Ms. Calendar was in bed, asleep. Her dreams were pleasant, for once, but obviously too good to be true.
In her dream, she and Giles were taking a walk through the local park during their lunch hour. Their arms were linked and she had her head resting on his shoulder.
"Beautiful day," Giles observed.
"Yeah." She smiled. A couple seconds passed and she spotted a bench. Still linked with him, she headed over to it. "I think I'll sit down and enjoy it."
Her arm slipped from his and she sat on the bench. The sunlight caught her hair just right, giving a visual of perfect beauty.
As Giles knelt on one knee, her eyes widened and lit up in anticipation. He reached into his pants pocket, and slowly produced a small box. "Ms. Jennifer Calendar," Popping the box open, he revealed a simple but beautiful diamond ring. "Will you marry me?"
Ms. Calendar awoke with a start and felt the immediate sting of tears rush to her eyes. That man would be the death of her, she knew.
Buffy awoke to the sound of quick, light footsteps and bolted upright. She heard more. She saw something go under her bed and leaned over the edge to look underneath. There was nothing there. She pulled herself back up and saw Sid. She screamed and knocked him off of the bed. Sid ran away. Buffy quickly got out of bed as her mother rushed into the room and turned on the light.
"Honey, what is it?"
Buffy moved over to her mom, frightened. "In the bed, in the covers there's something!"
"Where?"
They went to the bed to investigate.
"There's something there," Buffy insisted.
Joyce grabbed the covers and went through them. "Well, well, there, there's nothing there now. Are, are you sure you didn't have a nightmare?"
"No! There's some... There is..." She sighed and put her hands on her head. "Yeah... You're probably right." She groaned softly, dropping her hands. "I'm sorry I got you up."
"Don't worry about it. I was dreaming about bills." She kissed Buffy's forehead. "Sweetheart, you shouldn't go to sleep with the window open." She touched her cheek, then left the room.
Buffy looked at her window, which was open. "I didn't," she stated, a bit confused.
At school, Marc was onstage in the auditorium rehearsing a magic act. "And my lovely assistant steps into the box..."
The female student stepped into the box.
Marc closed the door and turned the box in a full circle. "And... behold!" He opened the box, but the student was still there. "You were supposed to leave!"
Xander and Willow were in the seats, watching and laughing.
Marc closed the door to the box and butted his head against it.
Ms. Calendar seemed to bolt out of the backstage area. Moments later, Giles emerged, with Cordelia hot on his heels.
Ms. Calendar maintained a calm appearance as she raced to the seats, next to Xander and Willow.
"Ms. Calendar escapeth the Cordeliaeth?" Xander joked.
"Lisps may work for gay guys, but they don't work for you, Xander," Ms. Calendar retorted.
Willow laughed.
Giles, however, wasn't so fortunate as to escape Cordelia.
"I don't understand why I... why I have to follow Brett and his stupid band."
"Because we have to clear their equipment before the finale. I told you."
"But the mood! It'll be all wrong!" She jumped in front of him, so he couldn't get away. "My song is about dignity and human feelings and personal...hygiene or something. Anyway, it's sappy, and no one is gonna be feeling sappy after all that Rock and Roll."
Giles didn't want to hear any more of it. He seemed to stare off into space.
After a few moments, Cordelia got self conscious. "Uhhh, what?" She lightly touched her hair, to fix any apparant strays.
Giles seemed to snap out of it. "Oh! I'm sorry. Um, your hair, uh..."
"There's something wrong with my hair?" She pushed it behind her ears.
Giles was silent, but continued to stare.
"Ohmigod!" Cordelia quickly left.
Giles smirked to himself. "Xander was right. It worked like a charm."
He saw Buffy come down the aisle and approached her. "Hello. You look a bit worse for, uh..."
Buffy headed into the seats to Willow, Xander and Ms. Calendar.
Giles followed. "What exactly are you the worse for?"
"Wear, Rupert. That's 'worse for wear'," Ms. Calendar stated, without half as much as her usual sarcasm.
"Where's Morgan?" Buffy took a seat.
"Uh, I, I... haven't seen him," Giles stated. He sent a questioning look to Ms. Calendar.
Ms. Calendar shrugged. "Me neither."
"Did he do something to you?" Xander asked Buffy.
"No, it was his... Sid, the dummy."
Then Ms. Calendar and Giles were at full attention.
