Chapter 5 – Sacrificial Distractions

(“Everything’s blue, everything’s blue in this world, the deepest shade of mushroom blue” Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral)

“How long has she been in there?” Xander asked over to Anya, who was standing behind the Magic Box’s store counter.

“Ever since I opened,” the blonde replied. “She’s skipped work, which makes for a poor paycheck. I would never tolerate obstinacy like that.”

“Has she been making any sounds? I mean, like training sounds? You know, things being hit and so forth?” Xander asked.

“No,” Anya said. “Actually it’s been quit quiet in there, which makes for a nice change of pace. Maybe Willow is beginning to respect the customer base.” Anya smiled to herself. “Good for her. Well, good for her because it’s good for me.”

“My guess,” Giles said stepping next to the counter near to Xander and setting his book down. “Is that she is casting the spells she was using previously.”

“To not sleep?” Xander asked as he turned to Giles. The older man slowly nodded his head in reply, keeping his eyes on the training room door. “Why would she do that?” Xander asked. “Wasn’t that making her sick somehow? Besides, I thought she told us she wasn’t going to do that anymore?” The young man looked at Giles slightly befuddled.

“Yes, I think it was having an extremely ill-effect on her,” Giles replied. “And she never stopped what she was doing for us, she stopped for Tara. And I’m sure the state Tara is in now is the cause for why Willow is going back to her previous ways.” The Ex-watcher clarified and sighed slightly.

“I appreciate your concern Rupert,” came Willow’s voice as she opened the door from the training room. “But there’s no need to fret, most of the side effects I had before are handled by the dream stone now,” Willow said as she placed a hand over the part of her shirt covering her necklace.

“Willow, I forgot how acute your hearing becomes,” Giles said.

“Oh Giles, don’t be such a spoilsport,” Willow said with a slight grin that didn’t seem to reach her eyes. “Weren’t you the one who was so concerned that I was going to stop being the Slayer if I cast that spell yesterday?” Willow walked over and stood next to Giles and Xander. “Well now we know I’m still employed in the Slayer position, so you should be happy.”

“Willow,” Giles began as the redhead started moving for the Magic Box’s front exit. “I never wanted Tara to stay in the state she’s in. I just---“

“Gotta go everyone, a Slayer’s job never stops,” Willow quipped, stepping out the front door without turning to look back. Giles frowned as the front door closed, cutting off the outside light and any view of the redhead.

Willow breathed in the afternoon air as she stepped outside, catching more scents in her nose than she had in a while, her heightened sense taking in the feeling eagerly. Willow felt a snap of energy run through her as her mind searched her thoughts for the first viable place for a fight, any fight.

The demon turned his massive six foot five inch frame around to face the young human who had been waiting patiently near the office door. Tefaud felt he had done well in Sunnydale, very well indeed. Most of his time and efforts in the town were spent delving into the currency of information, which, while being a threat to some, also made him a valuable resource to those same beings as well. Tefaud always tried to keep the scales, on which one side sat the hate and fear of the powerful and on the other side sat their needs, balanced. It wasn’t the safest business to be involved in, but it was quite lucrative and Tefaud had tried to be as careful as possible, never shying away from listening to his paranoia. Fear and suspicion had kept him alive along time and he relied on these two things immensely.

The demon stood up, the parts of his alabaster skin which weren’t covered by the tailored Armani suit capturing an almost soft warm glow off of the light in the room. Tefaud’s solid aqua-blue eyes focused on the human as he tilted his head down, giving an almost fatherly smile. The demon’s face, although large, devoid of any hair, and lacking in pigment still appeared almost human in nature. Tefaud tried hard to use this to make the humans he dealt with feel more comfortable, open, and honest around him.

“Yes Jason?” Tefaud said in his usual confident manner as his face gave the most reassuring look possible.

“Sir, the Slayer is coming,” Jason replied. The demon brought his arm up and looked at the face of his Rolex.

“This is an odd time for her to visit, she give any reason why?” Tefaud asked, looking back at Jason.

“No sir. I don’t think this is going to be a passive visit either, she already killed the patrolling guard dogs,” Jason said. Tefaud paused for a moment in thought.

“All fifty seven of them?” Tefaud asked.

“Yes sir,” Jason responded.

“Take everything offline and place them in the vans at the bottom of the complex. You know where to head too, I’ll meet you there as soon as possible.”

“Yes sir,” Jason said as he started to turn to head out the office. Just after he opened the door, the young man turned back around to the demon he worked for. “What do you think happened sir? I thought she and you had an arrangement.”

“Nothing lasts forever Jason, you can only accept that things change and try to change with it. What ever her reasons are for what she is doing are moot, she is doing as she chooses. Now go, I’ll meet up with you as soon as possible.” With that, Jason left the office, grabbing the walkie-talkie from inside his jacket, barking out orders. Tefaud pulled his palm pilot out of his side jacket pocket and ran through a few different screen selections until he reached the information he needed, a picture showing him where the young culprit was, as she destroyed his business inch by inch.

Willow looked around the neat room she was in. It seemed like thirty feet by thirty feet with tables and chairs neatly organized into rows. The tables were crammed with computers, printers, and monitors in the most efficient way possible. The redhead lazily took a finger and pushed the nearest monitor off the table it was sitting on; causing a loud crash is the vacuum tube inside imploded then quickly exploded outward, sending glass chaotically around the floor near it.

“Improper disposal of computer monitors is a fineable offense these days,” Willow heard the pale skin demon say as she looked up from the floor. Willow picked up the next closest monitor as fast as she could and hurled it across the large room to where the demon was standing, barely missing the bald head as Tefaud brought his body just far enough to the side to miss the object. Tefaud regained his composure and kept his face calm as he began to walk casually through the room towards the redhead. “May I inquire as to the reason for this somewhat unsocial visit?” Tefaud asked, his unruffled demeanor never wavering.

