Chapter Five

"Are you alright?"

Buffy looked up, barely digesting what was said to her as she slowly came out of her trance.

"Huh?"

"You look a little glum," Giles replied, worried. "Is everything alright?"

Buffy shrugged, "Of course, why wouldn't it be?"

Giles sighed and pushed a book away from him. "I-I know you've had a lot going on as of late. And I don't suppose Spike still in Sunnydale does anything to ease your stress, but we will find out why he's here and when we do, hopefully, kill him in the process," he said confidently.

Buffy knew this was his way of trying to make her feel better, but it only made it worse because she didn't want to kill Spike, and that was her problem. She was glad they hadn't seen each other since Parent-Teacher night–not including when she saw him at the Bronze last week, which she still wasn't sure if she had seen him or if her eyes played a trick on her.

The longer she went without seeing him, the extra time she had to realize that the next opportunity she got, she'd kill him. Or she'd hoped she would.

"So, Halloween?" she asked, wanting to desperately change the topic. "Demons will probably be stalking for little kids to eat. Should I hit the cemeteries or stay closer to neighborhoods where people will be trick or treating?"

"Neither."

"Huh?"

"Halloween is the one night a year vampires take off," Giles replied. "I wouldn't worry about patrolling; most of them will stay inside."

Buffy shuffled in her seat, feeling uneasy about the newly acquired information. "I don't know Giles; it sounds like-"

"Buffy," Giles interrupted. "I promise you there is nothing to be worried about. Tomorrow night should be relatively calm. And you deserve a night off."

That wasn't something she expected to hear from Giles, ever.

"That is," he added. "unless you'd like to work on some battle techniques."

But she wasn't one to argue about taking the night to do something for herself. She instantly sat up and gave her answer before Giles could continue. "No! I'll take the night off!" That was until she remembered that Snyder had forced her, Willow, and Xander to volunteer to take kids trick or treating. Groaning, she said, "Actually, I won't have a night off. Snyder is making me volunteer for trick or treating."

Giles couldn't help the tiny laugh that escaped from his mouth but tried to cover it quickly.

"You, watching children? How frightening."

"Hey!" Buffy exclaimed, only slightly offended. "I can take care of kids. I once had a goldfish when I was younger."

"And what happened to it?" he asked.

Buffy looked down, embarrassed. "I might have cleaned his bowl with soap and killed him," she said quickly.

"Oh dear lord."

Buffy rolled her eyes as the bell rang. "I guess that's my cue to go. Pray that I pass this history test."

Giles nodded. "Babysitting aside, I hope you have fun tonight. And please try not to need me," he said jokingly.

Buffy smiled and walked out of the library, yelling over her shoulder. "I'll try. Bye, Giles!"

Spike stood, watching a video of the Slayer fighting that he had sent his minion to film. "Here it comes," he said to the vampire beside him. "Rewind that. Let's see that again."

The vampire did as he was told. Spike chuckled as he watched her fight. "She's tricky. Baby likes to play." She wasn't like the previous two Slayers he had faced. The Chinese Slayer used her sword and technique to fight, while Nikki used her strength and experience. The current Slayer reminded him more of Nikki than the other, but there was one difference: Buffy was crafty and used her surroundings to her advantage. And maybe a bit of luck as well.

"You see that?" he pointed at the screen. "The way she stakes him with that thing? That's what's called resourceful. Rewind it."

He felt Dru's presence enter the room, but his attention didn't turn away from the screen. Instead, he held out a hand for her to take. "Come here, poodle."

"Miss Edith needs her tea," she said, holding his hand. "Do you love my insides? The parts you can't see?"

"Eyeballs to entrails, my sweet. That's why I've got to study this Slayer," he replied, still watching the screen. "Once I know her, I can kill her. And once I kill her, you can have your run of Sunnyhell. Get strong again."

Drusilla pouted. "You must kill her, for Miss Edith and I fear she'll take you away from me."

That caught Spike's attention. He turned to her and frowned. "She's not going to kill me, Luv."

"Don't worry. Everything's switching. Outside to inside. It makes her weak."

