It was eerily silent in the cemetery, given all the death that had taken over Sunnydale the past couple months since, well since Buffy died. The familiar pang hit Willow hard thinking about the loss of her best friend and the slayer. But that was why she was here, sitting a top a faded tombstone with a grimoire in her lap and a hot chocolate nestled between her hands. She was huddled over it, keeping an ear out for her approaching friends.
The routine they'd fallen into as of late was meeting at the cemetery around 9:30 – 10:00, patrolling silently for a couple hours then going back to their lives. It seemed Buffy was really the glue that kept them all together and now that she was gone there didn't feel like a point. Or maybe being around the people closest to her just hurt too much.
She'd tried not to, but part of Willow blamed Dawn. If those damned monks hadn't made her flesh and the slayer's sister, Buffy wouldn't have fought as hard, wouldn't have given her life. But she knew that was crap, Buffy would have given her life for anyone. It's just who she was.
A hero.
And that's what Willow hoped to be. The spells she'd studied of late had been clear, that if someone died an unnatural death then it was entirely possible to bring them back from the dead. However, it took a lot of power. Lots of witchy stuff and she knew she had to rally the troops, aka Xander and co, to pull off such a spell.
"An urn of Osiris." She mused, taking a small sip of her cooling cocoa. "I'll check in with some of Giles' Magic Box suppliers, we sure as hell aren't going to find one on Ebay."
The sound of a twig snapping made her jump and scan her surroundings. No danger and no friends. She shivered against the fall wind and went back to her study, chalking it up to an animal.
Another rustling noise and she was beginning to feel on edge. She closed the grimoire and slid off the tombstone.
"Xander?" She called, expecting her dark haired friend to emerge, goofy grin on his face for having scared her. Although, Willow hadn't seen that side of him in a long while.
When there was no response she turned and put the grimoire and her drink down. She bent over and dug through her messenger bag, pulling out a freshly sharpened stake.
"Anya? Dawn?" Her voice was waving, betraying her confidence. Another twig snapped behind her and she spun around, stake raised. She felt foolish when she realized no one was there. But that feeling of being watched was strong.
"Whosoever there...you should know I'm a powerful wicca." She tried to sound scary, but sounded mosey and frightened, even to herself.
She let out a shriek when cold hands gripped the tops of her arms , pulling her backwards and digging their nails through the fabric of her sweater. She bumped against a solid body and felt terror grip her.
She felt breath on her neck before a silky voice whispered, "Prove it." The hands pushed her forward on the tombstone where she knocked over her drink and tossed the stake against a nearby tree.
She spun around quickly, conjuring a fireball in her right hand, preparing to fight.
The vampire had it's game face on, but she looked so familiar to Willow.
"Ya' know Willow, I always knew you were different. But I never pegged you for a witch." Her face morphed and Willow recognized her immediately. The last time she'd seen the girl flashed through her head.
"Willow!" Aura had called out, running down the hall and waving her yearbook frantically at the her. Willow smiled and waved back, but she had no time to sign yearbooks. With graduation only a few hours away she needed to find and give Cordelia her orders from Buffy.
"Hey Aura, have you seen Cordelia? I really need to find her."
Aura had caught up to Willow and was brushing as hand through her messy hair.. "Neg. Look can I talk to you real quick? I have something I need to tell you." Her demeanor changed and she looked almost shy.
Willow didn't want to be rude so she just smiled. "Sorry I'm pretty busy." She stepped around Aura and started to walk away, "I'll come find you after the ceremony, okay?"
Aura followed after and grabbed onto Willow's arm pulling her back and spinning her around to plant her lips on hers.
Willow gasped slightly, but didn't pull away from the kiss. Aura's lips were softer then Oz's usually chapped ones. Aura parted her lips and ran her tongue lightly across Willow's bottom lip. Willow shuddered and moved closer, deepening the kiss. She opened her mouth and allowed their tongues to dance.
Suddenly Aura pulled away and Willow giggled. Her statement from meeting her vampire doppelganger came back to her, "I think I'm kinda gay."
Aura's eyes were wide and she covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh em gee." She mumbled. "I'm so sorry." She turned away from Willow and rushed down the hall. Willow, stunned stared behind her.
"Aura?" Willow, similarly stunned now gawked at the girl, fireball slowly dimming.
