When the spell had been broken, no one had thought there would be any complications. Buffy and Xander had discarded their alternate personalities. The numerous children had resumed their lives as little humans rather than little demons. So everyone had assumed that all was well in Sunnydale with Ethan Rayne on his way out of town.
But crossing the line between life and death was tricky and not always able to be reversed.
-----
Cordelia regarded the scene with general disgust. Children were standing around, whining like the little brats she knew them to be. "Well, I guess you better get them back to their parents."
"Yeah, everybody seems to ..." Xander paused, looking around. "Where's Willow? She was here a second ago."
"I'm right here, Xander." Willow smiled. It was just like her best friend to joke at a time like this. Trying to lighten the mood, like the comic relief he prided himself on.
"She probably ran off when the fight started." The beauty queen rolled her eyes. "Leaving me with her children. Doesn't she know that children give me hives?"
"Hey!" Willow shouted, walking over to where the two were standing. She didn't have to take that from Cordelia. "I'm right here!"
"I'll take them back to the high school, Catwoman." Xander started to herd together the scared children. "Are you coming? I can leave you here if you want."
"You would not leave me alone in a warehouse, Xander Harris!" Cordelia huffed. She stormed after him, encountering a cold breeze. She stopped in her tracks. "Weird," she muttered.
Willow stood deathly still. Cordelia had just walked through her. But that wasn't possible. The laws of anatomy and physics proved that impossible. The redhead looked down at her body. Everything was still there in one piece. She put her hand on her chest.
There was no resistance. There was nothing there.
She was still a ghost.
-----
The graveyard was the natural place to be. She was dead after all.
Willow shook her head. She was dead. As in no longer of the living.
Thinking that Giles would know what to do, she had gone directly from the warehouse to the library. Since she was able to just walk through the walls, she hadn't had to worry about getting in so late at night. The library had been empty, Giles was long-gone. She couldn't go home dead so she ended up in the next best place.
And it wasn't like vampires were any threat to her.
She smiled faintly. There was a positive side to everything, she supposed. Walking by various stones, she paused every once in a while. There had been Jesse, killed by a vampire; her grandparents, dead of natural causes long before Willow had even known about what really went bump in the night; and then there had been the random students that she knew went to school one day and never came back again. The ones she heard Buffy talking about slaying the next day.
Willow would be buried here in a few days. Someone would most likely discover her body in the morning. She had thought about going back to that woman's house but there wouldn't have been anything she could have done, except just stare at the body that once was hers. It was too depressing to even contemplate.
Sunnydale was oddly beautiful at night. She had never given much thought to it - Giles and Buffy always drilled into her that the night was ugly and dangerous and best be avoided. But the stars shone brightly in the sky, a sliver of the moon illuminating the top of the trees.
The leaves crinkling nearby.
Her human instincts kicked in. She ran into the patch of trees, literally running through a tree or two. Only to run straight into a very pissed off and familiar vampire on the other side.
"You!" Her eyes grew wide. She habitually reached behind her to search for a way to go back where she came, but it was no use.
"The Slayer's girl all alone. I thought she was smarter than that." Spike smirked, his eyes shimmering with hints of yellow.
"I-I'm not scared of you."
"You should be." The vampire advanced toward her like a tiger stalking his prey. He was an inch away when he realised that something was off. He narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're not human."
"I'm dead!" Willow's fear had turned into desperation, phantom tears trying to fall down her cheeks. She poked him in the chest so that he would see her hand just disappear. "I bet you're just sorry you weren't the one was able to do it. A trophy for Buffy or something equally as morbid."
"Who did it?" There was a underlying tone of anger in his voice.
Willow moved past him into the small clearing. "It was a side effect of that spell. I was a ghost .. but I'm still a ghost. Just because I was ashamed to be seen like this." She gestured towards the now somewhat transparent outfit she was wearing. "Now I have to look like this for the rest of my unlife."
"You look smashing, pet."
Willow sighed. "It's nice of you to say that. This just isn't me. Except it's now me. It's all very confusing."
"Death is always confusing. At least you had a bit of time to adjust to this." He gestured toward her ghostly figure. "I went from being alive in an alley to waking up in wooden coffin the next night. That's a shocker."
"How did you take it?"
"Got drunk of my arse for the next few days. Finally came around to Dru's way of thinking."
"Dru?"
"My sire. A bit loopy but ... she's all I got."
"At least you're not alone."
"You aren't either. What about those friends of yours?"
"They're of the living. The living aren't usually friends with the dead, except when that person is An-" She shut up when she realised that Spike wouldn't really want to hear any mention of him.
Spike shrugged. "Then come consort with the dead. Dru would like you, and you'd have an excuse to skip her tea parties."
"Tea parties?"
He shrugged. "She lost the plot before she got vamped, thanks to Angelus's handiwork. Got an expensive doll collection we've carried from England to Prague and now California. Ugly as hell, but she likes 'em." He raised an eyebrow. "You coming?"
