Beta Readers: Laura Smith & Colleen Brennan
Title: Willow: The Crow
Author: NeilGartner
Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy, no copyright infringement intended.
The Crow, its characters & terms are registered trademarks of Pressman Films, no copyright infringement intended.
Summary: Willow is murdered, but fate had other plans and she is returned to the land of the living by the Crow to let her to set things right. However, willmWillow's course for bloody revenge puts her at odds with Buffy and her friends.
Distribution: Please ask before you take. :-)
Author's Notes: Events in this story takes place one year at the end of 'Pangs' and when Buffy returns from L.A. after seeing Angel. This is a slight crossover with the movie and TV show, 'The Crow', with Willow being our avenging and unlikely dark hero. Also a BIG thank you to my Beta readers, Laura and Colleen for their very helpful feedback and suggestions in writing this story.
Willow: The Crow
People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens, that a terrible sadness is carried with it and the soul can't rest. Then sometimes, just sometimes, the crow could bring that soul back to put the wrong things right… Sadly, the soul that is returned can never be quite the same. It can be a force for good or a terrible force for vengeance...
Chapter 1
IN THE FAR WOODED OUTSKIRTS OF SUNNYDALE: 12:05 AM
She awoke peacefully from what seemed to be an eternal sleep, but upon opening her eyes, all she could see was darkness. Her head started to pound with pain and her body was sore. As she tried to move her hands and feet, something was not right, she couldn't move. Her hands and feet were firmly bound, and she was tightly blindfolded and gagged. She struggled to get free but her attempts were futile. She stopped trying to move so she could figure out where she was. She began to feel around herself. It felt like...dirt. She was surrounded by dirt!
Am I ... buried?
Urged on by panic, her struggling paid off this time as she was soon able to get her hands free. However, she still was not able to sit up or move her feet. The dirt on top of her was too much. Snaking her arms upward, with one forceful push, her arms punched through the dirt and felt the surface. She felt the coldness damp from outside, the rain running down her hands. Slowly, but with great effort, she pulled herself toward the surface . Towards freedom.
She then removed the gag in her mouth and then the blindfold covering her eyes. She took large gasps of air as the rain fell on her body. Her vision was blurred and her head ache. Her next move was to free her feet. She pulled her feet out of the shallow grave and untied the old ropes. She didn't even notice the cold winds and heavy rains that were coming down on her poorly clothed body.
Everything she was wearing was torn, and soaked through. She shivered and twitched as finally the weather was taking an effect on her body. She looked around trying to see if she could recognize where she was. Nothing looked familiar.
"Where am I?"
As she finished speaking to herself, she heard a strange noise. It sounded like flapping in the distance. She followed the sound and saw a huge, black bird flying toward her. As it landed next to her, she shied away and hid her face. The bird made a loud noise, like a mid-pitched screech. This scared her even more. She turned her head back to the bird. The bird was looking right at her. Almost as if it were looking into her soul. It was speaking inside her mind.
"Follow me..."
She listened and looked confusingly at the bird. The bird flew to a nearby branch, waiting for this girl who sat in the mud. She began to rise, but her legs were too weak to support her weight. As she tried to stand, she fell back to the ground. She tried again, slowly this time. Finally she was able to stand and began walking slowly towards the bird. It saw her and moved on. She continued to follow not knowing where she was going.
The wind blew hard and cold, but the rain was light. Thunder sounded in the distance, lightning occasionally the night sky on fire. She continued to travel down the narrow, muddy path. She shivered with each step. Her clothing was simply a dirty red shirt and blue jeans. The shirt itself had sleeves that went as far as the elbows but was torn at the shoulders and the neck, it looked ready to drop off. She clung to it anyway because it was her only source of warmth.
She walked bare foot in the cold mud. Looking around, she could only see trees and, off in the distance, the lights of a nearby city that looked familiar.
Where am I going? Willow thought to herself.
Soon after that, the bird flew by her and landed on a tree branch in a large tree to her right. Willow looked up and then heard the bird voice in her mind again...
"Over there..."
The bird pointed its head towards a clearing amongst the trees. In the center of it was a large and flat slab of stone. Bewildered, Willow entered into the clearing. It was dark, but the occasional flashes of lightning gave enough light for Willow to see. Drawing closer, Willow slowly approached it. She felt her heart racing. Something horrible happened here.
"This is... this is... where I died." Willow said, her voice trembling. "I died here..." The Crow flew and landed on the slab of stone. Willow stepped forward and touched the stone, and an instant jolt of pain hit her head. It was like that of a migraine headache but worse. Willow quickly grabbed her head with both hands. Falling to her knees, she closed her eyes and let out a short, loud scream. However, this pain was only the beginning. The memories. Everything came back to her…
Nearly one year ago to this day. She and Buffy had plans to meet at the Bronze that night with Xander and the rest of the gang. Except she had to stop by the library to pick up a book for an assignment first. Buffy offered to go with her but Willow insisted that she didn't need to and would catch up later.