"Okay, everyone look at me like I'm in a bunny suit, 'cause that's how stupid I feel saying this... I think Sid was in my room last night."
"With Morgan?" Willow asked.
"No. He was alone. And alive."
"Did you see him?" Xander asked.
"Well, I saw something. I-it ran across my floor, under my bed and then it attacked me."
"Attacked you?" Giles asked, his mind flashing back to the vampire attacking Jenny. "How?"
"It was like it pounced on my face."
"Like a cat," Xander stated.
"Yeah, exactly! But when I turned the lights on it was already gone. I-I think it went out my window."
"Like a cat," Xander repeated.
"Yeah! No! It was Sid, the dummy."
"Or possibly the nightmare of somebody who had... dummies on her mind," Giles replied logically.
"You did say they creep you out," Willow added.
"Excuse me? Can I have a little support here, please? I'm not just some crazy person, I'm the Slayer...Ms. Calendar? You believe me, right?"
"As enthusiastic as I am to see a real live Chuckie..."
"The dummy Slayer?" Xander asked Buffy.
Buffy gave him a look.
"There's nothing funny about that."
"Well, on the side of the 'Morgan's just crazy' theory there is -" Willow saw Morgan go by, carrying Sid. "Well, Morgan."
Morgan opened Sid's case.
"I'd like to see Morgan without his better half for a few minutes," Buffy stated. "Bet he could tell me something."
Morgan sat down with Sid on his lap.
"Oh, uh, i-if it's any consolation, I... I may have found a possible demon culprit." Giles held up a book. "The-there's a reference in here to a brotherhood of seven demons who take, uh, the form of young humans. Every seven years these demons need human organs, a-a-a brain and a heart, to maintain their humanity. Otherwise they, they, they revert back to their original form, which is, uh, uh, slightly less appealing." He handed the open book to Xander, with a sketch of one of the demons showing.
"So Morgan could still be the guy, only demon Morgan instead of crazy Morgan," Willow stated.
Morgan fussed with Sid's shoes.
"It's said that these demons are, are, are preternaturally strong, and, and, and... Morgan is, is... Well, he seems to be getting weaker every day," Giles countered.
Buffy observed as Morgan put his hand on his head.
When Ms. Calendar arrived to class a couple minutes late, the class felt the need to tease her. And then one boy hollered,
"Lookin' hot, Ms. C!"
The surrounding classmates 'ooh'ed, wondering how Ms. Calendar would reply.
"Glad you're aware of your sexuality, but we don't need public announcemnets. Please, quiet down and let me teach." That earned laughs from the students.
Ms. Calendar shook her head and pulled out her teacher's textbook. "Now, if you will all follow along on page 216..." She opened her book and began reading the passage, "'Though there are many types of keyboard layouts, studies have shown that the most affective is the 'QWERTY', because...'"
In History, Mrs. Jackson lectured as she walked around the room. "It was as a result of this that President Monroe put forth the eponymous, meaning named after one's self, Monroe Doctrine, which in one sense established the U.S. as a local peacekeeper." She walked behind Buffy, who was intently watching Sid.
Sid turned his head back to look at her and lowered his brows.
Buffy, creeped out, looked down at her desk. After a moment, she looked back up at him.
Sid stared back.
Cordelia, who was seated next to Buffy, noticed and leaned over to comment, "Looks like someone digs you. That's adorable. You and the dummy could tour in the freak show!" She smiled smugly as she leaned back into her chair.
Buffy didn't reply, just looked back at Sid, and then at her desk again.
"Okay, who can tell me how Spain responded to this policy?" Mrs. Jackson addressed the class.
Sid whispered into Morgan's ear.
Mrs. Jackson noticed. "Morgan?...Morgan?"
Morgan looked at Sid, then at her. "What?"
"Morgan has other things on his mind," Sid said.
The students laughed.
Mrs. Jackson approached Morgan. "Give me your puppet."
"I'll put him away."
Mrs. Jackson took Sid. "You'll get it back after school." She opened a cupboard, put Sid in, and closed it. "Okay, then. In the first part of the nineteenth century..."
Sid spoke from inside the cupboard, "I'm still watchin' you."
Buffy looked at the cupboard.
"Morgan, that is enough!" Mrs. Jackson scolded.
Xander and Buffy looked at Morgan. He looked back at Buffy, then at Mrs. Jackson.
