slowed down, turned around and called to them "Hey guys, hurry up."

"Why don't you two go ahead, we need to talk," said Matt.

Xander shrugged, then challenged Willow to a race back to camp.

It started off as talking, as Matt had said. Eventually, they got to holding hands, then he put his arm around her and before either of them knew it they up against a tree, making out.

They had been there for a few in minutes, when they heard a sound. They stopped their lip-lock and scanned the area to find what had caused the sound.

"What was that?" Michelle asked.

"Let's get out of here," said Matt.

"You don't actually think it's that monster, do you?"

"I don't know, but I really don't like it out here, let's go."

They started to walk towards the camp, when they heard the sound again. They turned around for a second, then began to run but stopped dead in their tracks, when in front of them stepped one of the group leaders.

"What are you two doing out of your bunks?" he asked. They both started with things like, "Uh" and "Well" but before either could finish a sentence, something jumped from the woods and attacked the leader, throwing him to the ground. He screamed for a few seconds, then stopped suddenly. They couldn't see too well in the darkness, but whatever this thing was, it was big. They both ran and they didn't stop until, they reached camp. Xander and Willow were waiting for them outside their cabins, unafraid of being found out since the rest of the leaders had finally gone to bed.

"What happened?" asked Willow.

They frantically explained what had happened, stopping every few seconds to take a deep breath.

"Where's Buffy when you need her?" said Willow, who was greatly annoyed.

"We need to get this thing," said Xander, "if it comes here and happens to go into a cabin..."

"Get it with what?" said Willow, "We don't even know what this thing is, how are we gonna stop it."

"Matt, you said that a gun scared it away?"

"Yeah."

"Then we need to get a gun."

"How?" asked Willow.

"I think I may know."

A few minutes later, the four of them were in front of the leaders' cabin. They headed around to one of the windows and looked inside.

"They have rifles in there," said Xander, "If we can get one, we can maybe stop this thing before it can get anyone else."

"How do propose that we get one?" asked Michelle.

"There," he pointed to a door at the other end of the room, "They keep all their equipment in that room, c'mon."

They walked around to the back of the cabin and found a window leading into the equipment room. There they were: all ten hunting rifles lined up neatly against the wall. Xander opened the window and stepped in quietly. He tiptoed across the room to the rifles and picked up two then handed them through the window. He grabbed a few boxes of bullets, then jumped out the window.

"How do these thing work?" asked Michelle.

"Just point and shoot," said Xander.

He showed them how to hold them and how to aim. Matt had some experience, which Xander knew would come in handy. Matt went with Michelle, Xander teamed up with Willow, and each pair took a different direction.

"So, what do you think this thing is?" asked Willow when they were well into their path.

"I'm not sure, but Matt may not be as full of it as I thought."

"You think it's that monster?"

"Either that or a really big bear."

They had only walked a little further when they heard it, a low growl coming from the woods. They looked all around, but it was too dark.

"There," Willow pointed to where the growl had come from. Xander stepped toward it, carefully when suddenly, something came from the woods. It attacked Willow and knocked her to the ground. Xanderdidn't waste anytime, he shot seven bullets into the creature until finally it stopped moving.

"Willow!" he pulled the creature off of her as she moaned in pain, "are you alright?"

"I-I think so," she said shakily. Xander turned to see what had attacked her, only to find that the creature was gone.

"C'mon, Will, we gotta move," he pulled her to her feet, but she didn't go very far. Finally, he picked her up and carried her back to camp. When they arrived, Michelle and Matt were already there and Matt's leg was bleeding heavily.

"Did you see it?" Matt asked.

"Yeah, it attacked Willow," Xander said, putting her down on the bench, where they were sitting. She had a large scratch on her arm and she was slightly dazed, but other than that was fine.

"That means there's more than one," Michelle realized.

"I put five bullets into its back as it ran off, but it didn't even slow down," said Matt.

"When I shot it, I think I paralyzed it for a second, but it ran off before I could get a good look."

"Where'd you shoot it?" asked Michelle.

"The back mostly, I did hit it once in the head, though, that might of done it."

"Xander, you better return these," said Willow, gesturing to the guns and bullets.

"Good idea. You two, get him inside and be quiet. If anyone wakes up, we're all dead."

They took Matt inside and put him on his bed. Luckily, this cabin had separated rooms, so they didn't have to worry about waking anyone up. Xander returned a little while later.

"I can't believe we pulled that off," he said, hopping onto his bed. The girls had wrapped Matt's leg tightly, so it wouldn't bleed all over the place. They then had to wrap Willow's arm, which was also bleeding.

