Title: Hiding

PART TWO

*****

"Sure you don't want something to eat, Shelly?" repeated Teri.

"Nah, I ate before. Maybe later," smiled Shelly with a shrug. She sat down next to Red and Red sat up a little straighter, uncomfortably avoiding looking at her.

"You really can't remember anything?" asked Shelly, keeping her voice low and glancing at Teri. But Teri was busy sorting out the vegetables that were in the two bags.

"No. No...not really," whispered Red, still not looking at Shelly.

"Whaddaya mean not really? Either ya do or ya don't," replied Shelly tensely, now ignoring Teri. She leaned forward a bit so that Red would have to look at her.

"It's...I can't explain it. Something happened and, and I remember...just flashes of things. But when I try to concentrate the images disappear. So it's all so confusing. Still, sometimes..."

Red swallowed and, wincing, turned away from Shelly.

"Sometimes," encouraged Shelly.

Red took a deep breath and slowly turned to face Shelly. She noticed that both John and Teri had stopped what they were doing and were staring at her. Red fixed her eyes on Teri and Teri nodded at her.

"Sometimes an image comes into focus and...and it makes my tummy all queasy," frowned Red. "So I'm not sure if I'm looking for someone...or if I'm running away."

"Maybe you saw something that frightened you," suggested John.

"Maybe," nodded Red, looking down. "I think so. But maybe I'm the one who did it."

No one spoke. Red slowly raised her eyes and looked at Shelly. And Shelly burst out laughing.

"Come on, now, Red! Look at you! What could you have done to be afraid of?" grinned Shelly, looking back over her shoulder at John and Teri. Teri scowled at her as she turned back to face Red.

"I'm not afraid of something I did, even if I can't remember what it was. What terrifies me is why I did it, why it...why I can't even remember my name," whimpered Red.

Red narrowed her eyes and her voice, though she whispered, was cold, without emotion.

"Some people aren't who they seem. They can't hide it, not forever."

Shelly stopped smiling.

"So who am I? Not what's my name...but who am I?" gasped Red.

Red suddenly looked like she might cry.

"What happened to me?" whispered Red.

"Yeah. I get that. More than you know," sighed Shelly, looking up and realizing that she had spoken out loud. But Red hadn't seemed to have heard her. She stood up and took a few steps away from Shelly, keeping her back to her. Shelly stood up, took a step towards her and affectionately raised her hand to comfort Red...but slowly lowered it. She spoke without turning to face Teri or John.

"We shouldn't go to the police, not until Red here remembers who she is...or what she's done."

Red brought her arms up around her chest as if she were suddenly cold. Shelly finally turned around.

"She should stay with us. Agreed?" challenged Shelly. Both John and Teri nodded.

"John, why don't you walk me to my Caddy? I parked it out front. Probably should bring it around back in case the cops drive by."

"A patrol in this neighborhood? Not likely, but if it will make you feel any better," shrugged John, already heading for the door.

"Could always steal another one," snapped Teri in disgust.

"Nah. This one has leather seats. Hard to find 'em like that," smiled Shelly. She glanced back once at Red and then followed John to the door. Teri walked over and stood next to Red.

"Hey. Don't dwell on it. Shelly's right about one thing. I don't think you could have..."

"How long have you known her?" interrupted Red without turning around.

"Shelly? Couple of months now. Why? Do you think you know her?"

"Maybe. No. No, I don't know. But..."

Red turned and saw that Shelly hadn't left yet and was looking at her. Teri caught Red's eye and turned to see what she was looking at.

"It's okay," whispered Teri, once again facing Red. "She can't hear you way over there."

And then Shelly winked at Red as she went out the door, pulling it shut behind her.

Red wrapped her arms around herself just a little tighter.

*****

"What do you want me to do?" asked Anya.

"I don't know," shrugged Dawn. "Um...you can teleport, so why don't you just, like, pop in here and there, sorta look around for her?"

"Here and there? Not very efficient," sighed Anya, shaking her head. "I have a better idea. Do you have something of hers? Clothing? Jewelry?"

"Um...no," winced Dawn. "Why?"