Lunch hour hit. Most students had already vacated Ms. Calendar's classrrom, and those who remained were packing up. That was why Ms. Calendar nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She had been packing up herself. She thought for a fleeting moment that it might be Giles, but he had always knocked. She turned to find herself face to face with the student who had made the wisecrack at the beginning of the class. "Christ, Matthew! Ever heard of communication, you know, using words? You scared me half to death!"
"Not my intention, I assure you, Ms. Calendar. I was actually wondering if you were doing anything over lunch."
"I have plans, yes." Ms. Calendar eyed him warily.
"Then I'll make this quick."
The next moment, Matthew was forcefully kissing her. Ms. Calendar slapped him away.
"What the hell is wrong with you? You're a student, I'm your teacher for Christ's sake!" She felt sick. "Aside from that, I'm taken." A little lie wouldn't hurt in her situation.
"Oh, not yet." Matthew's voice took a dark and sinister turn. "But you will be." His face shifted into something horrible, his green eyes going yellow. The face of a vampire. The very one that had attacked her that night she was with Giles in the park.
It drew a scream from Ms. Calendar, loud enough to wake the dead.
Then the thing was gone, poofed into a cloud of ashes. When the haze faded, Ms. Calendar could see that Buffy took Matthew's face.
"Thought you could use a little help," Buffy stated.
Ms. Calendar let out a breath, calming down. "Yeah...how the hell was that thing walking around in daylight?"
Buffy shrugged. "Who knows?...Well, Giles probably does..."
"Thanks for not letting me be his lunch."
Buffy shrugged again. "What kind of Slayer would I be if I did?"
After school, Morgan returned to Mrs. Jackson's classroom to retrieve Sid.
"Mrs. Jackson."
"Morgan."
"You said you'd give me..."
"Oh, of course." She got up and went over to the cupboard.
Morgan followed her expectantly.
Before she got Sid, she stopped and faced Morgan. "Y'know, I wanted to ask you, is everything okay? At home, here at school?"
"Yeah, it's great."
"I feel like you've become... a little detached."
"Mm!" Morgan rubbed his head in paid.
"You're one of the brightest kids I've seen in a long time, but lately it seems like you're not all there."
Morgan brought his other hand to his head, still rubbing.
"Try not to let other things get in the way."
Morgan moved his hands back to his sides. "Okay! Can I get Sid now?"
"Sure." She went over to the cupboard and opened it, but Sid was gone. She turned back to Morgan. "It's gone!"
"Gone? Whadaya mean, gone? Where could he have gone?"
"I put it right here."
"He knew to wait for me. He knew I'd be back."
"What do you mean 'he'?"
"What did you do with him? Where is he?"
Xander was playing with Sid in the library. Buffy entered along with Giles, Willow, and Ms. Calendar. Willow and Giles had their arms full of costumes.
"A vampire, you say?" Giles asked.
"Dusted like one, that's for sure," Buffy replied.
"It's so...creepy...he was in my class for months, and I never noticed...Rupert, it was the same one that attacked me before."
Xander stood up, Sid in hands. "Vampire attack on campus?"
"During the day?" Willow added.
Buffy noticed Sid. "Uh...Xander, where did you get that?"
"Oh, I, uh, took it out of Mrs. Jackson's cupboard. I thought you said you wanted to be able to speak to Morgan alone, and uh... well, Morgan's alone, and, uh... Sid's with me. But I'm still trying to get this straight - vampire attack, on campus, during the day?"
"Well...we've certainly seen stranger things around here," Giles replied.
"At school," Ms. Calendar added.
"Like the teacher who turned out to be a big bug," Willow added.
"I still hate her," Ms. Calendar stated.
"Promise you won't bring that up, Will? Like, ever again?" Xander requested.
Buffy stared at Sid uncomfortably while Giles and Willow unloaded the costumes onto the counter.
Xander decided to manipulate Sid, lightening the mood, "Hi, Buffy! Hi, Willow! Would you like to hear some off-color jokes?"
"I really don't think you should be doing that," Buffy stated.
"What? C'mon... " Xander spoke as Sid, "I'm not real!"
Buffy was wigged. "Xander, quit it!" She turned and walked a few steps away. She stopped and looked back when she heard Xander pounding Sid's head into the table.
"He's... not... real!" He picked Sid back up. "I think our demonstration proves that, uh, Sid-" He knocked on Sid's head several times. "Is wood. Now, why don't you go and find Morgan and prove he's...whatever he is?"
