AUTHORS NOTE: Hey! This story is set in between episodes Graduation Day Pt. 2 and The Freshman. As Dawn is present, it is safe to say that this is just the way that things are remembered, and not as how they transpired.

Everyday in every way, I get a little bit closer. It may be a cliche, Angel, but I think I get a little bit closer to getting over you. Not that I'm under you. I just feel that we are two different people who, through no fault of their own have no choice but to have our hearts broken. We have a duty. I'm a Slayer. You're a Vampire with a soul. We've loved. We've smooched. And now we're moving on. I still love you, Angel. I will love you until the day I die. I miss you.

All my love
Buffy

"My good men! Do these sound like the words of a girl who hates vampires? Do these sound like the words of someone who is against the dead? The answer is no, my good men! The answer is no! And I'll tell you why! It's because God created us all - Human AND Demon! And he loves us all!"

"Turn this crap off!" Buffy growled.

Dawn did as she was commanded, and the minister's voice from the television was no more. The room was emmersed in a deathly silence.

"I don't know what you're looking at me like that for!" exclaimed Dawn, her voice shattering the sheet of ice.

"YOU GAVE THEM MY DIARY!" Buffy hollered.

"They asked!" Dawn exused. "Besides, I made $400 out of it!"

"You little Judas!" Buffy accused. "Selling your own sister for 400 measly dollars."

Joyce arrived from the kitchen carrying a tray of cookies and hot drinks.

"I must say though, Buffy," Joyce said to her daughter, placing the tray down on the coffee table. "I must agree with Fr. Barclay's preaching."

"Mother!" Buffy cried, a look of shock across her face. "Are you actually speaking these words? Ever since these clowns have arrived in town, they have already revealed to everyone about the Hellmouth and the Dark World. AND that I'm the Slayer. Then they started spouting some BS about how vampires are just "misunderstood"! And now they're reading extracts from my diary to thousands of people on National TV and you're telling me that you agree with that?"

"I don't know why you're complaining," commented Dawn, taking a chomp out of one of the cakes. "I mean, you've been made a total celebrity!"

"Yes, and it's making it fricking hard to go patrolling with a bunch of 'UNDEAD RIGHTS' campaigners following me around everywhere!" Buffy argued, snatching the cake from her sister's hand.

"Mom!" Dawn cried. "Did you see what she just did!"

"Buffy, why did you take your sister's cake?"

"She took, and then sold, my diary. I'd say she got off easy!"

"Thy're reading your diary on TV?" Joyce asked curiously. When both sisters nodded, she switched the set on.

"...should take a leaf out of Buffy Summer's book," Fr. Barclay was saying. "Yes, she may sometimes not realise that just because they're dead, it doesn't mean they don's have feeling - but deep deep down, she loves them. She has even fallen for Angel! How about that!" The congregation cheered. "So I beg all of you - please do not give her a hard time. She's a Slayer. Big deal. Some of my best friends are demon slayers!"

"I've had enough!" Buffy screeched. She then leaned in towards her little sister. "I hope you're happy with yourself. You've ruined my life!"

"Mommy!" Dawn screamed. "She's scaring me."

"Buffy, go to your room," Joyce instructed. "You're grounded."

"Good!" Buffy yelled. "So I don't have to go patrolling in that!" She pointed out of her window to where radical liberals were all camped outside on Joyce's prize lawn. They were all carrying boards with some mildly amusing pun such as: 'LAST RITES - CIVIL RIGHTS!'

"Hey, Buff," Oz greeted his friend. "Caught the news last night. Rough, huh?"

"One word for it," Buffy agreed. "Hey, since when did you watch the news?"

"First time," Oz told her. "You know they sit at desks?"

Buffy giggled. "You know what they say? The first time is always the best."

They began to walk towards their usual part in the park where they had agreed to meet Cordelia for a mysterious "special reason".

"Hey, Cordy," Buffy waved.

Cordelia Chase sighed her usual sigh of impatience. "Late" she stated, holding two large suitcases very pointedly at them."