"To do a spell to find her," explained Anya.

"Oh!" smiled Dawn excitedly. And then she frowned.

"What?"

"You can do that? A spell, I mean," said Dawn.

"Dawn, I am a Vengeance demon. Locator spells are quite useful in the biz, what with the tracking down of male scum so time consuming and all...though I am a bit rusty," added Anya thoughtfully.

"Male scum. Don't you mean victims?" suggested Dawn tersely.

"Huh?"

"The men you punish. Aren't they victims?"

"No. The word victim implies innocence.," corrected Anya.

"Oh," frowned Dawn.

"Hmm. Wait, I know!"

Anya looked around and then quickly walked over to pick up a splintered piece of wood, holding it up proudly. Dawn tilted her head with a puzzled look.

"Blood," sighed Anya, indicating a dark stain on the wood. "Willow's blood. Nothing more powerful to use than blood in a locator spell."

"You, uh, sure it's her blood and not, say, Buffy's blood or Giles' or, or your own?" winced Dawn.

"No, it's Willow's blood. I saw Giles hit her with this. Not that it had much affect at the time," shrugged Anya.

"Well, maybe not at the time," whispered Dawn.

"Huh?"

Dawn hesitated but then reluctantly clarified what she meant.

"I wonder how they'll feel about hurting each other later. Well, not even later. Later as in now," said Dawn.

Anya looked at the darkened wood in her hand and sadly nodded at Dawn.

"We should get started. Now, where's the powder I need? It would be a lot easier to find if there was anything left unbroken in my place of business," sighed Anya, hands on her hips.

"We? You said we. I can help? I can do a spell?" asked Dawn eagerly.

"Sure, what the hell. Just don't tell your sister," warned Anya.

*****

Xander leaned back against the damp wall behind him and closed his eyes, both to catch his breath and also because he simply didn't know where to look next. He was far enough away from the street in this alley that any noise from passing traffic seemed muffled and distant, only adding to his sense of isolation. Yet as quiet and still as it was he never heard her footsteps. Opening his eyes it took a moment for him to realize someone was standing in front of him. Startled, Xander jumped soundlessly a step or two away, his mouth and eyes wide open.

"Sorry," shrugged Buffy. "Still, you of all people should know that you don't close your eyes in an alley in Sunnydale at night."

Xander raised a finger to protest but nodded with a sigh.

"No luck?"

"No," replied Buffy, glancing back down the alley. "I've been back here behind the Bronze twice already and inside three times. I have no idea where she could've gone."

"Okay, we're going about this wrong."

"Ya think?" snapped Buffy.

"What I mean is we're looking in places where we think Willow might go. But if she's running away, these are the last places we should search."

"Makes sense," admitted Buffy. "So...where do we look?"

Xander opened his mouth to reply but just dejectedly shook his head instead.

"I hear you," sighed Buffy.

Xander met her eyes but then looked away. Even though he wasn't looking at her Buffy also looked away. If the alley was quiet before it was tomblike now. Without a word they both turned and began walking towards the street. Buffy slipped her fingers into Xander's hand.

"I'm sorry," whispered Xander.

"Xander, it's okay. I..."

"No, it's so not okay. I shouldn't have yelled at you. It wasn't your fault. What happened, I mean," added Xander, stopping to face her.

"Oh, come on. You call that yelling? Bristling maybe, or, or growling perhaps. But yelling? Pfft!" smiled Buffy.

Xander didn't smile back. He looked down at his feet.

"Besides...you were right. I didn't think Willow was dead. But that's only because I refused to consider that possibility, you know? If she...I mean I, I couldn't...I just couldn't..."

Choked up, Buffy took in a deep breath. Xander raised his eyes and nodded.

"I know," he nodded. "I know."

"And as far as casting blame, well, I'm at the head of the line there too," winced Buffy.

"Huh?"

"My best friend was in over her head, she needed help. Did I even notice?" said Buffy sharply, angry at herself, freeing her hand from Xander's grasp.

"None of us did, Buffy," said Xander, placing a hand on her arm. "Or at least we didn't want to acknowledge it, confront it. We tend not to talk about...stuff."

