Willow ran down the hall, trying to distance herself from the ruckus coming from the storage closet < Bad Willow, bad girl, bad to hurt poor Xander > Try as she much, she couldn_t supress the short laugh which accompanied her memory of Xander_s face when she_d ratted him out to Cordelia. Well, she couldn_t help it. She felt bad that Cordelia was gonna pound him, but he deserved it. That_s what he got for making out with her.
< "Revenge is a very dangerous business..." > Giles words echoed in her mind. She sighed softly.
< That *was* really really mean of me, it wasn_t my place to say anything and I betrayed Xander. I should go and apologize...later. > She swung around the corner and crashed through the doors to the gymnasium, where Buffy sometimes practiced after school.
"Hey Buffy? You in here? Giles needs to see you.." Willow shouted.
"Well well well...isn_t it my lucky day? What do we have here? A firey red-head, eh? And quite alone, I see. Quite without her precious Slayer."
The menacing voice behind her made Willow break out into a cold sweat. She dreaded turning around. It was a vampire, she knew that. She didn_t need to see him to confirm it. In fact, it would probably be better *not* to see him. < How is it that *all* of the vampires seem to know about the tunnel which leads to the school boiler room? It_s barely 4:30, aren_t they all up a bit, well, early? >
The vampire frowned slightly at the brunette_s back, "What, darling, you aren_t going to turn around to see me before you die? How... pathetic. You call yourself a friend of the Slayer. You_re nothing more than a sickly child. Killing you will be a true service to the Slayer," he sneered.
< I am *not* sickly, and *why* is everyone so concerned with the "Slayer" today?> In a surge of anger, she turned to boldly face the vampire, immediately regretting her decision. < Uhhhh..maybe i can turn back around and he wouldn_t mind and he could suck my blood out that way and...and......>
The vampire smiled nastily, "Perhaps I was wrong. Maybe there *is* a spark in you just yet...pity..." His eyes glowed a dangerous yellow as he advanced towards her.
Having no other choice and being utterly alone, Willow did the one thing that came to mind.
She screamed bloody murder.
*****"Buffy?...Buffy? Are you all right?"
"Not now mommy...I don_t feel so good, can_t I just sleep? I promise I_ll make up for it tomorrow...." she murmured softly.
Angel darted a look at Giles. "Buffy, wake up, it_s Angel. Buffy, you need to get up...."
"Angel? Huh..?" the Slayer_s eyes snapped open. She was lying on a couch in the library. Sitting up abruptly, she put her head in her hands. "Ugh..I feel so..drained. I must_ve fallen asleep. What_s happening to me?"
"Buffy, you_re losing your strength as a slayer. It_s almost 5:00. By 6:00 you will be as mortal as any one of us. Sleep deprivation. It_s catching up with you." Giles recounted the entire story.
Buffy moaned, "So, Giles, what, if anything, can we do?"
Angel glanced meaningfully at Giles, "I_ll be back," he whispered softly to Buffy, giving her a pat on the knee.
"Well, as always, there *is* some hope," Giles began, nodding in Angel_s direction, "You see, a slayer_s powers, when drained, don_t just disappear. That much energy can_t just vanish. Instead, it is transferred into another individual. In other words, tonight, someone else will have your slaying powers. The only problem is that whoever they are, they most likely haven_t been trained and don_t know anything about us. You see, there_s no guarantee that the person who inherits your power will be someone you know. All that *is* guaranteed is that they live on the Hellmouth. I suspect that whoever they are, they_re about your age and most likely, female."
"Guess that means I_m safe," said a very battered looking Xander as he limped into the library holding a white kleenex over his bleeding nose.
"My God, Xander, are you okay? What happened?" Buffy shot up from the couch, forgetting her exhaustion.
"You guys seen Willow?" Xander asked, pure murder gleaming in his dark eyes, one of which was developing a rather nasty black circle around it.
"*Willow* did this to you?" Giles said in disbelief.
"Cordelia." Xander replied tersely.
There was a shocked moment of silence as the full meaning of the situation sank in.
"We have to find her," said Buffy "She_s gotta be the one." < Great, couldn_t they have picked a better person? *Cordelia*? We_ll be lucky if we can get the girl to carry a stake, she_d probably be afraid she_d get a splinter or mess up her manicure. > Then again, if her handiwork on Xander was any indication, Cordelia_s mentality might be temporarily changed along with her increased physical abilities.