"What's with the luggage," Buffy asked. "Oh, don't tell me. Everyone's doing it in Milan and I am 'soooo behind the times'."

"Funny, Buffy," Cordelia frowned. "You should be a comedian. If they let freaks in."

"Oh that braisin cheerleader wit. All coming back to me. Well I suppose it was a bit of a vain hope that two weeks apart would change you for the better", Buffy jolted.

Before Cordelia could respond, Oz interjected: "Hey, Cordelia"

"Oh, Oz," Cordelia said. "I didn't see you there. Perhaps because you were hidden in the shadow of Buffy's HUGE waistline."

"Was there any paticular reason you called us here, CC?" Buffy asked, tapping her foot. "I'm guessing so because you never call us."

"Not true, I call Oz all the time. Just I'm never sure if he's listening because he doesn't speak. You know you could be like a reverse prank caller, with heavy breathing and such!"

Buffy turned to Oz and looked at him accusingly. "Is this true?" she asked shortly.

"I do not breath heavily," Oz told Cordelia, allowing an uncharacteristic amount of offense show in his voice.

"Whatever," Cordelia brushed them off. "I would rather not start my speech until Willow and Xander are both here."

"You have a speech?" Buffy giggled. "Did you ... write it yourself?"

"They're not coming," Oz said. "Willow's at on the Black World with Michael ..."

"Freak," Cordelia interupted. "What is his deal? I mean just because he has been bullied his kindergarten ..."

"I mean if you wrote the speech, I could just nip home and get a tape recorder for us to listen to later and ..." Buffy was drolling on.

Oz stood in silence as Cordelia and Buffy began to ramble on, neither of them listening to each other's conversations.

"And Xander's left," Oz said suddenly.

Though he did not say this loudly, it seemed to shut up his two friends.

"LEFT?" Cordelia and Buffy asked in unison.

"Yeah, last night," Oz told them. "Willow and I saw him off. He's touring America. Wants to visit every state."

"He never said goodbye," Buffy uttered quietly.

"Well, he kinda, em ..." Oz murmured.

"What?" Buffy interegated.

"He thought that you two would not really care one way or another, so..."

"Not care?" Cordelia exclaimed. "Not care? Oh puh-lease! I am, like, so the most caring person in our group. I mean, what a freak! Who cares!"

"Oh my god," Buffy said. "Am I really that much of an ogre?"

Oz shrugged.

"Please, Oz," Buffy urged.

"Well, in all fairness," Oz did not meet her eyes. "You haven't quite been yourself since Angel left, and ..."

"You know, I really resent that!" Cordelia cried.

"What?" Buffy asked impatiently.

"Xander stealing my thunder," Cordy stated. "I mean just he is poor with no hope of ever getting a job other than a part-time cleaner at Burger King's, he decides to draw all the attention away from me. This is supposed to be my leaving day."

"And you're surprised people think you're unfeeling," Buffy commented.

"You're leaving, Cordelia?" Oz asked.

"Well, yuh," Cordelia stated. "It's a shame Harmony's in Europe, I am sooo sure that she would be kicking up a big fussy leaving do."

"Uh-huh?" Buffy said, unconvinced.

"Where are you going?" Oz asked.

"Boston?" Buffy offered. "You'd be right at home there."

"Bite me, blond girl," Cordelia snapped.

"Don't tempt me," Buffy answered back.

"I'm going to Los Angeles," Cordelia answered Oz, withdrawing her glare from the Slayer.

"Maybe you'll see..." Oz managed to stop himself.

"Maybe you'll see Angel," Buffy said monotonely.

"Maybe," Cordelia said, her bus drawing up. "Well, give my regards to Devon. And tell him that if I ever see him again I'll cut his member off."

A bulky driver descended to help Cordelia upload her bags into the storage area.

"Wish me luck," Cordelia said, the excitement showing on her face.

"I wish you all the luck you deserve," Buffy said, looking away.

Cordy scowled. "Goodbye, Oz."