"I guess I don't look quite the same when I'm not on Cordelia Chase's arm." She smirked and popped her hip and crossed her arms. Willow had seen people she'd known turned into vampires before, but this seemed different.
She took small predatory step towards Willow, swaying her hips as she did so. "How ya' been cutie?" Willow took at step back but realized she was up against the tombstone she'd been sitting on. On the other side steam rose from the ground where her tossed drink lay.
Not a single spell to save herself came to mind and she began to panic. Her friends were due to arrive any minute, but it could be too late by then...
Standing directly in front of her, Aura's face softened and she gently cupped Willow's face in her hands. "You never did come find me after graduation." She sighed before leaning forward and lightly kissing her.
Willow immediately melted into the kiss, bringing her hands up and winding them in her hair and wrapping herself around the vampire.
Tara flashed through her mind for a second, but she was suddenly replaced with a sense of euphoria.
Aura pulled away from her lips and begin to kiss down her face stopping at the base of her neck. Willow whimpered, half in fear half, in anticipation.
"I wanted to tell you," she purred, Willow arched her chest forward, pressing her breasts against the girl, her breath on her neck felt so good. "That I'd always had a crush on you." Willow felt Aura's lips receded against her teeth and the points of her fangs. She began to squirm, fear finally winning against arousal. Aura only chuckled before sinking her fangs into her neck and holding her mouth to stop the screams.
When her heart began to slow and she stopped struggling Aura let her slump against the tombstone. She left her face return to normal and wiped at the blood lingering on her lips. She was going to leave her redheaded paramour to die there, but the thought made her heart ache.
She slit across her wrist and bent down, lifting Willow's head and placing her lips on the cut.
"Come on, Willow. Drink up." She felt Willow's tongue snake out and weakly lap at the trickling blood. Aura smiled and stroked through her hair with her other arm.
A noise, people approaching from behind, Aura stood and admired Willow, she watched her chest rise and fall, then go still. She was gone. "I'll be back for you." She whispered before taking off into the cemetery.
Xander hated this. He wanted to joke and laugh with his fiancé, go to The Bronze with all his best buds. He didn't want anyone to forget about Buffy, but they couldn't go on like they had been.
"I just don't see why we don't put him in a home or something." Anya chipped away at his thoughts and bought him back to the present. "He's clearly gone mental."
Dawn, who jumped between manic depressive and raging teen regularly, these days, glared at the former vengeance demon.
"Don't talk about Giles that way." She snapped folding her arms and holding her head down.
"I'm just saying, we could be doing long term damage by not getting him help."
"You just wanna take over the Magic Box."
"Do not."
"Do to!"
"Ladies..." Xander finally cut in. They were almost to their meeting spot and he didn't want Willow to see them all bickering like children. She had enough on her mind lately, based on what she'd told him.
"I can bring her back." Willow had gushed a little too loudly, the other patrons at the Espresso Pump turned. She went a lighter shade of red.
"What?" Xander looked up from his double espresso, dark bags under his eyes. Aside from a certain vampire, Xander was taking Buffy's passing the hardest.
"There's this set of grimoires I'm working on getting. All to do with reanimating the body and calling the spirit back to its host." She was gushing again, clearly excited. Xander couldn't share her enthusiasm.
"Didn't Dawn try that with Mrs. Summers?" He took a sip of his drink. "Things can go wrong." Buffy could come back wrong. "Spells like this are dangerous, you've said that yourself many times before." Willow nodded in agreement.
"It's dangerous, but Buffy died an unnatural death. It wasn't fair how she died and the universe has a way to help us right that. Which is why this spell will work." She stirred her hot chocolate for the millionth time. Looking thoughtful. "I'm just going to need you, Anya and Tara to help."
They always came up behind the tombstone and Willow with her back to them, hovering over some book or other was a common sight. But not tonight. Xander frowned, then began to worry that something could have happened to her.
"If Willow's skipped I'm skipping." Anya complained, letting Dawn and Xander move ahead of her to investigate.
Xander's heartbeat increased when he saw the styrofoam cup on the ground, still steaming, and the grimoire sat on top of the stone. He scanned the area and also noticed the discarded stake.
"Guys." The girls seemed to have noticed the oddity of things before them as well, because they went silent and still.
Already knowing what he would find, Xander walked ahead of the girls and stepped around the tombstone.