Michelle and Willow hurried to their cabin, which luckily was nearby and locked the door to their room. Whatever had attacked them now had a whiff of Matt and Willow's bloods. It could probably trace them if it wanted to.

Willow took the bottom bunk, since it would be hard to climb to the top, with only one arm. They talked a little, but it didn't take long before their fatigue overtook them and they were both asleep.

Part 3

"Ready?"

"Go!"

Buffy ran at top speed and jumped onto Angel's hand. He pushed her up to the top of the hole and she grabbed onto the edge with her arms. She looked around for something to hang onto, but unfortunately, couldn't find anything in time and began to slip. Before she knew it, she was falling back into the hole. Angel tried to catch her, but she knocked him down and they both hit the floor of the tunnel with an "Oof!"

"You Ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," she sighed, "but, we should have done this the other day, before it rained."

"You wouldn't have made it the other day," he told her, "your arm wasn't healed enough."

Angel sat frustrated against the wall. Things were not going well, they'd been trying this jump all night and she still wasn't out of the hole. It had been seven days since they'd fallen down there and they were both getting extremely weak. The fact was, though, Buffy was right if they had tried this, the other day, she probably would have made it, she was stronger then, they both were.

She leaned against him and asked, "What are we gonna do?"

"I don't know."

"Hey, I have an idea!" she said.

"What?"

"If you were a little stronger, you could push me up farther and then, I might be able to get out." Angel gave her an annoyed look. He knew full well what she was getting at.

"Oh, come on," she said, upon seeing the look, "the only reason we can't get out of here is because you won't let me help you. Why should we both have to suffer?"

"Buffy, if I take blood from you, it'll only make you weaker, giving you less time."

"Time for what? All it does is give me a few more days to suffer down here. I am willing to get out of here any way I can."

Angel didn't answer her.

"Look," she said, "I understand what you're going through, but please try to understand what I am. If I can get out of here, I can go get help to get you out. Just think about it. Actually, for now, sleep on it, it's almost morning."

He put his arms around her and leaned his head against the wall. She'd come accustomed to sleeping during the day, so that she could be with him at night. Every morning, before falling asleep, she made a silent prayer that she wouldn't wake up the next evening to a pile of dust. She didn't get the chance to this time; she fell asleep before she could. The next evening, she woke up at 9:00. She seemed to wake up at a later time, every night, weakness was causing her to sleep more.

"Hmm...Angel, wake up," she said.

When he remained asleep, she shook him slightly, but he was still. She soon realized that he wasn't sleeping, he was unconscious. She suddenly remembered something in a book that Giles had made her read a while back. Starvation is the second most painful way to kill avampire and (the most painful being sunlight exposure) after a few days, they went into a state of shock.

This must be the first stage of it, she thought.

"Sorry, Angel," she said, getting up from her spot, "but, I can't sit back and do nothing."

She went to the car and took a glass shard from the windshield then, returned to where he lay against the wall. She removed her shirt and used the shard to cut the top of her right arm, near the shoulder.

"Ow!" she yelled at the pain. She took some deep breaths then proceeded to put her arm to his mouth. It took only a few drops to call him from his unconsciousness. After a second, he lifted a hand to arm and pushed it closer to his mouth and eventually, oblivious to what was happening, bit into her arm.

"Ahh!" she cried out.

Angel's eyes shot open and instead of merely releasing her, he shoved her away. Buffy jumped back and clamped a hand over the wound, then walked to the car to get a bandage. She wrapped it around her arm and put her shirt back on, then returned to him saying, "Sorry, I had to."

He said nothing, but looked straight ahead into the darkness.

She stared at him, "Angel? C'mon talk to me." The way he avoided her face now had to be the worst part about these past eight days. It made her want to cry and that came through in her voice.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she yelled.

"To you?" he said surprised.

"Yes, to me. Do you have any idea how bad it feels to know that you have the ability to help someone but you can't because they're too stubborn to let you? Because they won't swallow their pride and accept some help? This feeling's a bitch, especially when it comes from you! Now, when I try to do something good for you, you treat me like this! Why do you do this to me?"

"Did-" he began, then paused for a second, his own pain and frustration showing in his face, "Did I hurt you? Your arm."

She stared at him for a second, then said, "No, you just surprised me."

She buried her face into his shoulder and said, "I just want to get out of here."

"Me too," he said quietly, "I- um...I didn't take too much, did I?"