"Really?" he asked. "Did you have a vision?"

Her eyes became unfocused as she said, "Sunshine had a taste, and now she wants the darkness."

"Come on, talk to me," Spike urged, not taking note of Dru's rambling and hoping he could get her to reveal more. "This thing that makes the Slayer weak? When is it?"

"Tomorrow," she replied.

"Tomorrow's Halloween," he said, confused. "Nothing happens on Halloween."

"Someone's come to change it all. Someone new," she said, her eyes snapping back to him, the sanest he'd ever seen Dru. "And you must kill her before she kills you."

Later that night, Buffy looked at her appearance in the mirror, satisfied with how she looked.

"Buffy, I don't know about this outfit; it's not me-" Willow stopped abruptly as she looked at Buffy. "Wow! You look great!"

Buffy smiled as she looked down at her costume. "You don't think it's too much?"

Willow shook her head. "Do you think we'll see Angel?"

Buffy shrugged, not caring if she saw him or not. She hadn't worn the costume for Angel.

"He'd freak if he saw you in this!"

Buffy admitted that she was glad Willow returned to pushing the Angel relationship rather than Spike, which Buffy believed the main reasoning for is how scared his attack was for Willow during Parent-Teacher night.

She hadn't told Willow that she saw Angel and Cordelia snuggled up to each other at the Bronze the other night. She didn't even bother going up to him to acknowledge her presence. They were supposed to have that coffee date he'd asked her on last week, but she had a late day at the office and showed up looking a mess with leaves in her hair, not anywhere near as impressive as Cordelia's perfect hair and perfect outfit, she thought bitterly. It didn't help when Cordelia came up to Buffy today in the hallway and taunted her for not showing up. "You know what I think? I just think you're trying to scare me off because you're afraid of the competition. Look, Buffy, you may be hot stuff when it comes to demonology or whatever, but when it comes to dating, I'm the Slayer." And Buffy hated to admit it, but Cordelia was right. Buffy didn't know much about dating, only having a few immature romances that never led to anything.

Who was she kidding anyway? Trying to have a date like she was a normal girl, she could never have that. Girls who had time to think about nail polish and facials. And what did she think about? Ambush tactics. Beheading. Not exactly the stuff dreams are made of.

Shaking her head of her thoughts, she looked back at Willow, suddenly taking in her outfit: a short, black leather skirt, boots, and a burgundy, long-sleeved v necked midriff-baring top.

"You're a dish!" Buffy smiled. Willow fidgeted, looking uncomfortable. She tried to hide with a ghost sheet, but Buffy quickly snatched it from her hands. "You look good. I wouldn't steer you wrong."

"But this just isn't me," Willow replied.

"And that's the point," Buffy said, turning back to the mirror to further inspect her costume. "Halloween is the night that not you is you, but not you. You know?" She frowned, hoping the jumble of words made as much sense to Willow as it did within her head. She heard the doorbell ring, signaling Xander's arrival. Glancing at herself one last time in the mirror, she turned and followed Willow downstairs.

Tonight would be fun!

"Buffy, are you hurt?"

She looked towards the woman kneeling beside her. Buffy? Is that what she was called? It sounded familiar; perhaps the odd name was hers.

"Buffy," the strange woman said again, trying to get her attention.

Buffy frowned and, realizing she was lying against a tree, quickly sat up so she didn't hurt her wings.

"Buffy, are you alright?"

Buffy looked at her, confused. "What?"

A man a few feet away rolled his eyes and asked, "Are you hurt?"

"Buffy?" the redhead asked again. "Do you know who you are?" She turned around to look at the man holding a gun. "I don't think she knows who we are."

"I don't even know who you are," he said, exasperated.

The woman sighed in frustration. "Oh, this is fun," she said sarcastically.

"Who are you?" Buffy asked, confused. She didn't recognize either of these strange creatures. She had undoubtedly never met a human before now.

"We're your friends," the redhead replied. "I'm Willow, and that's Xander." Willow nodded her head towards the man with the gun.

The names meant something to her, deep down, but Buffy couldn't remember why or how. It didn't take long to realize that something had happened to her memories. She grabbed the offered hand from Xander as he helped her up.