With that she climbed the three high steps onto the bus and seated herself. Buffy surpressed a circle of water that appeared in the corner of her eye. She was sure that it was caused by the poison of the exhaust fumes as the bus drove off. Yes, that had to be it.

"I think this calls for a celebration," she told Oz.

"Buffy, are you ... crying?" Oz asked.

"Not over Cordy," Buffy said, wiping a tear from her eye.

"Oh, Xander," Oz said.

"Yeah ... Xander," Buffy said.

Neither of them believed this. For, both of them knew fine well that she was crying for her lost love. She was crying for Angel.

"This is where we gotta part," Oz informed Buffy, plopping her iced coffe lait onto the table.

"I can manage," Buffy told him. "You go play that funky music, white boy."

Buffy watched as Oz boarded the stage and began to tune his guitar. In a non- romantic way, Oz fascinated her. Every time she had a conversation with him, she felt she found out something knew about him. He was unpredictable and something about him was quite rugged and mysterious. Not that he was Buffy's type.

She hated to admit it, but she liked her men bad. It was sick, but in a way she was turned on by Angelus. He was strong and he was not afraid of anything. And then there was that Angel-Spike-Drusilla thing.

"Hey Buffy," a voice came from behind her. It was wry and gratey, but seemed to cleanse the impure thoughts from her head. It was a witch.

"Hi, Michael," Buffy responded, without turning around.

"Oh, you got iced coffee," he looked at the bottle on the table. "Cold."

"Em, yeah it is," Buffy said.

"Have you seen the swan?"

"Who?" Buffy asked. "Oh, Willow?"

"Have you seen the swan?"

"I thought she was with you."

Michael shook his head. His mascara ran down his face, as if he had been crying.

"Are you okay?" Buffy asked.

"They're crying," Michael told her quietly.

"Who are?" Buffy asked.

"The vampires," Michael answered. "This has never happened before. They're tears are like acid. They pierce the soul."

Buffy had no idea what Michael was talked about. This was a common occurance. He spoke in riddles. Willow and Amy were the only two who could understand him. But as Amy was not exactingly herself at that time, she thought she had better concentrate on finding Willow.

"You said that you don't know where Willow is?" Buffy asked.

"Spreading her wings," Michael told her. "Soon she will take flight, but in the wrong direction. If you let her take off, she will not survive, nor will the rest of us."

Buffy looked to Oz in desperation, but he appeared to be relaying Cordelia's message to leadsinger Devon, who began to act protectively towards his crotch.

"Is Willow in trouble?" Buffy turned back. But Michael was gone. "Great. He did and 'Angel' on me."

Buffy let out a loud exhale as she leaped and landed onto her bed with a loud crack of the weak springs. No sooner had she landed, than she heard the sound from a neighbouring room: "Fr. Barclay's policies are so wondrous. I mean, at first they sound a little crazy, but if you actually listen..."

"Willow?" Buffy asked.

She arose from the bed and trodded in her stocking feet through to the next room. Dawn was curled up in her quilt, brandishing the remoted. There was no mistaking it. Willow was on the television. On a chat show. Sitting next to Fr. Barclay.

"Vampires are misunderstood," Willow told Leeza Gibbons. "Why should they be seen as evil simply because they are different?"

"Wow!" Dawn exclaimed. "I know so many famous people."

"I can't believe she'd do this," Buffy commented quietly.

"I think it's wonderful," Joyce said, from the the doorway where she was now standing. "Especially that she's got over that strange phase. At last she's found faith."

"Willow had faith, Mom!" Buffy told her mother. "She was Jewish, remember?"

"So let me get this straight," Dawn began, "First she was a Jew, then she was a Wicca, and now she's converted to Catholism."

"No," Buffy said. "If there's one thing I know for sure about Willow, it's that she stands by her convictions. She's probably just agreeing with Barclay, but staying a pagan."

"...That's why I've become a Catholic," Willow was saying.

"Poor Sheila," Joyce said. "She must be going nuts."

