The moon shone high in the sky, casting a mysterious glow over the dark
clearing. In the center of the clearing a beautiful woman danced in
circles, surrounded by lit, white candles in the shape of a pentagram. As
the woman spun she raised her arms toward the heavens and laughed
maniacally.
Suddenly, every single candle went out at the exact same moment, though the woman continued to spin, her laughter taking on an insane quality. Then, she stopped. The woman floated out of the pentagram toward a porcelain doll that was propped up against an old oak stump.
She picked up the doll and began to rock it, emitting soft cooing sounds.
"Don't worry dearest. We shall make that nasty witch pay for taking our Spikey away. She gets everything..She took Daddy, and now our dear boy has left us. She thinks she knows everything, but she doesn't know the secrets the stars whisper. They speak only to me. Now..she will become like us...and she will beg for mercy." ~@~
Willow bent over her desk and groaned. ** I really wish I had some aspirin right now. ** She sat up and tried to ignore the clog dancers in her head and pay attention to the teacher who was droning on about some long-dead playright. She finally gave up and rested her head on her textbook. The bell rang before she could get into any trouble.
"Wills, are you okay?" Willow opened one eye and saw Buffy hovering over her with a concerned expression on her face.
"Yeah. You look like you were just run over by a bus." Xander put his hand on Willow's shoulder and lightly shook her.
"No shaking please." Willow mumbled. "My head feels like it's going to explode." She levered herself off the desk with one arm and tried to get up, but the world began to spin and she collapsed back into her seat. Buffy immediately ran to Willow's side and helped her up. Xander placed Willow's other arm around his waist and slung her smily-face backpack over his shoulder, and the two teenagers helped their friend out of the classroom. ~@~ "Giles!" He looked up from the book he was reading to see Buffy running through the doors to the library with an unconscious Willow in her arms, followed by a visibly shaken Xander.
"Good lord. What happened?" Giles cleared a space on the large wooden table for Buffy to lay Willow down and pillowed the redhead's head with his tweed jacket.
"I don't know. I . . we. . ." Buffy's normally level head had vanished and she was trying desperately to keep from dissolving into a fit of hysterics.
Xander picked up where Buffy had left off. "She said she had a headache. But she couldn't get up on her own, so we were helping her. Halfway down the hall, she threw her head back, screamed, and then just passed out."
Buffy, having regained her composure decided to speak up. "What is it, Giles? Demon? Ghost? Just point the way and I'll slay it."
Giles came back into the main library and laid a wet cloth on Willow's forehead. Buffy took over for him, and began to mop the redhead's brow. "One problem. I don't know what the problem is."
"Well then research. We have to figure this out." Xander headed towards the stacks of books on the table when a quiet groan caught his attention. Willow opened her emerald eyes slowly and looked at Buffy.
The slayer was bent over Willow concern covering her face as her eyes brimmed with tears. Buffy didn't notice Willow's conscious state and looked over toward Xander.
*Oh God. What if she's dead. It's all my fault.*
Willow took the fingers of Buffy's right hand that was resting on the redhead's hair. "Just you hush. This is not all your fault."
Buffy swung around accidently catching Willow in the eye. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. You're alive! Thank God! I don't know what I would have done if you were dead. It's all my fault. I should have noticed something wasn't right. I got you sick. I'm a terrible friend. Oh God."
Buffy continued to ramble as she bent down and gathered Willow up in a crushing hug.
"Buffy.. Slayer strength."
"What?" Buffy caught on and released Willow, wiping tears from her eyes and giving her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I'm just glad that you're okay." *Now she can do my history homework.*
"Buffy!" Willow was shocked. She knew that her friends often used her for her superior smarts, but to have Buffy admit to wanting Willow to do her homework less than five minutes after she had regained consciousness was just too much. "Don't you think your homework situation can wait until I have full use of my legs?"
Buffy gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? I didn't say anything about homework."
Willow sat up, pressing her palm to her forehead in an attempt to staunch the pounding in her skull. "It's alright Buffy. I heard you. You just said you wanted me to do your history homework."