“Because I choose to be unsociable,” Willow responded as she began concentrating on levitating two monitors from behind Tefaud up into the air, preparing to hurtle them at the demon.

“I thought we had come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Have I betrayed our pact in some form?” Tefaud said. The demon quickly dodged the two monitors that flew past his head from behind and brought himself up straight again, still walking towards Willow. “How very ‘Empire Strikes Back’ of you,” Tefaud said with a kindly smile.

“You’re a demon aren’t you?” Willow asked as she began moving towards Tefaud.

“Yes, but we all have our cross to bear I suppose,” Tefaud replied. “I had come to the conclusion, though, that you already knew this when we made our agreement a few years back.”

“The new improved Slayer doesn’t make deals with demons,” Willow said as she drew her sword out.

“Apparently she is also unable to keep a pledge as well,” Tefaud responded with a slight look of regret. “This is most disappointing. I presume trusting you to keep your oath was folly on my part.”

“It seems trusting me is folly on anyone’s part,” Willow said as she finally came close enough to Tefaud to strike him with her weapon. The redhead quickly swung her sword out to slice at the large demon’s midsection only to feel the weapon stop abruptly as Tefaud caught the blade in his massive hand. Tefaud quickly jabbed the sword back towards Willow with his all strength, causing the hilt to jab into Willow’s side and throw her back onto the table behind her. Willow felt her grasp on her weapon leave as she toppled over a monitor on the table where she landed. Tefaud lifted the sword up, keeping the hilt at the far end like a club head, and brought it down towards Willow. The redhead turned quickly to the side, pushing electronic equipment off the table. Before Willow had the time to get to a standing position she felt the table she was on tilt back as the demon used his free hand to lift it up, causing the redhead to slide to the carpeted floor, computer paraphernalia landing on top of her. Willow kicked the now toppled over table with her feet, causing it to ram back against Tefaud’s legs, hoping to trip the demon. Tefaud picked up a printer that was now on the floor next to him, completely ignoring the table that bounced off his unmoving legs, and threw it at Willow’s head. The redhead rolled to her left and continued with her momentum as she got to a standing position, running away from Tefaud and putting some distance between him and her. Willow looked as Tefaud again began moving towards her with her sword still in his hand, his face showing no signs of emotion, just placidness. The Willow quickly started mumbling under her breath, her sword responding to her verbal instructions and glowing as the blade’s heat increased. Tefaud cocked an eyebrow as he felt the thick skin on his hand slowly start to bubble from the heat of the metal he was holding on to, and firmly switched his grasp to the hilt.

“I always wanted to see what that looked like,” the demon said in an offhanded tone as he continued his iron grip on Willow’s weapon, still preventing her from wrenching it away from his grasp with her mind. Willow heaved a sigh, then quickly ran towards the demon, gracefully dodging her sword that he tried to swing down at her, and dove into his midsection, sending them both across series of tables, landing against a far wall and causing the demon to loosen his grip slightly on the sword. Willow immediately pushed with all her mind and threw the sword across the room, keeping it as far away from Tefaud as she could for the moment. Willow quickly brought a fist up and started pounding it into Tefaud’s face as hard as possible, watching him give little under her assault. Tefaud took a free hand and wrapped his fingers around the Willow’s head and slammed it against the plaster wall, the redhead’s face sinking into the material as it gave under her. As Tefaud brought Willow back to smash her into the wall again, the redhead threw an arm out, striking the demon as hard as she could in the throat with the side of her palm, causing Tefaud to stagger for a moment and allowing Willow to wriggle free of his grasp. The redhead stumbled away from her assailant towards her sword, trying to focus through the haze she was starting to feel, and call her weapon to her. Finally she steadied herself enough and felt the hilt of her sword land in her open hand. Willow turned to see Tefaud once again walking towards her, his face never loosing its placid composer. As Willow loosened her muscles up slightly preparing for the demon’s next assault, she watched as the mammoth demon tripped over a power cord laying across the floor, causing him to fall face down.

“Crap,” Tefaud said in a disappointed tone “I thought I told them to fix the exposed wiring.” The demon let out a sigh at the expected blow, then furrowed his head in confusion as nothing came. Tefaud brought his head around and saw the redhead standing next to him, her sword at her side.

“Get up,” Willow said. Tefaud continued his look of confusion as he stood up, gently brushing off his suit and facing his opponent. The redhead brought her sword out, which was once again glowing with heat, and swung it across Tefaud’s midsection, cutting halfway into it, finally stopping in the middle unable to cut any farther. Tefaud stood still and gazed down at the redhead, his face still unerringly calm. Willow pulled her sword out and stabbed it into the center of Tefaud’s chest, watching the demon give no sign of pain or of retaliation. “What are you doing?!” Willow yelled as she stabbed Tefaud again, the demon still unmoving. “FIGHT!” Willow screamed as she stabbed him again. Tefaud watched as he wounds slowly started closing, his regenerating capacity slowly fixing his body little by little. “FIGHT ME!” Willow yelled drove her sword into the demon again. As the redhead pulled her weapon out of Tefaud, she sank to her knees, her voice becoming weak. “You’re supposed to fight me,” Willow said.

“You came here and destroyed most everything that I have worked towards in here Sunnydale,” Tefaud said, looking down at the young woman.

“Then fight me!” Willow said, looking defiantly up at the demon.

“No,” Tefaud replied simply.

“Why!?” Willow demanded.

“Because you want me to,” Tefaud said, then turned and walked out of the room, leaving Willow alone.

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