"I imagine he's looking for his puppet," Giles stated.
If Ms. Calendar weren't still trying to get over the student being a vampire thing, she would have given her kudos to Giles for using sarcasm.
"I'll go find Morgan," Buffy stated. She started to leave, but stopped to give Xander a look. "You watch the dummy."
Xander as Sid, "Bye-bye, now. I'm completely inanimate."
Buffy gave Xander another look and went out the door.
Xander as Sid, "Redrum! Redruuum!"
"What do we do with him?" Willow asked.
"Eh, I'll keep him company," Xander answered.
"Don't do the ventriloquist thing though, Xander, it is creepy." Ms. Calendar told him.
"Willow, we have some hunting of our own to do," Giles told her.
"Once again I'm banished to the demon section of the card catalog."
Xander looked at Sid and went over to the study table with him.
Giles and Willow headed into the stacks.
Ms. Calendar followed a few steps. "Um, Rupert?" she asked hesitantly.
Giles turned back. "Yes?"
"What can I do?"
"Uh...you can, y-you can just sit and relax, for the time being. Co-running the talent show plus getting attacked by a vampire plus researching all in one day is a bit much, isn't it?"
Ms. Calendar sighed. "Alright." She went over to where Xander and Sid were, plopping down at the table. She folded her arms onto the table, and buried her head in them, succumbing to her exhaustion.
Giles turned back to Willow. "You concentrate on re-animation theory. I'll peck about in organ harvesting. Unless, of course, you prefer..."
They continued into the stacks.
"That's okay, you can have the organs."
Xander put Sid in the chair at the end of the table. "So, I guess it's just... you and me, huh?" He glanced at Ms. Calendar. "Sleeping teachers don't count," he murmured. He turned Sid's head away and patted him. "That looks more comfortable."
Buffy entered the auditorium. "Morgan?" She walked along the front and then up the stairs to the stage. "Morgan?" Buffy drew a curtain aside backstage, but no one was there. She took the steps down into the makeup area and tried a door. It was locked. She heard another door close and turned toward the sound. A gust of wind blew through another curtain. She slowly walked toward it. She quickly turned her head when she sensed something behind her, and saw Principal Snyder at the top of the steps to the stage. "Principal Snyder!"
"Looking for something?"
"Have you seen Morgan Shay?"
Snyder came down the steps. "You know, with everything that's been going on recently, I'm not sure how safe it is for a girl like yourself to be here... alone."
"Well, I was just leaving. And I know how to take care of myself."
They stared at each other for a moment.
"Alright, then." He went back up the steps and left.
In the library, Xander looked at Sid in his chair, then turned back to his homework.
Willow went to Giles in the stacks. "Look what I found in the section on toys and magic:" She read, "'On rare occasions inanimate objects of human quality, such as dolls and mannequins, already mystically possessed of consciousness, have acted upon their desire to become human by harvesting organs.'"
"Emily's heart," Giles connected.
"Morgan's dummy."
"Mm."
Xander got up to get a reference book. When he got back to the table, Sid was gone, but Xander didn't notice. He slammed the book on the table, waking Ms. Calendar in the process.
She jumped. "Ah!"
Xander gave her a meek expression. "Sorry." He sat down again and began to read. After a moment, he glanced at Sid's chair and jumped up, frightened when he saw it empty. "Whoa!"
Ms. Calendar was still waking up. She glanced over and jumped up as well. "Ah!"
Xander climbed onto the table. Ms. Calendar jumped onto the chair she had been sitting on.
Giles and Willow came running out of the stacks.
"What is it?" Giles asked.
"He's gone!" Xander indicated to the chair. "Sid's gone!"
"What?" he glanced down, then let out a surprised, "Oh!"
"Uhhh!"
Both Giles and Willow frightened, they look around for themselves.
Buffy continued looking around backstage. She heard some creaking. "Morgan?" She backtracked a bit and went toward the noise. She pushed some clothes on a rack aside, but saw nothing. She continued and eventually stumbled on something. She looked down to see Morgan's body lying there. "Morgan!" She whispered. She rested her hand on an object nearby, and quickly jerked it back. She had just touched a brain. "Demon's got himself a brain." She kept backing up and backed through a bead curtain, hearing a snapping noise above. She looked up and saw a wrought iron chadelier crashing down just before it fell on her.