She looked like a Raggedy Ann doll, her limbs all limp beside her and her red locks covering half her face. Her legs looked to be in an unnatural position and her arms straight to her sides with her hands flat on the ground. Her eyes were half open, but lifeless. Two pinprick marks gleamed with the reminiscent of blood drained.
Anya took a step towards Xander and he put his hand up to stop her approach.
The color had drained from his face and he felt like he was going to be ill, but he maintained composure.
Xander uttered words he never thought he'd speak, not in a thousand years, "I need Spike. Call Spike."
He stayed with the body until Spike arrived a couple hours later. Though they'd not seen the corpse, Dawn and Anya knew exactly what it was Xander had been looking at with such horror.
Dawn had begged to stay, even as the tears began to fill her eyes. Anya tried to be comforting, but just came off as the usual Anya. Death still continued to confuse her and she was crap at helping those around her though it.
Xander had asked them to leave, head back to the apartment and call Tara.
"Don't tell her over the phone..." He'd almost whispered. He hadn't cried but his eyes were wide. "Make sure she's not alone." They weren't sure if he was talking about Tara at that moment, but decided to do as he asked. They quickly rushed away, leaving them alone.
"Damnit Will." He half chocked. He knelt by her and tried to make her look more natural, more like she was just taking a ill timed nap and not lying dead in a cemetery. He straightened her legs and folded her hands in her lap. Her expression was lax, for which he was grateful. If she'd looked like she'd died in pain he'd never forgive himself.
He brushed her soft red hair out of her face, a tear rolling down his cheek. She looked peaceful and beautiful and now he couldn't stop the tears.
"Damnit Will!" he said with more conviction, slamming his fist into the tombstone. He pulled his hand back and examined his bloodied fist. First a wall when Joyce had died, scaffolding when they found Buffy and now a tombstone. Hitting things just made him feel better.
He heard footsteps behind him and he turned in time to dodge a punch swung by a fairly large vampire in a suit. Dirt still clung to his forehead wrinkle, clearly a fresh rise. Xander rolled and took up a crouched pose. He instantly regretted sending the girls away with the weapons bag.
The vampire snarled and came at him again. He moved out of his crouched position and rushed the vampire with his head low and rammed right into him, taking them both down. They tumbled and Xander gained the advantage, using his good fist he sucker punched the vampire in the face. He rolled onto his back, holding on to his nose and howling in pain.
Xander remembered the stake and quickly moved to retrieve it. Just as the vampire was recovering Xander jammed the stake into his heart. He looked up with that surprised vampire face and then poof, he was gone.
No other vampires made themselves known between the last staking and Spike emerging. Like the rest of the Scooby Gang, Spike hadn't been the same since Buffy. His confidence was gone. He didn't even wear his iconic leather coat anymore. Just black. He looked at Xander with a dead expression before turning his gaze to the body.
"Poor Red." He mumbled shaking his head. He was stood about five feet away from Xander. Arms crossed, as if he was trying to shield himself from the cold.
They didn't say anything for a few minutes, then Spike spoke again, "So what am I doing here exactly?"
Xander pulled his gaze away from her and looked at Spike, he looked numb.
"I need to you move..." He took a deep breath. "I need you to take her to the hospital." He looked back at Willow, it all just seemed too surreal.
"For what? It's not like they can bring her back." Spike wasn't trying to sound cruel or heartless, there had just been too much death around lately and he was having trouble adjusting to it.
"Well we can't just leave her here!" Xander raised his voice, anger evident. "They can...call her parents and do the things they do at hospitals when someones...died." He whispered the last word then bent over and vomited. He kept heaving until it was dry and he thought he was literally going to vomit up his stomach. Spike, in an unusual display of companionship patted Xander on the back.
"Get it all out." He patted Xander a couple times more and stepped back and towards Willow.
"I'll take her." He bent over and swooped Willow into his arms as if she weighed nothing. Her body was limp in his arms and Xander thought he was going to dry heave again.
As Spike began to walk away her turned back to Xander.
"If this was a vampire..." Xander already knew where he was going with this. What if she came back.
"We'll deal with it if it happens." He wiped at his mouth and winced against the burning pain in his throat. He watched Spike walk away before turning and walking back the way he'd come, but not before picking up the grimoire. Hugging it to his chest, he stumbled home.