(O.O)
I hadn't expected to receive a call from Willow that night. So when I did, and she asked me to come back, I froze. Something weird was happening with Buffy. I immediately told her I was on my way.
My cousin, Tara, had been with me at the time and asked what was wrong. I told her to grab my bag because I would be going back to Buffy's apartment. She appeared surprised but nodded and did what was asked, probably due to the urgency in my voice.
I was putting on my duster when Tara came back into the room.
"Did something happen to the case? I thought you said this was just a simple one where a parent is haunting her children because she was worried about them," she questioned.
I gave her a grim look. "That's what I thought too. But I don't think that's the case anymore. That was the roommate on the phone and she told me that Buffy was acting weird."
"Okay. But how does that amount to you having to go back there?"
"Well, while Willow was talking earlier, I could hear Buffy's mum's frantic voice in the background yelling and telling me that he has her baby."
"He?"
"Remember that ghost I saw? One I told you about?"
"You mean the one that almost got you in an accident?"
"The same one. I think he has something to do with this."
"You said he looked like a demon."
"He does, but I don't think he is. I felt him, Tar. He looked like a demon but I know he was human. A really angry and vengeful human spirit. I'm worried I may have given him the power to control Buffy."
"How did you do that?"
"I told Buffy to welcome the ghost in their house and to leave it be because I thought it was their mum. That was a bad idea. This spirit wants to hurt them and if they did welcome him or let him do as it pleases because they think it's their mum, then-"
"Then they are opening themselves for a possession," Tara finished the dreadful thought.
Before leaving our apartment, I told my cousin to be ready in case we needed to call in an exorcist for Buffy if she was indeed possessed.
It took me about 15 minutes to get to the Hyperion building since there was less traffic at eleven in the evening here in LA.
When I got there, my eyes widened as I saw Xander and a teen standing outside. I approached the two and found out that the teen was Buffy's kid sister. I immediately asked what happened.
She told me that Buffy started acting weird during dinner time and had suddenly become violent and started screaming at them after Willow made a call to me, after that young woman pointed a knife at them.
Willow ordered Dawn to get help and the teenager did just that.
She first knocked on their neighbors' doors but not a single one answered her. For some reason, it appeared no one was home. So instead, she called Xander, who arrived there just seconds before me.
I nodded at this because that explained why Harris was there.
"This is all my fault!" the teen suddenly cried.
"Dawn, no, we don't know what is going on but it's not your fault," Harris tried to console the distraught girl.
She shook her head. "You don't understand. I called him here. I called him and now he has Buffy."
"Called who Dawnie?" My friend was confused but I, on the other hand, had a hunch about what she meant.
"You summoned this spirit?" I asked.
The teen nodded, confirming my suspicion.
"I didn't mean to do it. I just wanted to speak to mom again and someone answered. I thought it was mom. But it wasn't. I tried to get him to leave, just like what the book said but he didn't and he stayed."
"Book? What book, Dawn?" Harris looked worried.
"You know how Willow used to be into that Wicca nonsense? Well, I found one of her books and it had a spell that would summon the dead. I just wanted to talk to mom, but this guy came. I just wanted him to leave but he won't, not until he did what he came back for."
"And what did he come back for, pet?" I asked.
"He wanted us to die for him." was the teen's teary response.
Xander went with me and together, we hurriedly raced up the stairs to the 4th floor where Buffy's apartment was located. Finding out it was the kid sis who summoned this thing gave me a better idea of how to get rid of it.
As I said, ghosts can't stay on our plane for too long. They need something to anchor them here, otherwise, they'll eventually drain all of their energy and disappear back to the ether.
The spell Dawn used was familiar to me.
It doesn't happen often, but I also perform seances and spirit summonings for some clients.
It's not something I like doing because I like ghosts to remain in the afterlife once they find their way. But sometimes, I get a client, like a grieving parent or child, and they ask if they can speak with their departed loved ones for closure. Hard to turn those types away, so we help them by doing so.