"Poor Sheila? Poor Sheila?" Buffy screeched.

"Put some shoes on, Buffy," Joyce instructed, as she left. "We're going to mass."

"Mass?" Buffy asked. "Mom, we haven't been to mass since ... since ..."

"Christmas Eve. 1997." Dawn corrected.

"Yeah. Technically, we're probably not even Catholic anymore!"

"Oh, really!" Joyce said, her voice slightly muffled through he wall. "I've never heard anything more ridiculous."

"Do you want me to come too, Mommy?" Dawn asked, looking up at her mother with big round baby eyes.

"That's alright, dear," Joyce said. "You stay in bed, you need to get your strength up."

"There's nothing wrong with the little tart!" Buffy exclaimed.

"Buffy!" Joyce shouted. "Say sorry to your sister!"

"Sorry," Buffy said hesitantly.

"Good," Joyce said, smiling broadly. "Now, come on, let's go. And remember, Dawn, darling, don't invite anyone in you don't know. And if you do know them, still do the garlic test. Even if it's Xander. Even ..."

As Joyce's voice faded away down the stairs, Dawn stuck her tongue out at her elder sister. Buffy recipricated and slammed the door shut.

"Drop me off here," Buffy told her mother.

"Oh, yes," Joyce said. "This is the Rosenberg's house, isn't it?" Joyce pulled up and pressed a switch to unlock the doors. "Take care now."

After Buffy got out the car, she could hardly believe her eyes. The small picture of Hannukah candles which had been nailed to the doorframe was being removed. By Willow's father. He was practically the source of Orthodox Judaism in the whole of the LA area. But now it seemed that he, too, was converting. Something wasn't right about Barclay and what he was saying and doing to the people of Sunnydale.

"Mr. Rosenberg," Buffy asked. "Is Willow inside?"

"Oh yes, Bunny, dear," Ira answered, hardly looking at her. Some things never change.

Buffy entered the house. Little seemed different about the interior of the house. That was until Willow and Sheila descended the stair. Arm in arm. Even stranger, they were having a conversation.

"Oh, Bunn ... Buffy," Sheila corrected herself. "Good to see you. Your just in time for our meeting!"

"Meeting?" Buffy asked.

"We have to decide on a strategy," Willow carried on where her mother left off. "We have to get the message to the people. After mass, we're all going on a march through the town to raise awareness. The whole lot of us!"

"The whole lot?" Buffy asked, puzzled.

"There they go now," Sheila pointed out the window.

Buffy could hardly believe her eyes as a stream of vampires, all carrying candles, were making their way down the street. She wondered how this many had managed to accumulate without being slain.

"Where are they going?" Buffy asked.

"To mass, of course," Sheila laughed.

Something began to don on Buffy. A church full of over a thousand people was about to invite in a horde of thirsty blood suckers. And worst of all her mother would be among them.

"Willow, will Father Barclay be there?" Buffy asked desperately.

"Of course," Willow said proudly. "I am his personal spokesperson."

"Good," Buffy said. "I want to have a little word with him."

"Here you go Bunny," Ira said, pulling the car up outisde St. Philomina's. "But I don't know why you made me drive so fast. We were stopped by the police twice."

"I guess you were just excited about the vampires coming to church, weren't you dear?" Sheila asked merrily.

"That's one word for it," Buffy answered. The pleasantries were cut short when Buffy saw the vampire horde begin to arrive from along the street. "C'mon, let's go! She fumbled through her coat for some form of protection that she could refer to should there be an emergency. She found none, which made her even more hurried to arrive inside.

She virtually shoved the Rosenberg's inside. Once in, she barricaded the door to the best of her ability. Buffy turned to see that the whole congregation was her audience.

"People, you've got to listen!" Buffy pleaded. "Vampires are evil. You've got to believe me. They'll kill you all if you invite them in!"

"Buffy, please!" Joyce's voice came from a pew near the front. "Don't embrass me!"

"Willow! What is the meaning of this?" came a commanging voice beyond Buffy's line of sight.

