Chapter 6
It's late, the night is dark and peaceful. Buffy, who feels like she has been asleep for hours now, starts to stir around in her big comfy bed. Feeling restless she rubs her eyes and slowly opens one of them. Her vision is blurred but she manages to catch sight of her alarm clock resting next to her on the night stand. It was 3am. Buffy felt warm and light headed. She reached over for her glass of water next to her alarm clock but she found it to be empty.
Buffy sighed to herself, "great".
Sitting herself up on the bed Buffy turned the light on by flicking the switch on her lamp. She looks around the room. She was back in her old bedroom at her mom's house. The Summers Residence. The room was dark, however she could see the light from the hallway coming through the edges of the closed bedroom door. After thinking for a few moments that something didn't feel right, she got out of bed slowly and walked over to open her door.
Still half-asleep, Buffy walks down the hallway, making her way towards the bathroom. She can't help shake this feeling that she is being followed, but when she turned around, nothing is there. "Get a grip Buffy" talking to herself. She shrugs the feeling off and moves over to the bathroom door. After opening it she finds herself standing in the middle of Bronze, her favourite place to relax with her friends, "well it used to be" again she thought to herself.
Looking around, Buffy sees people slowly dancing together, intimately. She can hear the music playing from the band on stage, it was haunting, otherworldly.
Buffy walks around the dancefloor, scanning the room for any familiar face. Willow is sat at a table, drinking a coffee out of a large cup. Sitting next to her is Tara, they are both whispering into each other's ears, laughing and blushing. There was also a monkey wearing a little hat and a vest sitting on the table in front of them. Buffy looked at them both, they look back at Buffy and start to wave, Buffy, who is puzzled, starts to wave back.
Buffy turns around and accidently bumps in to a tall figure, she looked at the person to apologise and sees bald skinny man standing there, with circular classes and wearing a green suit. The man had what appeared to be thin slices of cheese resting on his head and shoulders, Buffy looked at him even more puzzled than before. "I wear the cheese, it does not wear me" the man said in a calm tone. He then turned around and walked off.
"How strange" Buffy reflected as she shrugged it off and continued to walk around the dance floor. She continued to scan the room. She saw Giles and Jenny standing under the stairs that lead to the upper balcony. Giles was resting his arm on a post, looking all cool, Jenny appeared to be laughing at one of his jokes. Buffy smiled, and as she did Jenny looked towards her, her face went from joyful to anger at the sight of Buffy. Giles turned and also looked towards her, his face showing signs of sorrow. The music stopped and the room went quiet, Jenny continued to stare, "You have to know what to see"
As soon as the words came out of Jenny's mouth the music started to play again, laughter started up in the background along with the noise of drinks being put down on tables. Jenny and Giles turned to each other and started laughing again. Buffy felt cold and confused. Something just didn't feel right. Buffy felt a hand place itself on her left shoulder, she looked behind to see Riley standing there, in his full commando gear. He had a drink in one of his hands. "You're a big girl now Buffy". The drink slipped out of Riley's hand and shattered upon contact with the floor. Buffy looked down for a moment and then looked back at Riley, who just walked off like nothing had happened.
Buffy had managed to work her way to the middle of the dance floor. She looked up at the stage, the singer was blissfully signing along with the haunting track that her group were playing. She turned around, still in her pyjamas, and froze, something had caught her attention. She looked forward and started to smile, she felt a sudden rush of happiness and warmth. Angel was stood across from her. He was wearing this dark red shirt that Buffy had always liked. The pair made their way towards each other. Even though there were people slowly dancing all around them it felt as if they were the only two people in the club.
Buffy looked up at Angel, her face smiling even harder. They were moments away from each other when Angel stumbled forwards in pain, his face was now showing shock. He extended one of his arms towards Buffy as if to try and hold himself up. Buffy reached towards him, her fingers nearly touching his. Angels arm slowly started turning into dust along with the rest of him, his ring fell to the floor, and before Buffy could react Angel had completely disappeared.
Buffy looked at the floor in horror as to what had just happened. She looked back up to find Drusilla standing where Angel was just moments ago. She was holding a wooden stake, her green eye staring back at her, Dru's face was in full vamp mode. "Surprise Buffy"
Buffy's eyes opened and she shot herself up so that she was now in a sitting position. She took a few seconds to catch her breath. She looked around at her surroundings, she was back in her dorm room, Willow was fast asleep in the bed next to her. She placed her arm on her forehead and wiped the sweat away. She had not had a dream like that in years, what did it all mean?
.
Maggie Walsh was feeling tired, she had been up all night and she felt exhausted. She looked at her watch and saw that it was the early hours of the morning. Thankfully she didn't have to teach a lecture in the morning.
"Is everything ok Ms Walsh" a voice had asked her. Awoken from her daze she looked back at the man. "Yes. Everything is fine, I just lost track of time" she replied.
Maggie and the unknown man continued to walk down the white corridor, there were two soldiers standing at the door they had walked up to. The soldiers stood straight and saluted her. "At ease gentlemen" she said to them both. With that the soldiers placed both arms behind their backs, continuing the stand straight.
"You certainly carry a lot of respect with you Ms Walsh, I'll give you that" the man observed. She looked back at the man with a blank expression on her face. Ignoring what he had just said, she swiped the door with a security key. The door buzzed and a red light above it turned green. "I have just one more area to show you" Maggie instructed as they both walked through the door. "It's where we keep our subjects and carry out various tests. If you would be careful not to aggravate them that would be very much appreciated, they seem to be more aggressive at the moment".
They walked into a big white room, with rows upon rows of small box shaped holding cells going across both sides of the room. Instead of bars however there were huge glass panels in front of them. The man looked around, almost looking impressed, with a slight smirk on his face. Behind the glass panels there were a number of different creatures and demons. Some were hairy, some had scales, and there were even one or two vampires. They were all trying desperately to break the glass and escape.
"This is a very effective set up that you have here Ms Walsh, my employers will be happy to know this" The man looked at her, a smug look on his face. He was wearing a nice suit and had a briefcase in one of his hands.
"Well I will sleep easy tonight knowing that" Maggie said back with a sarcastic tone. "What exactly are you doing here anyway Mr?" Maggie questioned the man, unsure of his name.
"Lindsey, Lindsey McDonald" The man informed her. "And my employers are very interested in this facility that you have here. Not only are they offering legal advice in all areas but they are also willing to donate a large amount towards your research, I mean after all, government funding can only get your so far".
Maggie looked back at Lindsey with a stern face. "Ok Mr McDonald, I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement, I will try answer as much questions as I can but you must understand that certain topics will be confidential and on a need to know basis".
Lindsey looked back at Miss Walsh, a faint smile on his face. "That is good to hear. I am planning on staying in Sunnydale for a couple of weeks so we have plenty of time to work something out. My employers at Wolfram and Hart will be happy to know that you are open to the idea".
"Good, now If there is nothing else you would like to know or see I have a few important things to take care of before I go home" Maggie started to walk off when Lindsey called out to her. "Actually Miss Walsh there is one more thing I would like to know before you go, what's in Room 314?"