That was a mistake.
As she left the library, Willow was grabbed from behind when she walked outside. A funny smelling cloth was placed over her mouth to keep her from screaming. She barely had time to kick or to punch before blacking out.
However, soon she later awoke to sounds of people chanting.
Willow found herself laid out on this very same cold slab of stone, her mouth gagged and hands and feet tied together. Torches lit the clearing in the woods allowing her to see, the eight hooded robed figures surrounded her in a circle.
Terrified she struggled to move, but two of the robed figures stepped forward to hold her down, as the chanting continued.
Whimpering in fear, Willow could make out only every other word that they were saying in the chant, but she made out enough. They were performing a summoning spell, a powerful one. One that required a human sacrifice. It was not hard for her to know what was in store for her. Willow fought harder this time, until she saw the flash of a knife and then felt the pain.
They didn't kill her, they only cut her so she would bleed out. Willow cried through the gag as she felt her life slowly bleed away.
As tears poured from her eyes, Willow wanted to scream at them. Why! Why are you doing this to me?
One of them spoke as if he heard her. His voice cold and unfeeling. "In time we will deal with your friend. The Slayer's life will give us what we want."
Willow's mind screamed. BUFFY! Don't you dare touch her!
With her remaining strength, she struggled and kicked out with her tied feet, managing to strike on of them. The hood slipped off and she saw his face. He was not a demon but a human!
He stared angrily at her with blood pouring from his nose and mouth from where she hit him. "Finish the ceremony."
The knife was placed across her throat…
The pain. All she felt was the agonizing pain. The pain she endured that night both physically and mentally. It slowly subsided as she opened her eyes to find the storm had passed and the sky had cleared. The pain died down completely when she was able to stand up. She was still in the clearing, next to the slab of stone. Deep inside, Willow hoped it was a nightmare, but reality showed that the nightmare was real.
"You're awake. Good." said a voice.
She saw the black bird perched on the slab of stone. Willow looked at the bird confused.
"Yes, I am speaking to you, Willow." The bird said without moving its beak. "I am talking to you through your mind. No one can hear me but you."
"Who...What are you...?" Willow said in a quiet tone.
"Someone who wants to help you set the wrong things right..."
"They were talking about killing Buffy… " Willow whispered fearfully. "Is she still alive?"
"She is. Whatever they have planned for her, they still haven't carried it out."
"How long have I been gone?"
"Almost one year."
Willow looked back towards the faint city lights of Sunnydale. Her mind racing with a thousand thoughts, her very being burning with a rage that knew no bounds. She no longer felt the cold air against her body, she was completely focused on the task at hand.
"I need a few things first, and then we can go to work." Willow spoke in a sadistic tone.
O-X-O
DOWNTOWN SUNNYDALE: 4:15 AM
A silent alarm at a clothing shop was triggered sending a police car hurrying through the deserted streets to respond. As the officers drove up to the store, they were amazed to see a figure leisurely exiting from the large broken store front window.
The police officers immediately flashed their lights and sounded the car's siren. Slowly the figure looked at the approaching vehicle, not moving while the car came to a complete stop mere feet away.
"Freeze!" One officer shouted, as he stepped out from the driver side door, drawing his weapon.
His partner did the same from the passenger side door. "Let me see your… Uh, face."
Standing in the headlights of their squad car was Willow, dressed all in black, with pants, t-shirt, boots and long coat, however what truly drew their attention the most was her coloured face. It was white with black dye outlining her eyes and lips. Her natural shoulder length red hair was now coloured black as midnight.
With a sweep of her hands, she took a playful bow to the officers. "A very early morning to you gentlemen. You may call me the Crow… No applause please." She said in a teasing voice. "Now, for my next trick, I'll make like the wind."
The two officers just stared in bewilderment when Willow bolted across the street. Immediately and hot on her heels, the two Sunnydale cops started to chase after her. What they did not expect was for the brunette in apparent clown makeup to charge at the brick wall of the store on the opposite side of the street. Especially when she jumped high, landing flat against the wall and began scaling it.
Willow climbed the brick wall, gripping handholds that no human could have used, moving with the grace of SPIDERMAN. She transverse completely up the three storey building, and then onto the roof, leaving the two police officers staring up dumbfounded.
Willow ran and jumped from roof to roof. Leaping across alley ways and narrow streets, she kept moving until she considered herself clear of any possible pursuit.
With a rustle of wings, the crow landed beside her on a nearby ledge. Willow was slowly coming to realize the power she now had at her command. Strength, speed, able to performing physical acts that no living mortal can perform and that could be just for starters. Willow always admired Buffy and always wished to have her powers and talents. Finally, she had such abilities.