Willow looked back toward the lights of Sunnydale. She really didn't belong there anymore, there was nothing to go back to. Putting on her resolve face, she skipped up to Spike, following his lead.
"Does she make you go to her parties?"
But crossing the line between life and death was tricky and not always able to be reversed.
Cordelia regarded the scene with general disgust. Children were standing around, whining like the little brats she knew them to be. "Well, I guess you better get them back to their parents."
"Yeah, everybody seems to ..." Xander paused, looking around. "Where's Willow? She was here a second ago."
"I'm right here, Xander." Willow smiled. It was just like her best friend to joke at a time like this. Trying to lighten the mood, like the comic relief he prided himself on.
"She probably ran off when the fight started." The beauty queen rolled her eyes. "Leaving me with her children. Doesn't she know that children give me hives?"
"Hey!" Willow shouted, walking over to where the two were standing. She didn't have to take that from Cordelia. "I'm right here!"
"I'll take them back to the high school, Catwoman." Xander started to herd together the scared children. "Are you coming? I can leave you here if you want."
"You would not leave me alone in a warehouse, Xander Harris!" Cordelia huffed. She stormed after him, encountering a cold breeze. She stopped in her tracks. "Weird," she muttered.
Willow stood deathly still. Cordelia had just walked through her. But that wasn't possible. The laws of anatomy and physics proved that impossible. The redhead looked down at her body. Everything was still there in one piece. She put her hand on her chest.
There was no resistance. There was nothing there.
She was still a ghost.
The graveyard was the natural place to be. She was dead after all.
Willow shook her head. She was dead. As in no longer of the living.
Thinking that Giles would know what to do, she had gone directly from the warehouse to the library. Since she was able to just walk through the walls, she hadn't had to worry about getting in so late at night. The library had been empty, Giles was long-gone. She couldn't go home dead so she ended up in the next best place.
And it wasn't like vampires were any threat to her.
She smiled faintly. There was a positive side to everything, she supposed. Walking by various stones, she paused every once in a while. There had been Jesse, killed by a vampire; her grandparents, dead of natural causes long before Willow had even known about what really went bump in the night; and then there had been the random students that she knew went to school one day and never came back again. The ones she heard Buffy talking about slaying the next day.
Willow would be buried here in a few days. Someone would most likely discover her body in the morning. She had thought about going back to that woman's house but there wouldn't have been anything she could have done, except just stare at the body that once was hers. It was too depressing to even contemplate.
Sunnydale was oddly beautiful at night. She had never given much thought to it - Giles and Buffy always drilled into her that the night was ugly and dangerous and best be avoided. But the stars shone brightly in the sky, a sliver of the moon illuminating the top of the trees.
The leaves crinkling nearby.
Her human instincts kicked in. She ran into the patch of trees, literally running through a tree or two. Only to run straight into a very pissed off and familiar vampire on the other side.
"You!" Her eyes grew wide. She habitually reached behind her to search for a way to go back where she came, but it was no use.
"The Slayer's girl all alone. I thought she was smarter than that." Spike smirked, his eyes shimmering with hints of yellow.
"I-I'm not scared of you."
"You should be." The vampire advanced toward her like a tiger stalking his prey. He was an inch away when he realised that something was off. He narrowed his eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you? You're not human."
"I'm dead!" Willow's fear had turned into desperation, phantom tears trying to fall down her cheeks. She poked him in the chest so that he would see her hand just disappear. "I bet you're just sorry you weren't the one was able to do it. A trophy for Buffy or something equally as morbid."
"Who did it?" There was a underlying tone of anger in his voice.
Willow moved past him into the small clearing. "It was a side effect of that spell. I was a ghost .. but I'm still a ghost. Just because I was ashamed to be seen like this." She gestured towards the now somewhat transparent outfit she was wearing. "Now I have to look like this for the rest of my unlife."
"You look smashing, pet."
Willow sighed. "It's nice of you to say that. This just isn't me. Except it's now me. It's all very confusing."
"Death is always confusing. At least you had a bit of time to adjust to this." He gestured toward her ghostly figure. "I went from being alive in an alley to waking up in wooden coffin the next night. That's a shocker."
"How did you take it?"
"Got drunk of my arse for the next few days. Finally came around to Dru's way of thinking."
"Dru?"
"My sire. A bit loopy but ... she's all I got."
"At least you're not alone."
"You aren't either. What about those friends of yours?"
"They're of the living. The living aren't usually friends with the dead, except when that person is An-" She shut up when she realised that Spike wouldn't really want to hear any mention of him.
Spike shrugged. "Then come consort with the dead. Dru would like you, and you'd have an excuse to skip her tea parties."
"Tea parties?"
He shrugged. "She lost the plot before she got vamped, thanks to Angelus's handiwork. Got an expensive doll collection we've carried from England to Prague and now California. Ugly as hell, but she likes 'em." He raised an eyebrow. "You coming?"
Willow looked back toward the lights of Sunnydale. She really didn't belong there anymore, there was nothing to go back to. Putting on her resolve face, she skipped up to Spike, following his lead.
"Does she make you go to her parties?"