"No more than I would have let you. It wasn't a lot, it may only last a couple of days."

"Don't do this again," he requested of her.

"Angel!" she sat up and looked at him.

"Please! ' All it does is give me a few more days to suffer down here', remember? You said it yourself. It also gives me the chance to watch you waste away. If I go back into shock, like that, at least I'll die with some peace. Promise me, please."

She held in a tear and nodded, "Yeah, I promise, I really don't like it, but I promise."


"Great, more mud puddles," said Willow.

Not only had the rain had made the entire path muddy, but it had held them up at that camp for an extra two days. Luckily, the sun was drying it out and they were on their way to their final camp, which, according to Michelle, was the good one. There was hot running water and carpet in every cabin. As they walked, they noticed that the area looked very familiar.

"Hey, Xander, doesn't Cordelia live around here?" Willow asked her friend who strode next to her.

"Yeah, there's her house."

He pointed to her house at the top of the hill. They were at the bottom of the canyon behind her house.

"Hey, guys, if we walk back a little bit, we can find the road and head for her house," he suggested.

"Sounds good to me," said Matt.

Twenty minutes later, they arrived at the cabins, which exactly weren't a dream come true, but compared to the past two cabins they'd stayed in they were Heaven. The kids all met at the center of the campsite then made the long trip to Cordelia's. On the way, Matt noticed a large hole in the ground.

"Hey," he said, "you guys wanna check it out?"

"Nah," said Willow, "maybe on the way back."

They soon came to the main road about a mile away from Cordelia's house. She was rather surprised to see them standing on her doorway, looking kind of like war refugees; they were dirty and smelled funny. She let them in, but sent them immediately to the bathrooms to get showers. When they came out, she had plates of junk food set out for them, which they consumed ravenously. It had been nearly two weeks since any of them had even seen a potato chip. They stayed there all day, dwelling in luxury, but when Cordelia invited them to stay overnight, they refused, saying that they had to be back for lights out. Matt and Michelle left for dinner at 7:30, while Willow and Xander decided to stick around for awhile.

The subject of Buffy's whereabouts came up once. All Cordelia could say was that the car hadn't been there when she went to pick it up, so her uncle had reported it stolen to the police. The conversation dropped after that just as the clock struck 10:00, telling them that they had an hour to get back before lights out.

Xander gave Cordelia a long kiss, then he and Willow ran out the door and down the road. While in the forest, they walked quickly. The creature that attacked them in the last camp had made them rather paranoid. Despite this, Xander stopped when they passed by the hole that Matt had seen.

"Hey, Will, you wanna check out the hole?" said Xander in a playful tone.

"Can we do it tomorrow?" she asked.

"C'mon, just a quick look inside," he grabbed her hand and pulled her to the hole. It was huge and at the bottom, they could see the source of the hole: a beat up red car. Xander walked around to the other side of the hole and stopped dead in his tracks. His face paled and he said to Willow in a grave tone, "Willow, go get Cordelia."

"Why?" she walked to him and when she looked inside, exclaimed, "Oh, my God!"

"Go!" he said, "Tell her to bring her car to the top of the hill."

Willow just stared for a second.

"Willow, go!" he ordered, "and bring some rope."

She ran back up the hill at top speed and Xander jumped into the hole, landing on top of the car. The moon shone brightly on the lovers. Angel lay on the floor of tunnel on his side with Buffy behind him also on her side. She was lying against his back with an arm around his middle. Despite her senseless state, she appeared to be hugging him and he held the hand that was draped around him.

Xander couldn't get over how thin and waned Buffy looked. He checked her pulse, relieved to find that she was still alive.

"Buffy!" he called to her while he shook her.

She opened her eyes slightly and looked at him, at first thinking that he was a dream. She had no voice, but mouthed the word "Xander?" Sitting up as best she could, she hugged him tightly.

"How did you find us?" she asked, when her voice finally returned to her.

"Pure luck," he told her.

She turned her attention to Angel and tried to rouse him, but her refused to move.

"We need to wait for Willow to get back with Cordelia. How did you get stuck down here?" asked Xander.

"We we're driving back from the party and we were driving a little too fast and this- this truck came around the corner. There wasn't enough room on the road and we got... got... um..." It was at this point that Buffy started to feel faint. She became dizzy, fell back against the wall and within a few seconds had passed out. Xander tried to wake her up, but she was out cold.

"Xander," Cordelia, who had just arrived, with Willow, called to him from the top of the hole, "are they Ok?"