"Everything is strange here! It's dark, and bright, and loud," she said, taking in her surroundings. "Am I in Hell?"

"No, you're not in Hell. Everything will be okay; just breathe." Willow turned to Xander. "How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayer?"

"What's a Slayer?" he asked, confused, and then pointed his gun at something across the street and fired, scaring them off. "I suggest we get inside before we come across something my gun can't kill. And I just wanted to let you know I'm taking a lot on faith here. Where do we go?"

"I know where!" Willow replied.

Buffy followed them to a building… a home? Xander opened the door and scanned the room.

"All clear!" he yelled, signaling for them to come inside.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"Your place," Willow replied. "Now we just need to... "

Buffy zoned her out. It wasn't possible that she lived in a home and conversed herself with normal human beings. She was a product of God himself, his child. She wasn't as lowly as to live on what she assumed was earth. There was more screaming outside, and Xander suddenly left.

"Where is he going?" she asked.

Before Willow could answer, Xander came back inside with another woman dressed in a very revealing, tight costume. Buffy shook her head and prayed for the sins of the cat woman and the redhead beside her.

"Cordelia!" Willow yelled.

"What's going on?" Cordelia asked.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of," Willow explained.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?"

"You know us?" Willow asked, relieved.

Cordelia put her hands on her hips. "Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?"

"A lot's going on. I'll find Giles. You guys stay here while we try and fix it," Willow said and then walked through a wall, disappearing.

Another person burst through the back door—a tall man with dark hair.

"Oh, good! You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there," he said.

"Angel!" Cordelia said, "Thank goodness you're here to save us!"

"You are not an angel." Buffy backed a few steps away, feeling unpleasant from his presence. Something was screaming at her that he was the spawn of the Devil, regardless of his name.

"Somebody wanna fill me in?" Angel asked. He looked her way and took two steps forward as she took two steps back—the strange feeling urging her to stay away from him. "I'm lost here. And what's with your hair? Why is it white?"

Xander turned to Angel. "You take her and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me." Cordelia followed after Xander.

Buffy began panicking. "But I don't want to go with him!"

Angel headed towards the kitchen, and Buffy had no choice but to follow him. He suddenly stopped. "I didn't leave that open." She poked her head around his big body to see the back door open. He quietly moved towards the door as he looked around for an intruder. A little blue creature jumped out and attacked her.

She screamed as she saw his face. A demon! Angel grabbed it and wrestled him to the floor.

"A knife!" He yelled.

"A what?" Buffy asked, confused.

"Get me a knife! Hurry up!" He turned around, and Buffy's eyes widened as she saw that he, too, had a demonic face. Screaming, she trusted her instincts and ran for the door away from the monster.

She ran through dark alleys and trash cans. When she was sure that she had put enough distance between her and the demon, she stopped and leaned against a crate. Looking around, she tried to decide what to do. She soon realized she had stopped for too long when a demon suddenly came her way. She screamed and ran into an abandoned building, backing up slowly as he approached her. Buffy closed her eyes, waiting for the demon to kill her. At least when she died, she'd be back in Heaven and away from this dark world. She breathed deeply as she felt the demon approaching her and then suddenly heard it stop and scream. Opening her eyes, she gasped at the scene before her. Another blond demon now stood before her, the other demon's heart in his hand as his body slowly turned to dust.

"Hello, cutie," he smirked.

"Who are you?" she asked, frightened.

"A bad, bad man," he replied as he slowly came towards her. "And you're supposed to be… an angel?"

Buffy nodded her head, glad that someone finally recognized what she was, still confused that nobody knew, considering her wings, white hair, and white silk dress. She looked like a typical angel, but maybe the strange world she was in didn't see many of them. "Yes, yes! This isn't my world. I believe I'm in Hell."

He chuckled and came to a stop before her. She wanted to back away, realizing he was far too close for her liking but had nowhere to go as she was trapped between the wall and the demon. Oddly, his presence didn't scare her like the man back at the house; if anything, it was soothing, and she wasn't sure why.