However, the process should be done with caution and with some form of expertise. It was because of this reason that Tara worked for me.
I saw ghosts and my cousin was gifted at summoning spirits. Her gift allows her to speak to the dead from the beyond. It was her calling to perform any needed seances and bring spirits back from the ether. She's able to locate specific spirits while also ensuring there are no unwanted hitchhikers tagging along.
A hitchhiker. That is what this ghost was. The kid summoned her mum and was successful, but her mum didn't come alone. She brought another spirit with her and this one held a big grudge. Fortunately, there was an easy way to send the spirit back.
As I said, I knew the spell Dawn used to summon the two spirits. It required her to use a lock of her hair, a spirit crystal, and a black candle. The hair and the crystal were meant to anchor the spirit to this plane. Destroy those anchors, you send them back.
Unfortunately, the Bit only destroyed the hair and that's why her mum was having a hard time staying here and protecting her girls because she destroyed her mum's anchor and not the one meant for the demon ghost. All I had to do to get this spirit to leave was to destroy the crystal.
We reached Buffy's room and banged on the door.
"Willow! Willow, it's Spike and Xander!" I screamed, "Open the door!"
I received no response. That wasn't good. I didn't want to waste any more time and quickly decided to kick the door open. It took us a couple of tries but were finally in. What greeted us was the sight of Willow laying on the floor, a pool of blood beneath her.
I hurried to her side and checked for a pulse.
Thankfully, she still had one, and that meant she was very much still alive.
I assessed her injuries next.
The blood was coming from the stab wound on her left shoulder. I knew that though the wound wasn't fatal, she was losing a lot of blood and she could still lose her life.
"Don't worry, pet. we'll get you out of here," I said to her while applying pressure to the wound. I turned to Harris and instructed him to call for an ambulance.
Once the operator said that they were on their way, I told Xander to take the redhead downstairs while I looked for Buffy. My friend hesitated but conceded when I told him that it was dangerous to let any paramedic into the apartment with a possibly possessed self-defense instructor inside.
This seemed to convince him, and so he carried the unconscious woman and left me alone in the room.
Once he left, I closed my eyes and tried to locate the spirit's presence.
I was quick to find it.
The ghost was in Dawn's room and so was the crystal that I needed to destroy.
I took a deep breath and slowly made my way to it. I opened the door and poked my head inside. The room was dark and that made it difficult for me to see. I tried to turn on the lights but for some reason, it wasn't working.
I cautiously stepped inside the room and prepared myself for any unexpected attacks. I knew that the spirit was here. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I was able to determine that no one was inside.
I didn't put much thought into where the ghost was, and instead, my eyes immediately zeroed towards the dresser, the same one their mother's spirit pointed at earlier, and I slowly made my way to it.
Dawn said she kept the crystal and I guess that was what their mum was trying to tell me earlier. I was in front of the dresser and was in the process of opening the first drawer when a loud thud resounded from behind me.
I quickly turned around and from where I stood I saw a dark silhouette of a woman standing at the entrance of a room. Her yellow eyes were the only thing visible from her shadowy form.
"So you took over her body," I said, staring at the figure in apprehension.
She took a step toward me, allowing the light on the streets to reveal her figure. It was indeed Buffy. But the yellow eyes and the venomous grin she had were my best indication that the ghost was in full control over her body. She took another step toward me and I took a step back.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked.
Ghosts weren't evil, that's what my grandmum always said to me growing up. So I was having a hard time believing that this one was any different. No spirit would hurt the living because they want to. If they did, they had a reason for it. As someone who saw spirits, it was my job to find out, to help them so they didn't do it again and could find rest in the afterlife.
This spirit hitched a ride and came here, haunted this family and now, it wants them dead. Why? It didn't make sense. Also, this spirit appeared to me before I even came to this apartment. This spirit sought me out. Sure it scared the crap out of me and I nearly got into an accident because of it, but based on my history with spirits, when they come to me, it was because they needed my help.