"They will be, but we need to get them out of here. Did you get the rope?"

Willow nodded and lowered the rope into the hole. Xander lifted Buffy and brought her to the mouth of the hole, only to realize that there wasn't much he could do with just a rope. Then, seeing the car he got an idea. He returned Buffy to her place against the wall and went to the car.

"How much rope do you have up there?" he called up to his friends.

"A lot," said Willow.

"Good, cut it in half, I need two extensions down here."

He threw his pocketknife up to them so that they could cut it, then opened the door and with all his force, ripped the front seat from the car. He put Buffy on the seat and called up for the ropes. The girls lowered them, each hanging on to one. Xander tied the ropes to the top and bottom of the seat, securing Buffy in with the lap belt, which was still attached. Willow and Cordelia carefully pulled on the ropes until the car seat was out of the hole and after removing Buffy from the seat and placing her on the ground, they sent it back down. Xander strapped Angel in and he too was gently lifted out of the dark tunnel. Finally a rope was sent down. Xander grabbed it and they pulled him up.

They headed for the car; Xander picked up Buffy while the girls used the car seat as a stretcher to carry Angel. Halfway to town, Buffy woke up again and was both surprised and confused to find herself in a car, leaning against Xander.

"Hey," said Willow from the front seat, "how you feeling?"

"I've been better," Buffy answered, quietly.

"Well, you're going home, now," said Xander.

"Home?" Then she realized it, "Home? I can't go home, my mom thinks I'm on a camping trip. What am I gonna tell her?"

The mentioning of the trip made Willow and Xander realize that they had to get back.

"Drive faster," said Xander.

"OK, but where exactly am I driving to?" asked Cordelia, "Where are you gonna stay, Buffy?"

"Right now, you're heading for Angel's place. Um...can I stay with you tonight? I can find somewhere else tomorrow."

"It's fine, in fact, you can probably stay until the trip is over. I doubt my parents will mind, they probably won't even notice."

"What about the car?"

"The car was reported stolen about a week ago. If you're lucky, no one else will find that hole and if anyone asks just say that you left the car where you were supposed to."

Buffy nodded slightly, then put her head back on Xander's shoulder and closed her eyes. She must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew, the car was stopped in front of Angel's apartment. Xander roused her from her sleep and told her that they were taking Angel inside. She got out of the car and followed them inside. When she entered the apartment, she watched them immediately put Angel to bed. Feeling she had to do her part, Buffy walked to the refrigerator and pulled a bottle of blood from it then found a glass in a cupboard and filled it. She walked to the bed and sat next to him. As with the incident in the tunnel, it didn't take much to call him back to consciousness. He tried to drink it all at once, but stopped suddenly to vomit over the side of the bed. She was too weary to be disgusted

"Drink it slowly," she said, feeling almost motherly, "your body isn't used to it, yet."

He said nothing but did as he was told and the second drink went down much more easily.

"I can't stay," she said, "but I'll be back tomorrow to check on you, Ok?"

He nodded slightly. She leaned down and kissed his forehead, then got up on unsteady feet and took a few steps towards the door. Unfortunately, a few steps were all she could take, before she fainted to the floor.

Her friends rushed to her side. Had Angel been awake, he would have jumped up from the bed to help her, but he had passed out again right before she'd kissed him. They took her to the car and let her lay down in the back. Buffy was immediately taken to Cordelia's house and Willow and Xander were taken back to the hill.

"Take care of her," Willow told Cordelia, "we'll try to make it back tomorrow."

"I will," she assured them. They ran at top speed all the way back to camp and were able to sneak into their bunks without being seen.

"Where have you been?" asked Michelle, when Willow entered the room.

"We just lost track of time," Willow lied. Xander told Matt the same thing.

While she lay in bed, Willow realized that she and Xander had had a surprising amount of luck these past few days. There didn't seem to be any situation they couldn't get out of. She was beginning to wonder how long this streak would last. She didn't know, but until it ran out, she planned to enjoy it.


Cordelia let out a long sigh as she drove home. This day had just been full of surprises. When she returned to her room, she found Buffy sitting up, carefully sipping a bowl of soup.

"Your housekeeper brought it up," Buffy told Cordelia's questioning eyes.

"So, you've been down there ever since my party? I don't know how you could stand it. Down there in the dark without a change of clothes or even a brush. How did you do it?"

Buffy gave Cordelia a half smile, "I managed."

Cordelia went to her closet and pulled out a long nightshirt.

"You can use this for tonight. Tomorrow we can go to your place so you can get some things of your own."

