As always, all familiar faces belong to Joss Whedon, anybody new belongs to me.
"So, let me get this straight. You woke up in a graveyard with no memories. Got chased by vampires all night and then stalked my friend to her home looking for help?"
Buffy summarized after the woman was done talking. The woman nodded and shifted uncomfortably on the couch in the living room. Willow could see she was very intimidated by the Slayer.
"I don't think 'stalk' is the right word Buffy. She was just afraid, I mean she was chased by vampires all night."
"Yeah and I'm very impressed she didn't get caught. Not just anyone can manage that."
Buffy said crossing her arms.
"What are you trying say Buffy?"
"I'm saying that she must have some similar background as us to be able to know who's a vampire and then escape them for a whole night. Besides, it's easy to fake amnesia."
"S-so you don't believe m-me?"
The woman asked, now standing and fidgeting with her worn out shirt. Her face had become flushed with anger. She quickly turned and headed for the door.
"Fine I won't waste any of your time. I'll just leave you alone and try to figure it out myself."
She said choking back a sob. She reached for the door, while Willow shot Buffy an angry look.
"Wait, I didn't mean that, I was just thinking out loud."
Buffy called after the woman. She turned away from the door and walked into the living room.
"I don't want to be a bother."
"You need our help, and we are right people to come to for strange cases. If you had gone to anyone else you might end up in the Psychiatric ward. That wouldn't help you would it?"
Willow said trying to calm her down, she was very tense. Who was she before to become so skiddish?
"So where should we start? Willow? Any ideas?"
Buffy asked sitting in her chair.
"We could go back to the first place where she woke up and try to find clues."
Willow suggested.
"Are you sure? Those vampires could come back if we're there when it gets dark."
The woman said with worry. Buffy smiled at the woman.
"No need to worry about that, I can handle a few vamps."
The trio went to the graveyard and began walking around in between the head stones looking for anything that could be a clue to the woman's identity.
"Do you remember where exactly you woke up?"
Buffy asked after ten minutes of searching that gave no results. The woman nodded,
"Sure, you can't miss it. It's the biggest thing in the graveyard."
She pointed, Willow and Buffy groaned, knowing exactly where she was pointing. The mausoleum loomed out in the dusk light. It looks scarier in this light. Willow thought as they approached the giant structure. Willow noticed the woman seemed to shiver with a nervous energy.
"You okay?"
She asked the woman.
"Yeah, I just feel a little light headed looking at this thing. Who is in there anyway?"
Buffy gave Will a look that told her that Buffy wasn't liking this situation any more than she was.
"We were wondering that too, this thing appeared three days ago."
The woman turned to face Willow.
"You are kidding, the same time I woke up here? That isn't a coincidence is it?"
"No it is not."
Buffy said as she walked around the structure. The woman approached the building and looked at the writing on the walls.
"I never looked at this thing closely until now, it freaked me out."
"See anything you like?"
Willow asked as the woman traced the symbol for "beast" with her finger. Willow's words seemed to snap her attention back to her surroundings.
"What did you say?"
"Did you remember something?"
Willow asked, she could tell something shook her up.
"I think so, this writing is so familiar to me, I just don't know from where though."
She walked around to the gate and gave it a tug.
"Don't bother, I tried that alr-"
Willow was cut off by the clank of the gate opening. I thought it was locked tight. Willow was surprised and watched as the woman opened the gate all the way. She walked in towards the door and put her hand on the handle. The chains rattled as she tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge.
"Darn, I'd thought that'd work."
The woman muttered, under her breath. Buffy came running around the corner at the sound of the gate opening.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
She grabbed the woman by the arm and pulled her away from the door.
"I-I just felt like I needed to get inside, I feel something important is in there that I... need."
The woman was startled by the angry look on Buffy's face.
"Somebody locked that thing up for a reason, do you really think we should open it up?"
The woman looked at her feet,
"I guess not, sorry, I wasn't thinking."
"Hey, don't get so down on yourself, at least we know you really do have a connection with this thing."
Willow interjected trying to lighten the mood. Let's just hope it isn't a bad connection.
She was here. The man thought as he placed his hand on the gate. It was midnight in the graveyard and the man had finally made it to the place where he felt the second strongest power in the whole town. He smiled as he looked at the mausoleum. I couldn't have opened this gate without her help, how nice of her. He chuckled to himself, not that she had much of choice. He had eaten several souls in town during the day, careful to cover his tracks. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself before he was at full strength. All the while keeping a eye out for his demon, why hasn't she found me yet? He wondered as he walked around town drawn by the energy of souls who would give him the most energy. He had managed to retain most his body after eating the souls. He was still grossly skinny and his face hollow. Some ribs were still showing through his skin, but after "acquiring" some real clothes along with a hat, he had the appearance of a normal person. He took the lock in his bony hand and studied it. It had all sort of magical runes written on it in place of a key hole. He waved his hand over it, child's play, he thought as the lock fell away. The chains moved on their own along with the dead bolts, unlocking the door.
"Here we are.'
The man said as he walked into the small building. What lay inside was a table with a box on the top. The box had another seal on it that burst into flames when the man touched it. He opened the box and pulled out the locket. It was silver with a matching chain, the symbol for 'beast" on the front.
"Now show me where my demon is hiding."
The man said to the locket. It twitched and and then began to point towards to demon. Excellent. He thought, everything is going smoothly.
Willow sat up straight in bed as she heard the woman in the guest bedroom scream. She rushed into the bedroom right behind Buffy.
"What is it?"
They both asked in unison. Willow walked over to the woman who was curled up into ball on the bed breathing heavily. She was covered in sweat and had tears in her eyes.
"I-I had the w-worst n-nightmare."
"I'll go make some tea."
Buffy offered and left the room quickly.
The woman continued to sob into her arms for a few more minutes. Willow sat down on the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay, it was just a dream. Talking about it might you fell better."
The woman sat up and seemed calmed down a bit. She took a couple of deep breaths and told Willow about her dream.
"I was in small room, there was a door but I couldn't get to it no matter how fast I ran. There was a man behind me laughing as he watched me try to get away. He kept saying 'You can't escape me. You'll never be free of me.' He held out his hand and had this shining ball of light in it. I knew I needed it to unlock the door, but had to take it away from him. I tried to fight to get it back, but every time I swung at him, he would vanish into smoke. It was like I couldn't touch him."
After finishing, she looked at Willow for some sort of explanation to her dream.
"That doesn't sound like a dream honey, it sounds like a vision."
The woman's eyes got wide,
"How do you know that?
"I didn't tell you? I'm a witch, I have a little experience with these kinds of things."
There was a knock at the door. Willow looked at the clock, it read 2:32am.
"Who could that be?"
She wondered out loud. She looked at the woman, she had a look of fear on her face.
"I'll get it."
Buffy called as the two women upstairs heard her move to the entry way.
"Don't answer that!"
The woman yelled jumping from the bed and running to stop Buffy. Willow quickly followed and chased her down the stairs. The woman reached Buffy as she turned the doorknob.
"No! Don-"
Buffy turned to look at the woman as the door opened, revealing the late night guest. The man was standing on the porch, the locket in his hand, it was pulling at the chain trying to break free and return to its owner, who was so close by.
"There you are Dess, I've been looking for you everywhere."
Want more? Let me know what you think!