All the color drained from Buffy's face. "Giles!"
Suddenly, every single candle went out at the exact same moment, though the woman continued to spin, her laughter taking on an insane quality. Then, she stopped. The woman floated out of the pentagram toward a porcelain doll that was propped up against an old oak stump.
She picked up the doll and began to rock it, emitting soft cooing sounds.
"Don't worry dearest. We shall make that nasty witch pay for taking our Spikey away. She gets everything..She took Daddy, and now our dear boy has left us. She thinks she knows everything, but she doesn't know the secrets the stars whisper. They speak only to me. Now..she will become like us...and she will beg for mercy." ~@~
Willow bent over her desk and groaned. ** I really wish I had some aspirin right now. ** She sat up and tried to ignore the clog dancers in her head and pay attention to the teacher who was droning on about some long-dead playright. She finally gave up and rested her head on her textbook. The bell rang before she could get into any trouble.
"Wills, are you okay?" Willow opened one eye and saw Buffy hovering over her with a concerned expression on her face.
"Yeah. You look like you were just run over by a bus." Xander put his hand on Willow's shoulder and lightly shook her.
"No shaking please." Willow mumbled. "My head feels like it's going to explode." She levered herself off the desk with one arm and tried to get up, but the world began to spin and she collapsed back into her seat. Buffy immediately ran to Willow's side and helped her up. Xander placed Willow's other arm around his waist and slung her smily-face backpack over his shoulder, and the two teenagers helped their friend out of the classroom. ~@~ "Giles!" He looked up from the book he was reading to see Buffy running through the doors to the library with an unconscious Willow in her arms, followed by a visibly shaken Xander.
"Good lord. What happened?" Giles cleared a space on the large wooden table for Buffy to lay Willow down and pillowed the redhead's head with his tweed jacket.
"I don't know. I . . we. . ." Buffy's normally level head had vanished and she was trying desperately to keep from dissolving into a fit of hysterics.
Xander picked up where Buffy had left off. "She said she had a headache. But she couldn't get up on her own, so we were helping her. Halfway down the hall, she threw her head back, screamed, and then just passed out."
Buffy, having regained her composure decided to speak up. "What is it, Giles? Demon? Ghost? Just point the way and I'll slay it."
Giles came back into the main library and laid a wet cloth on Willow's forehead. Buffy took over for him, and began to mop the redhead's brow. "One problem. I don't know what the problem is."
"Well then research. We have to figure this out." Xander headed towards the stacks of books on the table when a quiet groan caught his attention. Willow opened her emerald eyes slowly and looked at Buffy.
The slayer was bent over Willow concern covering her face as her eyes brimmed with tears. Buffy didn't notice Willow's conscious state and looked over toward Xander.
*Oh God. What if she's dead. It's all my fault.*
Willow took the fingers of Buffy's right hand that was resting on the redhead's hair. "Just you hush. This is not all your fault."
Buffy swung around accidently catching Willow in the eye. "Oh my God. I'm so sorry. You're alive! Thank God! I don't know what I would have done if you were dead. It's all my fault. I should have noticed something wasn't right. I got you sick. I'm a terrible friend. Oh God."
Buffy continued to ramble as she bent down and gathered Willow up in a crushing hug.
"Buffy.. Slayer strength."
"What?" Buffy caught on and released Willow, wiping tears from her eyes and giving her a sheepish smile. "Sorry. I'm just glad that you're okay." *Now she can do my history homework.*
"Buffy!" Willow was shocked. She knew that her friends often used her for her superior smarts, but to have Buffy admit to wanting Willow to do her homework less than five minutes after she had regained consciousness was just too much. "Don't you think your homework situation can wait until I have full use of my legs?"
Buffy gave her a puzzled look. "What are you talking about? I didn't say anything about homework."
Willow sat up, pressing her palm to her forehead in an attempt to staunch the pounding in her skull. "It's alright Buffy. I heard you. You just said you wanted me to do your history homework."
All the color drained from Buffy's face. "Giles!"