"Thanks," Buffy put the bowl on the nightstand and changed into the nightshirt.

Noticing that she didn't pick up the bowl again, Cordelia asked, "Are you done?"

"I can't eat any more."

Cordelia picked up the bowl and took it to the kitchen. When she got back to her room, Buffy was asleep. She yawned and grabbed some pajamas from a drawer. Within ten minutes, she was ready for bed, of course, her bed ended up being a sleeping bag placed at the foot of her bed, but she endured it. After everything Buffy had been through, what she needed now, was a good night's sleep in as much comfort as possible.

Tomorrow, she's moving into the guestroom, Cordelia decided.


Joyce waited anxiously on the couch and wondered where her daughter was. Buffy, who had been gone for nearly two weeks, would be coming home any minute and Joyce awaited her return. The house had never seemed emptier. She looked at the clock: 7:38. She should have been here half an hour ago, Joyce thought to herself.

A car pulled up outside the house and a minute later, Buffy came through the door. Joyce jumped up from her spot to hug her daughter. It took only a second to realize how skinny and pale Buffy had become.

"What did they feed you? Look at you, you're so thin, it's unhealthy. Are you hungry?" she asked.

"No, mom, I'm fine, we stopped for burgers on the way here. The food on the trip was practically toxic, so I didn't eat much," Buffy lied. She wasn't back to her old eating habits yet and she didn't want to risk throwing up in front of her mom.

"What did you do on your trip?" Joyce asked as they moved to the couch.

Buffy told her mom some things that her friends had told her about the trip and luckily, Joyce didn't ask for details. The conversation quickly changed to Joyce's adventures of the week. They talked for another two hours, before Joyce finally realized something.

"Buffy, where are your things? You didn't bring them in with you."

"Uh, well, Xander's bringing them over later. He and Willow are gonna stick around here till about 10:00, until their parents get home. Right now, I think they're at the Bronze."

"When are they coming over?"

"They should be here soon."

It was at that moment that the doorbell rang.

"Well, I'll let you guys talk," said Joyce, she kissed Buffy's forehead, then walked up the stairs saying, "welcome home, Hon.

Buffy opened the door and let her friends inside.

"Your mom bought it?" asked Xander.

"Yup, I told her the food was bad and I was in protest."

"How you doing?"

"A lot better, where were you guys?"

"The group leaders said that we weren't participating in enough group activities," said Willow

"Besides, we couldn't get Matt and Michelle away from us long enough to visit you," added Xander as they all sat down on the couch.

"How's Angel doing?" Willow asked.

"Physically, fine, but he seems really distant. He keeps his conversations short and doesn't talk to me that much. I think he's mad at me," Buffy answered.

"For what?"

"I... I don't know. I've got this theory, which is eating at me and is almost making me feel guilty, but I think he's actually mad at me for saving him. When I woke up after the crash, he made it pretty clear that he wasn't willing to... I-... he wouldn't let me give him blood. After a few days, he fell unconscious and I force fed him." She lifted up her sleeve and showed them the scar on her arm, "He made me promise not to do it again. A couple days later, he went out again and I had to use every ounce of control I had, to not save him, this time. I had another day before I went out, too and during that day, I did a lot of thinking. One thing I tried to figure out was why he wouldn't let me save him. I went through a lot of ideas and came to a conclusion, then I threw the conclusion out of my mind. I told myself it was crazy, mostly cause I didn't like to think about it, but unfortunately, the past few days have proven it." Buffy realized that she was babbling. The took a deep breath and said, "He saw the chance for death and I think he welcomed it."

"Why?"

The question was a dumb one and Willow realized it as soon as it had escaped her mouth.

"The more I think about it, the more it makes sense," Buffy continued, "I'm not worrying about it just yet, I mean, he isn't the suicidal type, I hope. He'll get over this, I'm pretty sure of that."

"What if he doesn't?" asked Xander.

"I don't know, he's gonna wait for the next chance, that's all he can do and I'm hoping that I won't have to take that one from him, too. I want him to give it up on his own."

"If you remind him why you did it, I think he'll forgive you," said Willow.

Xander looked at the clock, "Hey, Wil, it's ten, you wanna head home?"

"Can we stop and get something to eat first?" she asked following him to the door.

"Sure, why not?" he said, putting a friendly arm around her shoulder and saying, "Bye, Buff."

Buffy listened to them discuss the matter of where they would go to eat. She smiled as they drove off, then shut the door and headed upstairs to bed.

The End