"And you're a demon," she said knowingly. "You're evil. You go against everything that I believe in."

"I suppose," he replied, running his hand gently over her wings and through her hair, before bringing it to her neck, gripping it hard enough to apply pressure but not to cut off her oxygen. "How ironic it'd be to kill a Slayer and an angel at the same time."

"You're going to kill me?" she asked, frightened.

"Of course, why wouldn't I?" he asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

She searched her frantic mind for an answer. She didn't want to die, and was willing to say anything to keep him from killing her. "There is something between us," she urged, "I can feel it; you must feel it too!"

Something flashed in his eyes, but he quickly covered it before growling and applying more pressure to the hand around her neck. "All I feel is hatred for you."

"Whoever I was before," she said, searching for feelings or memories from who she was before she had awoken next to Willow and Xander. After a few seconds, she finally found something. "Must have felt some kind of connection with you."

"...What?" He asked slowly in disbelief.

She nodded, confirming what she had said previously, not realizing the damage it would cause after the spell was broken. All she could feel is a deeper instinct telling her to survive, even if that meant confessing something to keep the demon from hurting her. Unfortunately, it only made him angrier. He removed his hand from her throat and hit her across the face; she could feel drops of blood slowly descending down her lips.

"I hope by 'feelings' you meant loathing," he growled.

"I-I don't understand," she stuttered. "Expressing feelings doesn't typically receive that kind of reaction!"

He took an extra step towards her, his face nearly touching hers, their chests pressed against each other. "It does," he said, angrily. "When the demon you're expressing those feelings to doesn't give a bloody damn!"

She turned her head, trying to put as much space between them as possible.

"An angel and a demon," he mocked. He was making a fool of her. "How poetic."

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" she asked. It's not like she wanted to die, but she was also curious why she was still alive.

"I want answers from you," he slammed his hand against the wall by her head, causing her to jump in shock. "How do we know each other? When did we meet?"

Buffy shook her head, confused. "I don't know! I can't remember anything!" she cried.

"Because of the spell," he said.

Buffy nodded her head.

"Unless," he replied, becoming angry once more. "You're just saying all of this to trick me, make me off my game."

"No!" she yelled, trying to convince him of her innocence. "Angel's don't lie, it's against our beliefs!"

He seemed to calm down a little. His eyes snapped to her bloody lip and gently rubbed his finger across it before bringing it to his mouth, sucking her blood off his finger as he closed his eyes and sighed in ecstasy. "It's been so long since I've tasted a Slayer."

She watched him, entranced by his erotic behavior, and became ashamed as her lower body responded to the scene before her. His eyes snapped open, slowly coming out of his trance. The look in his eyes told her that he knew how he was affecting her. She blushed, mortified that she was caught.

"Well," he said. "I'll just have to kill you without ever knowing."

He roared and was about to bite down on her neck when a strange feeling came over her, and instantly Buffy knew who she was, where she was, and, more importantly, who was in front of her. Spike. William the Bloody. Slayer of Slayers. Acting on instinct, she punched him in the nose and sent him spiraling into boxes. He recovered and looked at her confused, she pulled off her blonde wig, and his eyes widened, realizing she was the Slayer again and not under the influence of the spell.

"Hi honey, I'm home."

She ran up to him and used his shocked state to hit him three times in the face and once in the stomach, none of which he attempted to block. He was hunched over, clutching his abdomen, when they both heard voices in the background: her friends. He glanced back at her.

"This isn't over," he said and then ran out of the building's back doors to avoid her oncoming friends.

Buffy sighed and ran her hands through her hair. She was glad to be herself again, and their encounter wasn't as bad as she thought it would–

Her eyes suddenly widened as the memories came flooding back. Specifically, the confession she had made to him while under the spell. Oh god, how was she going to get herself out of that mess? No, it wasn't that bad. All she'd said was that she felt something for him. She hadn't explained what it was. She could get out of it with a simple lie and say that it was hatred she'd felt. She could blame her weird rambling on the spell. She was sure he thought of it as a big joke anyway. Or she could just kill him, so she never had to give an explanation. Actually, the third option was starting to sound like a fantastic idea.