It came as no surprise to her when Barclay appeared at the front of the church. He was some what different than he appeared on Televison. For one, he did not have a rosy face, and a sunny dispositon. In fact, he was quite pale in pigment, and was far from welcoming. He was a towering even from even the distance he was from Buffy. He was not garbed the way that Buffy remembered a priest to be. In fact he was dressed more like a Cardinal than a priest. His bloodshot eyes matched the colour of his long robes. It took a moment for Buffy to regain her composure.

"I apoligise, Father," Willow grovelled. "This is my friend. She is just a little ... misguided."

"I see," Barclay rumbled, exposing some very sharp teeth. Almost ... fangs. He began to approach the Slayer. Buffy remembered her training, and did not tremble. "Young lady, what is your name."

"Buffy Summers," Buffy told him, with an unwavering coldness. "I believe you know of me."

"Oh, yes. The Vampire Slayer. The Chosen One. The Mistaken One, more like!" he chuckled, and the entire church chorused with laughter. "You see, my dear, we are not afraid. We know that they act the way the way they do because of the way they are treated."

"That's Bull!" Buffy shouted. The congregation murmured in disapproval. "What I mean is ... em, ... Vampires kill people. Plus, they are possessed by demons from hell!"

"Yes, we do not disagree that the circumanstances are unfortunate," Barclay pondered. "But, all men are equal in the eyes of the Lord."

Then, came a loud knock at the door.

"Robert, would you like to do the honours?" Barclay asked.

"No way," Buffy argued. "I'll do it."

"I don't think so, my dear," Barclay whispered in her ear. His voice was like maggots squirming in her brain. She was powerless.

Robert struggled to remove the barricade from the doorway. Barclay refused Buffy's offer of assistance. Robert managed to pull it away. The church was silenced by a cold chill as he drew the large door open. Buffy could not see the crowd from where she was standing.

"Don't do it!" she called.

The trembling wreck looked to Barclay for reassurance. The priest nodded him on.

"W-we invite you," Robert stuttered. "We invite you in."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than an arm stretched inside and grabbed hold of him. He cried out as he was pulled outside. Buffy could see no more, but the unmistakable atmosphere of fear was afflicting her. The church waited in anticipation for something to happen. They were not dissapointed.

Wind swept in, as the heavy doors swung open with the greatest of ease. Robert was standing there, helping to carry cakes.

"Hello everyone," rasped the leader. She was quite short and bulky, and looked nothing like a vampire to the naked eye. But Buffy's honed Slayer skills were mature enough to know. She was vampire, alright. "We brought dessert."

"We have food for you, too," Barclay said. For a moment, Buffy was afeared to the notion that he was referring to her. However, he motioned towards a buffet-of-sorts that had been laid out at the side of the hall. It was a set of bowls, each with variations on the one theme; blood. From what Buffy could see there was pig's blood, blood of bovine and some form of gravy dish.

"Oh," the leader said. "Appetising," she clicked her fingers. "Come in, you fools. And be polite. Put the food on the table."

"We are so pleased to welcome you to our establishment," Barclay was saying. But the leader was not listening. She was looking intently at Buffy.

"Is that who I think it is?" asked the leaderess. Barclay confirmed this. "Guys!" she shouted, turning to her minions. They were snorting the blood up, and to the dismay of the parishoners had revealed their real vampire forms. "We have a celebrity of sorts here."

"I hope it's Tom Selleck!" said one, blood dripping all over the carpet from its mouth.

"No, it's not Tom Selleck, Kim," the vampire was saying. "It's Buffy. The Vampire Slayer."

"Wait!" Buffy said. "I remember you! You're that bitch! You're ... you're ...."

"Antoinette," Antioinette told her. "And you're the one who killed my boyfriend."

"He was trying to kill me!" Buffy exclaimed.

"And now I am going to finish what he started!"

"Now, now, Toni," Barclay interupted. "Buffy may have made some mistakes in the past, but the spirit of Christianity is fogriveness, and..."