< Be still my beating heart >, she thought sarcastically. *Any* change in Cordelia_s mentality *had* to be a welcome one.
"You stay here Buffy, you need to rest. Xander, stay with her. Angel already left to go find Cordelia. I_ll look for her too." Giles started for the door.
"Wait, Giles, how did he know it was Cordelia?"
Giles turned back, "I_m not sure Buffy. Before you woke up, Angel said that he_d go retrieve the girl who was to inherit your powers as soon as he was sure you were alright. I simply assume, in light of the recent evidence, that he meant Cordelia. He probably had more information that I do. That_s why he came by in the first place, to warn us about this whole thing. It seems that Watchers have a bit to learn from Vampires. For all their evils, they have impeccable clerical skills. They have vaults of information and a historical archive I would give my right arm to see."
It was sick, but Buffy could just picture Giles practically salivating over the notion of all those books. She nodded weakly and watched as he ran out the door.
"So, you wanna sleep together?" asked Xander, grinning mischieviously.
Buffy smacked him in the arm. Hard.
"Ow, look, I don_t respond well to violence. What I really meant was if you wanted to take a *nap* together. Like sleeping. Like in the literal sense. Geez Buffy, get your mind out of the gutter."
"Or the closet," she responded simply, and closed her eyes to try to get some rest.
That time it was unmistakeable. Buffy had to know. Boy oh boy was he gonna kill Willow once he got his hands on her. What had gotten into her today, anyway?
*****< Okay, screaming just kinda isn_t working > Willow thought miserably as she looked around for a way out.
The vampire lunged and Willow shrieked for one last time before putting her arms out to shove him away. Much to her complete surprise, the vampire flew through the air and hit the back wall with a resounding crack.
< Gosh, I lucked out, they must_ve sent a really wussy vampire
after me. I didn_t think there was any such thing as a wussy vampire,
but this dude is *obviously* a major weakling > She stood there,
staring slightly stunned at the prone vampire who was lying at the
bottom of the bleachers.
"You_ll pay for that, Slayer," said the ominous shadow in front of her.
< Oh no, not *another* one. Where are they all coming from? Something really should be done about those damn tunnels in the boiler room. And since when am *I* the slayer? Gosh, of all the times to be confused with Buffy. No, boys don_t seem to see any resemblance between us, none at all: the beautiful blond is Buffy, the skinny, pasty red-head is Willow. But homicidal vampires, they seem to have serious identification problems. >Willow_s voice was hoarse from the previous screaming episode. What was she going to do?
< Fight them off > Where_d that idea come from?
Willow heard a loud groan from behind her. < Oh great, the other one is regaining consciousness, talk about having a bad day... > She bit her lip in frustration. Well, if they were going to suck her dry, she wasn_t going to go without a fight...
She put on her best "I_m-copying-Buffy" fighter stance and waited for the attack.
Much to her shock, it never came. The second vampire swiftly picked up the first one, and ran out through the back exit of the gymnasium.
Willow_s knees were weak with relief. < This is almost too good to be true > She barely managed to leave the gym and race down the corridors before she collapsed through the library doors.
"Hey guys, you_re never gonna believe what just happened...," Her voice trailed off, "guys?....people?...anyone?" Fighting back tears, Willow slowly walked over to Giles_ office. Nothing. The library was completely deserted. < How could they just leave me here? > she thought angrily. That_s when she noticed a note addressed to her, pasted to one of the computers...
*****"Found her." said Giles simply as he dragged a very annoyed Cordelia into the library.
"Look Mr. Librarian-From-Hell, i don_t know what you think you_re doing, but if my arm is bruised by this callous handling, I_ll sue," Cordelia gave Xander a meaningful glare. "Stay away from me, you loser," she said forcefully.
Xander grinned nastily at her before turning back to Buffy. < Ow, my face really hurts >
"Listen Buffy," Giles began feverishly, "we have no more time, we must leave immediately. It_s 5:30. In exactly half an hour, you_ll lose all of your strength. We must get you someplace safe where I can put Cordelia through some basic training-"
"Excuuuse me?_ cut in Cordelia, "Just *what* is that supposed to mean? _Basic training_? News flash Tweed-man, this isn_t the army. Now let go of my arm, I_m late for my tennis appointment and my father isn_t going to be pleased..."