So what did this spirit want?
I heard a growling sound from the possessed woman in front of me and once again, she took a step toward me.
"Look, I can help you. You don't need to do anything to the ladies who live here. I can help you with whatever you need. Just tell me what you want."
I sensed a shift in the spirit's energy, the suffocating feeling of anger and malice that I was getting from it now had a tint of sadness and regret and it made me think that I was right with my suspicions that this spirit wasn't evil.
"Just let the girl go and you and I can talk. I'm willing to listen to you and help you with your unfinished business," I said with a coaxing tone.
"I-" I heard her start, I took a step forward, thinking that it was finally willing to let Buffy go and let me help it.
When suddenly its hand shot towards my neck and squeezed my windpipe.
"I want you to die for me," it answered, using Buffy's voice.
Before I knew it, I was being lifted off my feet and thrown to the side, where the dresser was, and destroying it with my weight. Pieces of glass and wood spread on the floor beneath him.
The possessed woman slowly walked toward me, while I was groaning in pain. I tried to sit up, but that only earned me a kick in the head.
"You know, I like this body. It may be small but it sure is strong, wouldn't you agree, blondie?" the spirit said.
It then started kicking me in the ribs a couple of times before kneeling and grabbing my hair.
"Maybe a few months ago, I would've accepted your help. But right now? I don't need it. I got myself this pretty hot body that I can use and abuse to my heart's content. So I don't need someone like you anymore."
It then slammed my head twice on the floor until I started seeing stars.
I then felt a weight on my body, and I knew that it was straddling my stomach. It grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head, thus trapping me.
Despite the pain, I opened my eyes to get a look at my attacker.
I could see Buffy's face, however, I also saw the demon ghost's image as well. It was morphing back and forth between the blonde woman's appearance and its own demonic one.
"You have a really pretty face," the spirit said, before raising a broken glass from the mirror on the dresser that she picked from the floor towards my face. "I hate pretty people. So I think I'll change that."
The glass touched my skin and I winced in pain as the bastard was slowly dragging it from my left temple towards my eyebrow.
"After I'm done with your face, I'm gonna use this to slice your throat, then I'll go after the pretty redhead, then the beautiful baby sister. Then after I'm done with them, I coming after every fucking person who thinks their the entitled to anything just because they were born pretty!" rage and desperation could be heard in its voice.
If my life wasn't in danger, perhaps I would've picked up on its weird obsession with beauty. But at the time, the only thing I was worried about was getting the possessed woman off me. I knew that if I didn't do anything, she was going to slice up my entire face.
I tried to struggle to get my arms free, but that only served to deepen the cut that was being done near my eye.
"That's right, keep struggling. You're saving me the trouble of wrecking your face," the spirit said, lifting the glass and hovering it near my eye.
The sadistic glee it had on its host's face sent shivers down my spine. Such a look should not be worn by such a pretty face.
The glass was closing in my face once again, intending to cut me up some more when the possessed woman above suddenly started to violently shake.
"Noooooo!" It screamed in agony before I saw the spirit suddenly being forcefully removed from Buffy by an unknown force.
The ghost disappeared and Buffy then slumped, before falling unconscious on the ground beside me.
I slowly sat up and looked at the young woman in confusion before turning towards the door where an equally confused Harris was standing.
I saw my friend lift his leg and underneath it, I could see shattered remains of a glass crystal, the same one I was supposed to destroy to banish the ghost.
"No one hurts my babies and gets away with it," I heard a soft voice from beside me say.
I glanced back and found that it was Dawn and Buffy's mother.
She must've been the one who put the glass crystal near the door where Xander accidentally stepped on
She smiled at me, and said, "Thank you for coming to help my babies," before disappearing into the ether.
TBC
(O.O)