"Yeah," agreed Buffy reluctantly. "Stuff."

"Let's go see Anya. Maybe she can find Willow with a spell or something."

Buffy rolled her eyes and slapped her forehead with a hand.

"Wish I had thought of that," sighed Buffy.

Xander laughed.

"What?" demanded Buffy with false indignation.

"Well, I sure do screw up enough, but every once in a while I come up with an idea," teased Xander.

"Even a blind squirrel," teased Buffy. And now Xander did smile. They started to walk back out of the alley.

"Xander?"

"Yeah?"

"Where's Dawn?"

Xander stopped smiling.

*****

"So...where is she?"

Anya frowned, one side of her mouth scrunched up, but she ignored Dawn. Sitting on the floor across from her in a hastily drawn circle, Anya's eyes darted from the flickering candle, to the stained wood between them, to the yellowish powder in her hand and back to the wood again.

"Did you...er, I mean we. Did we forget something? Did, did I screw something up?" winced Dawn.

Anya only glanced at her, rubbing her chin in thought.

"Oh God, we summoned some demon or, or raised some...dead thing. I knew it! I so suck at this stuff," cried Dawn.

"Huh? Oh, no. Of course not. The spell went perfectly. It's an easy one, especially with...well, you really don't want to know what this is," frowned Anya, rubbing her hands together to let the remainder of the powder fall to the floor.

Dawn's eyes opened a little wider.

"Let's just say I'm going to wash my hands soon. For about an hour," sighed Anya.

"So...where is she?" asked Dawn, hoping to change the subject.

"I have no idea."

Dawn blinked.

"Huh?" But I thought you said..."

"Oh, the spell worked fine. It's just, well..."

Dawn impatiently opened her eyes even wider.

"Willow isn't here."

"In Sunnydale?" asked Dawn, shocked.

"No. I mean, she isn't anywhere," cringed Anya.

"She...she's dead?" gasped Dawn.

"Um...let's go look this spell up, okay? Maybe I did something wrong," suggested Anya.

Dawn looked at Anya doubtfully. Anya forced a smile but let out a deep breath.

"I'm sure I must've done something wrong. Honestly. Did I mention the rusty part?" reminded Anya.

*****

"Where the hell are they?" muttered Teri out loud. She glanced over at Red, worried that her outburst had startled her. But her new friend hadn't even turned in her direction. Red sat cross-legged on the floor, staring at something. It took Teri a moment to realize that she was looking at a spider web, dusty and broken, strung between a chair and the wall. Teri continued to watch, fascinated, as Red slowly raised a hand to her cheek, never once taking her eyes from the web.

Teri shook her head and sat down next to Red. Red slowly lowered her hand but wouldn't look at Teri. Only then did Teri notice that her hand was trembling. Teri glanced back at the spider web, unsure if she should ask about it.

"You're worried," said Red suddenly, making Teri jump. "About John."

"Yeah," frowned Teri. Red turned her head to look at her.

"Why?"

"It's...it's not a safe neighborhood. Especially at night," replied Teri, though even she knew she didn't sound convincing.

"No. It's more than that," said Red, shaking her head and noticing the cross sticking out of Teri's back pocket.

"Red, it's okay. You'll be safe here," reassured Teri. "It's just...they should have been back by now. Shelly probably wanted to go get some cigarettes or something. Yeah, I'm sure that's it."

"You're afraid."

"What? No, really, it's..."

"Of vampires," said Red calmly, now staring directly at Teri. And Teri stared back for a moment, then slowly lowered her head and nodded.

"So you know about them," stated Teri. She looked up with a puzzled expression. "How?"

Red opened her mouth to speak but then, like before, that lost and confused look took hold of her.

"Hey. Whatcha talkin' about?"

This time Red did jump. And Teri was even more startled than her. They both looked back at Shelly, standing there with a silly grin on her face and chewing on a wad of gum that was probably just a little to big for her mouth.

"Didn't hear you come in," stammered Teri as she rose to her feet.

"Came in the back way," shrugged Shelly.

"Where's John?" asked Teri nervously, even now looking back into the shadows behind Shelly, hoping to see him.

