Trouble in Sunnydale

The phone rang shrilly, breaking the silence that flooded the Chase home. Without a second thought, Cordelia ran to answer it in the hallway, color flushing her cheeks. She rang a hand through her hair, smiling happily to herself . She looked good, and she knew it.

'Hello?'

'Hello'.

Cordelia blinked. She didn't recognize the voice. It was probably for her parents.

'Yes?'

'Who is this?', the voice demanded. Cordelia thought for a moment. The caller sounded 100 male, and 100 sexy, but she wasn't that stupid. She knew better than to supply strange men with personal information. She lived in Sunnydale, after all.

'Who're you trying to reach?', she asked warily.

'I don't know'

'What number are you trying to reach?'

'I dunno'

'I think you have the wrong number', she said impatiently.

'Do I?'

'It happens. Ciao'. She slammed the phone down. Sometimes, she really hated loser salesmen.

She made her way back to the kitchen. Her parents were out that night, sorting out their finances, or whatever. The important thing was that she had the place to herself; she needed it for when her boyfriend Xander came over for a little alone time. She considered making some popcorn, but decided against it. Popcorn was SO cliché.

Bored, she walked to the hallway mirror and pulled in her cheeks, forming a sultry pout. As she was there, she thought, she might as well practice her cheers. Silently, she waved her arms above her head, and performed a clever jump. And they call Buffy a Slayer, she smiled smugly.

She'd just turned on the stereo when the phone rang.

'Geez', she muttered to herself in annoyance, 'do people know the meaning of the word PRIVACY?!'. Still, she retrieved the phone, lifting it curtly to her ear. 'Hello?'

'I'm sorry. I guess I dialled the wrong number'.

'So why'd you dial it again?', she asked, frowning impatiently.

'To apologize'

'So you should. Bye now'. She made a move to disconnect. But the voice on the other end spluttered hastily.

'Wait. Don't hang up'

'What?'

'I want to talk to you for a second'

Cordelia Chase rolled her eyes. Suddenly, she could see where this was going.

'Yeah, well I'm sorry, but if I let everyone who wanted to talk to me have just one second, I'd be sprouting grey hairs by now. Get a grip and mosey on down to a comic book store or something'

She put the phone down before he could react.

Cordelia bit her lip thoughtfully. She still couldn't place the caller's voice, but something about it seemed familiar to her somehow. It could be Xander…but he was due any second now…

The phone rang for a few moments. She hesitated, then picked up.

'Yes?'

'Why don't you want to talk to me?'

'Who is this?'

'You tell me your name and I'll tell you mine.'

'Yeah, as if'

'What's that noise?'

'What noise?', she asked, then realized that the stereo was still playing, 'oh, a CD'

'Celine Dion?'

'Power of Love, what of it?', she asked defensively, moving to turn it off.

'Its just…you have such sophisticated taste. '

She grinned, 'you betcha. Even if some people don't seem to recognize that sometimes. Its like, just because I'm not a Sla-, uh, some kind of freak weight lifter, they don't pay any attention. Nobody sees the real me'

'Well they should. You look like a remarkable young woman'

'Damn right I-', she faltered, registering the meaning of his words. 'Wait, what did you just say?'

'I said, you sound like a remarkable young woman'

Cordelia's face clouded over, carrying the phone over with her to the window to shut the curtains. 'That's not what you said…'

'What? Hello?'

Cordelia slammed down the phone, and rushed to check that the front door was locked. She fanned herself with her hands, and tried to think of a plan.

'Buffy', she murmured, 'she'll know what to do'.

Before she reached the hallway phone, it rang again. She screamed, and pulled the phone out of the socket. But the rings persisted. Then she remembered : the house had at least four extensions.

'Unghhhh!', she cried in frustration, falling against a wall. She squeezed her eyes shut, and covered her ears with her hands. 'Stop it, STOP IT!' she screamed.

Silence. Carefully, Cordelia reopened her eyes, and stumbled to her feet. She took a tentative step forward, eyeing the kitchen extension hopefully…

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door, and she jumped in terror, the light of the full moon illuminating her face.

'Who's there? WHO'S THERE?!'

But there was no answer. Briefly, an insane thought passed through Cordelia's mind. Maybe if she just answered the door, just for a second, she put an end to her suffering. She walked to the door, where a slip of white paper lay on the doormat. Shaking, she picked it up, and read to short typed sentence.

-ANSWER THE PHONE-

'No!' she shrieked loudly, 'Go to hell, you psycho freak!'

The phones started to ring around her defiantly. Pulling at her well-styled hair, she finally picked up in the kitchen.

'What?'

''Finally. I thought you'd really hung up on me'

'Fu-'

'-Not so fast. We're going to play a little game. Its called "Kiss goodbye to Romeo".

An image of Xander's dorky yet irresistible face forced its way into Cordelia's head.

'Xander, no…. leave him alone'

The voice laughed harshly. 'You know that's not the right answer.'

'Who the hell do you think you are? Are you getting a rush from this? Huh? HUH? Just leave us alone!'

Silently, Cordelia willed Xander to be okay. Please Buffy, she wished, I take it all back. Just come rescue me. I'll do anything…I'll even let you be Senior Prom Queen…

The voice brought her back to cold reality. 'Look through your back kitchen window. NOW'

Cordelia grimaced, but did what she was told. As she swept the curtains to one side, she instantly paled with nausea.

'Oh my god…', she whimpered, as she recognised the figure tied up and gagged on a chair by the outdoor pool. 'Riley…'

'Now you remember', the voice laughed hoarsely. 'Your other boyfriend, good old Riley, cute little college guy. Likes to play with his guns. Good for when Xander's unavailable. Do you love him?'

'Yes, I mean no, I mean, why….what do you want from me?', Cordelia sobbed, her hand against the glass pane.

'To talk'

Cordelia stared desperately at Riley, and wondered how she had gotten herself into this mess. This was no demon she was dealing with. No. He was ten times worse.

'Leave us alone'.

'Your call', the voice rasped, and the line went dead. Before she could react, a black cloaked figure swept across Riley's bound body and with a large knife slowly cut a line diagonally along his stomach. Cordelia retched, and closed the curtains before Riley's insides could hit the patio.

Instinct set in. Out the front door she thought frantically, before he notices.

She rushed to gather her keys, left on the mantelpiece, and thrust one in the lock. Once it clicked open, she pulled it wide, and looking over her shoulder, softly shut it behind her. Her car was in the driveway; if she could just get help, she'd be in the clear.

She raced to the Queen C, and fumbled with her keys. One even read SUNNYDALE HIGH LIBRARY.

'Omigod omigod omigod', she whimpered, as she searched for the right key.

She stole a glance over her shoulder and sobbed as a white masked figure glided towards her.

The last thing she heard was the sound of trodden grass and her car alarm howling into the loneliness of the night.