Suddenly, Willow remembered one of the reasons why she came back in the first place.
"Buffy." She murmured to herself.
O-X-O
It was a bright and warm day on the campus of UC Sunnydale. Buffy sat quietly on a bench, under the cooling shade of nearby tree, slowly reading over her notes for the day. Her mind was so distracted, Buffy didn't notice the person walking up to her.
"A penny for your thoughts. That's about all I can afford right now."
Buffy looked up with a start, she smiled. "Don't you have a job or something, Xander?"
"Well, I can't tell you how much life in the blue collar world sucks." Xander said, sitting down on the bench next to her.
The Slayer closed up her note binder to listen to him. She was always glad whenever Xander dropped by at campus to see her. On a few occasions nearly a year ago she came close to dropping out but Xander and Giles convinced her to stay in and she felt that Willow would had wanted her to go on.
"Tough day at the garage?" Buffy asked.
"Oh ya! A thing like a large raging fire would constitute a tough day." Xander replied with some mild sarcasm. "However, on the up side, it wasn't my fault. On the down side, this was the shortest job I had ever been employed at."
Buffy patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, Xand. There's a job out there waiting for you."
"I don't know, Buffy. Working under the greasy undercarriage of a car had a lot more dignity than the drive through at McDonalds."
"Hmm… And speaking of McDonalds, are you hungry? I was planning to grab a bite to eat." Buffy stood up. "Would you like to join me?"
Xander shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
"I'm buying." Buffy offered.
He immediately jumped to his feet, clapping his hands together. "Lead the way."
Walking together down the busy sidewalk, they weaved through groups of students busily going about their own activities, making their way to the college cafeteria.
Along the way, Xander turned to Buffy. "I heard a rumour that your roommate moved out a few days ago. Any problems?"
"Well, it had nothing to do with me. She was impossible to get along with."
"You've gone through six roommates in a year. They all couldn't have been that bad."
"She was a hummer." Buffy spat. "She kept wanting to hum to the music on the radio."
Xander stopped and placed a hand over his chest, gasping mockingly. "The evil little fiend! Why didn't you stake her on the spot?"
Buffy stopped and stared at him. "I had to live with her, not you."
"Yes, but maybe you're the difficult one." Xander said, staring back. He then leaned in whispering softly. "I understand you miss her, we all do. But beating up on your roommates won't do you any good. You have to face the fact that she might be gone."
"Don't say that." Buffy growled angrily. "I don't what to hear it!"
"It has been a year and we haven't found a trace of her. Believe me, I want her back as much as you but if she did suddenly decided to run off to find Oz, we would have heard from her by now."
It took all of Buffy's strength to keep from slugging Xander. After Willow hadn't shown up at the Bronze that night, they had immediately searched for her. They first phoned her mother's house, then every place where she might be. Next phoning their dorm, the magic shop and Giles home. After exhausting all of the places to call, they all started to search the campus, eventually spread their search out over the town. With help from Willow's mother, they pressured the police to help find her daughter, bypassing the 48 hour waiting period and getting immediately involved. But 12 hours had already passed.
After a week of no trace or clues, things started to look bleak. Buffy secretly hoped that Willow just ran off because Oz left, like she did after Angel, and she would eventually be found. Soon weeks became months and not one word from Willow. As more time went by, she started to lose more hope, but no one wanted to say out loud that Willow might be dead and Buffy was the last one wishing to hear it.
Buffy's hands balled into fist but she stopped and her eyes grew as wide as saucers as she looked past Xander. She tried to speak, but words failed to form in her mouth. Xander turned to look behind him, to see what had so strongly gained the attention of the Slayer. He almost staggered backwards into Buffy at the sight before him.
Standing just twenty feet away, dressed in a black long coat, was Willow. With her red hair glistening in the afternoon sun, she smiled a slight smile to her two spellbound friends and waved. "Hi."
Slowly, Buffy moved past Xander, taking tentative steps towards Willow, as if any suddenly movement would scare her away like a phantom. When Buffy got within a few feet of her, the Slayer finally realized it was no trick by her imagination.
"Oh, GOD!" Buffy cried as she lunged over the remaining distance and tightly hugged her long missing friend.
Finally ungluing his feet, Xander rushed forward to join Buffy and Willow. Together, the three embraced in a tight human circle. After a few moments, with tears welling in her eyes, Willow pulled away from Buffy and Xander as far as their friendly arms would allow.
Buffy was also struggling, to no avail, against her own tears. "Where have you been? We were scared to death."
Willow looked at them both and said without missing a beat. "I was murdered."
Buffy and Xander blinked back in shock.
Willow grinned calmly. "Don't worry, I got better."