"CORDELIA," shouted Buffy, rising from the sofa for the first time in over an hour, "Listen to me, and listen very very carefully because I_m only going to say this once. For some sick and twisted reason, completely beyond my scope of comprehension, fate has chosen you, yes, *you* to be the savior of the entire world tonight. I don_t have my slaying powers anymore because they_ve been transferred, quite *stupidly* might I add, to *YOU*. It is *your* job to get your selfish ass into Giles_ car so he can take us to a place where he_ll teach you how to beat the Dark Side and save the world. This is your choice Cordelia, if they win, I can guarantee you that there won_t be any more _tennis lessons_. So PLEASE get off your ignorant high horse and join the rest of us in the real world. For the next six hours *you* are responsible for the fate of humanity, so please take a few minutes to GROW THE HELL UP."
Cordelia looked as pale as a ghost. She opened her mouth, and then closed it, and then opened it again. After several seconds of silence, she manged to stammer.. "Umm...w-w-we can take m-my car, it_d probably be faster."
Giles nodded silently and went to go gather his books.
"Where_s Angel?" Buffy asked, suddenly realizing that he_d been gone for a good hour.
"And Willow!" exclaimed Xander.
Giles looked up, "Angel can take care of himself, and as for Willow... well, I_m sorry, but we just can_t wait for her. I_m fairly certain nothing will happen to her though, the vampires will be more concerned in getting ahold of Buffy and Cordelia."
Cordelia looked vaguely green. Xander stood up defiantly, "Well, I refuse to leave Willow behind, I_ll find her, and then come and catch up with you guys."
Giles turned sadly to Xander, "There just isn_t enough time, and we *need* you with *us* Xander. Don_t worry, I_m sure Willow will be fine."
Xander closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He couldn_t just abandon Willow. He couldn_t just leave her to be sucked by vampires or killed by demons or who knows what. He definately couldn_t just ditch her to be alone with Angel, she_d be easy prey. She was his best friend, he couldn_t just...What if he never saw her again? What if he didn_t get a chance to say goodbye? Sure they_d been in trouble before, but at least Buffy had been there to take care of things. This was different..this was Cordeila fighting vampires.
He looked at Giles. He wasn_t kidding, Giles seriously *needed* Xander this time. It wasn_t some ploy to keep Xander out of trouble or out of the way. Giles was stuck alone with two slayers, one who could barely walk, and one who needed to be trained. Xander nodded in resignation, "Okay, I_ll come." < But I_ll never forgive myself if something happens to her. > He quickly leaned over and scrawled a note on a piece of paper for Willow as Giles and Cordelia gathered the last of the books. It read:
Dear Willow,
Everything will be fine. I want you to *go home* and *stay there*. If we need you, we_ll call you there. Please don_t open the door to anyone and definately don_t invite anyone in. There_s an extra stake and cross in Giles_ office. Take it and go straight home. Don_t stop for anyone, not even Angel. Please take care of yourself, Willow.
Love always,
Xander
With tears in his eyes, he looked around as to where he should put it so that she_s see it. He smiled sadly when his eyes fell on the computer near the sofa. He slowly pasted it to the screen and then nodded at the others, "I_m ready," he said softly, "Let_s go."
*****Reading Xander_s note, Willow felt oddly calm. She even managed a small smile. < At least he cared enough to write this > she thought sadly. She sat down slowly on the sofa and pondered the entire situation. < I don_t know where they are, and I don_t know how to help.> She vaguely remembered Giles saying something about there being a possible solution. She only hoped that they could find it in time. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, Willow walked into Giles_ office and casually picked up the stake. She stared at it for a few seconds, testing it_s weight while trying out different grips. It was almost fascinating in a morbid sort of way. She checked her watch: 6:15, she should probably head home. Since her parents were on their respective business trips, she_d have to lock herself in, something she wasn_t really looking forward to. < If they need me, they_ll call me there > she thought reassuringly. Picking up the cross, she took a deep breath and pushed through the library doors.
Less than two minutes after she left, Angel returned to the library. "Willow..?..Buffy...? Where *are* they?" he hissed irritably. Spotting a note by the computer, he snatched it up, his dark eyes skimming it rapidly, "Damn!" he growled, "But if Willow_s at home... then who did ...? Oh no," Angel_s eyes widened. His already pale complexion looked even whiter. He had to find Willow first, as soon as possible..the only problem was...he didn_t know where she lived......
*****