"Shut-up, old man!" Antoinette growled, revealing the vampire within. "Or you'll be next!" She again turned to her minions. "Barricade the door. We're going to have outselves a little party. Take anyone you want. But this one's mine."

Panic spread throughout the church, as every possible exit was covered by at least five fiersome bloodsuckers. Fearing for his life, Barclay fled up the pulpit. The crowd began to be pushed back by a steady line of approaching vampires.

"Don't panic!" Buffy called, smashing her fist into Antoinette's face. She went flying back. Buffy rushed in and knocked away as many vampires as she could, but there were just too many. In desperation, Buffy grabbed her mother.

"Buffy, I'm sorry!" she screiked. "I should have listened to you." She was nearly in tears.

"Later, mom," Buffy said. "Listen, we're in a church it can't be so difficult to find a crucifix or something that we can use to ward them off. Grab Willow and her family and look for something!"

"What about you?" asked Joyce, having to raise her voice over the screams.

"I'm going to take out Antoinette. Maybe if I do, they'll fold more easily"

"Don't count on it!" came Antoinette's voice from behind Buffy.

The Slayer swivelled around to see the vampiress holding onto Willow.

"Looks like Catch 22, don't it, Buff?" Toni teased. "Either you go for me, and I kill your friend, your mom and every one else. Or you agree to come quietly and I let everone else go. Either way, I get what I want!"

Buffy thought about this for a second.

"Look!" Joyce called, pointing beyong Antoinette.

The vampire automatically turned around. And then back. "There's nothing there," Toni said, puzzled.

"Yeah, mom," Buffy said. "Why did you do that?"

"When I said 'look' you were supposed to grab Willow!" Joyce told her daughter.

"Oh, I see now," Toni said. "Yeah, that's very clever. You know what else you could have done ...?"

"Oh for god sake!" Willow shouted. She scraped her sneaker down Antoinette's leg and fell from her grasp. "If you want something done right, do it yourself!"

"You ... you BITCH!" Toni cried, grasping her leg. She reached out a claw to grab Willow back.

"Oh no you don't!" Buffy called. She struck Toni across the face, and she fell back against the face, sending her flinging to the floor. Joyce helped Willow to her feet. They began to run up the steps of the pulpit for protection, but Buffy did not notice. "These, Antoinette, are the no-no's of The Slayer: No-No No.1., No one touches my family," she struck the vampire again. "No-No No. 2, No one come near my boyfriend," she kicked Toni onto the ground, with a crack. "And No-No No. 3, No one, but no one lays a finger on any of my friends!" With this, The Slayer lifted the vampire by the scruff of her neck. "Got the picture?" Buffy flung the vampire into the corner, where a stand was set up of small prayer candles. Engulfed by the flames, nothing was left of Antoinette but a small pile of dust.

Above in the pulpit, Joyce and Willow could see everything that was occuring. "Mom!" screamed Willow, as she saw a vampire go for her mother.

"Hang on, dear!" Joyce said. She remembered that since Faith turned evil, Buffy had made her carry around a pocket-sized crossbow. She withdrew it from her handbag, and aimed it at the vampire. "Sheila! Duck!"

Mrs. Rosenberg did so. Joyce released the control mechanism, but missed the heart. She misaimed, and the arrow went straight through the vampire's head instead. It served the same effect, however, and nothing remained of the vampire but a mound of ashes.

"That was cool, Mrs. Summers," Willow told her.

Joyce's blushing was interupted by Barclay who had been waiting in the wings. He grabbed both women by the hair. "That's enough of that!" he snarled. "This is the House of God!"

Demonstrating amazing strength, he rose both women over the bannister of the pulpit so that they were hanging down over the church. If he had let go they would have been hurt.

"BUFFY!" screamed the women. Joyce struggled to fire the crossbow at the priest, but, ham-fisted, it fell.

"Hang-on!" Buffy called, catching the plummeting crossbow. She looked around for something. Eventually, she settled on the plan of using curtains to cushion the fall of her mother and best-friend. Tearing down several pairs, and knocking over several vampires in the process, she laid them on the ground underneath the pulpit. She then drew the weapon and fired two arrows, each impaling one of his arms.