"He uh, went for a ride. Yeah. Think he went to get me some more smokes. Felt bad that I was getting low. Always considerate, that John. Always thinking of others," grinned Shelly.

"Yeah, but...but he's also a big fraidy cat. He doesn't like to be out at night. Especially after..."

Teri stopped, her eyes on Red.

"Well, you know, what happened the other night," finished Teri.

"What happened the other night?" asked Red cautiously.

"It's not important," comforted Teri.

"He found a dead body. Of course, when you find a body it's usually dead," laughed Shelly. Red looked at Teri, studied her face.

"Vampire?" whispered Red. Teri reluctantly nodded.

"Nothing to be afraid of, Red. You're safe in here. Tell her, Teri," said Shelly. Red's eyes opened wide. She was surprised that Shelly had heard her.

"She's right. Shelly knows some stuff about magic. She drew a symbol on the floor near the front and back doors. It keeps the vampires from entering here. And, well, we've been safe so far," shrugged Teri.

Red stood up, taking a lit candle with her and cupped her hand behind it as she walked over to the front door. Ignoring Shelly's smile, she stared at the symbol drawn in chalk on the floor. Only then did she glance back at Shelly.

"But that won't..."

Something in the way Shelly glared at her caused Red to hesitate.

"What?" challenged Shelly, chomping on her gum.

"Thanks. It's good to know. I mean, that we're safe and all," smiled Red.

Shelly nodded and walked away. Red looked down at the symbol on the ground, a frown pushing away her smile.

*****

"I'm telling you that you're wrong. Willow wouldn't..."

"And why wouldn't she, Buffy?" snapped Anya.

"Anya, maybe you..."

"Don't Anya me, Xander! I tried. Let's leave it at that."

"But..."

"If you can do better, be my guest!" yelled Anya, pointing to the blood stained wood and powder on the floor. Xander shook his head and looked to Buffy.

"She wouldn't," growled Buffy, her teeth clenched.

"And why not?" asked Dawn calmly.

"What?" responded Buffy, taken aback.

"Why wouldn't she? You can't even say the words, Buffy. Knowing what she did...why wouldn't Willow try to kill herself?" demanded Dawn, hands on her hips. "She tried to kill me."

Buffy met Dawn's glare. Dawn swallowed, her resolve melting. Buffy simply closed her eyes.

"You're having a party and didn't invite me?"

Everyone turned but no one spoke. Giles leaned against the door frame for support, his eyes only on Anya.

"Giles, you shouldn't be..."

"Yes, Buffy, I should," interrupted Giles, waving her away as she approached him. "I would've rang you up but the telephone seems not to be working at the moment."

Buffy smiled, glancing around at what was left of the Magic Box.

"Anya, you tried to find her, correct?" asked Giles, nodding at the powder on the floor.

Anya frowned and nodded at the same time.

"I assume you used the Latin?"

"Yes," sighed Anya. "The Sanguis ritual."

"Sanguis? I see. But why not Cruor? Sanguis is used more in searching for a blood relation."

"Um...well, sure. There's that," cringed Anya. Giles stepped into the room and winced as he knelt down to pick up the splintered wood.

"Willow's blood was corrupted at this moment. Did you use the word sanies?" asked Giles patiently.

Anya bit her lower lip and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Did I mention that I'm a bit rusty with the spell casting?" whispered Anya. Buffy rolled her eyes but Giles smiled in a fatherly way, instantly comforting Anya.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" smiled Giles. Anya meekly nodded and the others gathered around Giles in a circle, sitting down without having to be told.

"Ahn," said Xander.

She looked up at him, eyes defensively narrowed.

"Your heart was in the right place. Bonus points for trying," smiled Xander. Anya smiled gratefully in return.

"This spell can be a little tricky, especially if the person you are searching for is in shock or has amnesia. Even being unconscious complicates things. Very tricky indeed," added Giles.

Buffy beamed, wondering how she ever let Giles and his calming presence leave her. She slipped an arm over his shoulder and rested her head against him, not caring what the others thought of her display of affection.

END OF PART TWO