With screams of agony he released his grasp of the two females. They fell with a thud onto the curtains, but they were hardly harmed.

"You BITCH!" hollered Barclay. "I'm going to eat your spleen!"

"Pleasant fellow," Buffy said. "Go to the sanctuary. Get anything you can, Holy Water, Crucifixes - I don't care - but go now!"

"Right," Joyce nodded. "Oh and, Buffy -*"

"Be careful, I know, mom!"

"I was going to say 'kick some ass', but 'be careful' is also good!"

"C'mon, pull yourself together, Buffy", Buffy said to herself, after the Joyce and Willow dissapeared into the distance. "Don't think. Fight."

Slapping her knuckles against the palm of her hand, she went into battle. Snapping a plank of wood off of a bannister, she went into the crowd. In a swift punch-twist-kick movement, she dusted two vamps, and sent another four to the floor with a flying- head stomp. Her bloodlust was interupted by the sound of tearing from above.

Barclay appeared to be shedding his skin. He was tearing it off, exposing bloody flesh and veins. Beneath his skin appeared to be long extending limbs, but their form was of neither arm nor leg. Even worse, now the thick flab on them were folding back to reveal needles. In a porcu pine fashion, they started to eject and fire across the building. Both human and vampire was forced to take cover.

"Darn it!" Buffy said. Mustering her remaining strength, she performed a running jump to the bannister of the pulpit. She spinned around and landed before the demon. "Just out of curiosity," she began, pummelling into the creature. "What are you? And what did you want convincing those people that vampires were decent people?"

"You could not possibly understand," snarled the beast. His voice now sounded like a broken tuba.

"Try me!" Buffy cried, slashing the creature with her snapped plank.

"I am a Husq Demon," the Husq Demon said. "I have the ability to mold layers of skin into different forms to change my shape."

"What about how you tricked all those people?" Buffy asked. "How did you do that? Don't tell me that was just your 'charisma'?"

"Open-minded people are often suseptible to my powers of persuasion," the demon said. It fired some needles into her stomach. They cause some mild irritation, but Buffy did not discontinue her assault. "What do you think that makes you?"

"Single-minded," Buffy responded. Her stomach began to burn. "I know my own mind."

"Are you sure?" he asked. He looked into her eyes with his red ones. He seemed to see right into her soul.

In a second, all became clear. Buffy saw where he had come from, and even more horrifying, she saw how. Fortunately, she also saw how to kill him.

Reaching down, she pulled a fist full of needles from her stomach, purple poison splilling all over the floor, and inserted them into the Husq demons neck. Almost immediately, he began to flail wildly, his throat inflaming and choking on the violet slime spurting out of his mouth.

"Poetry," Buffy said. "I like it." She then remembered what she had seen. The Husq demon had come for a reason. However, after the connection they had shared had been severed, it seemed to fade from her mind. Trying to remember was like trying to remember a dream. But, Buffy still had a job to do. She waited a couple of seconds until the Husq demon turned to stone, and the flung it onto the ground. It shattered the way she had planned, many of the pieces cutting into the vampires decaying flesh, and killing them. The few who remained were killed easily by Willow and Joyce's onslaught.

"That was great, Buffy," Joyce said. "I'm really proud of you."

"Yeah, Buffy," Willow agreed. "It was of the cool."

"There is still the small problem that everyone in America knows about my occipation," Buffy said dully.

"Don't worry", Willow assured her. "Me and Micheal'll rustle up a wide-spread memory swipe."

"Really, you can do that?" Joyce asked.

Willow and Joyce entered into a conversation about the pro's and con's of witchcraft. However, Buffy refused the urge to join in. She did not feel much like talking right now. Because now, she was beginning to remember something. She was beginning to remember that Husq had done something. He had done something so that the Swan would be killed. He had done something so that Willow would be killed.

TO BE CONTINUED