Rating: PG, just general Buffy-ish type things a-happenin'
Feedback: I'd like that very much, thank you.
Spoilers: If you know about Tara and Spike's Chip, you're good to go.
Distribution: Here. If you're interested, please let me know.
Summary: Willow's magic has backfired again, and this time she's so upset she decides it would be better if she leaves Sunnydale.
Author's Note: Set sometime during Season 4. And I know Alabama is the wrong state, but I just liked the ambiance.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose charcters I have borrowed for a completely profit-free flight of fancy. Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.
Dedication: For Joe, who is going to have a great future ahead of him.
Chapter 4
Once again Jenny and Willow were whisked away from one scene and into another. This time, Willow didn't recognize the location at all. She was in a ramshackle house she had never laid eyes on before. Wallpaper peeled in strips from the hallway. The air was uncomfortably hot and humid.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Alabama."
Suddenly, the screen door slammed into the wall as an obviously drunken man staggered into the house. He scowled around the living room, then headed down the hallway towards the kitchen.
"Beth! Where you at?"
"Sorry, sir. Just getting the tray together."
"Who are these people?" Willow asked, every bit as confused as when she'd first arrived.
"It's no wonder you don't recognize them. You only met them once, and he was sober at the time."
The man reappeared carrying a tray with a scant supply of leftovers on it. He made his unsteady way up the stairs. Jenny motioned for Willow to follow.
The three of them arrived at what should have been a bedroom door, but the multiple locks hanging from the outside suggested differently. No fewer than three padlocks and four deadbolts needed to be undone before the man pushed the door open. Willow didn't get a clear view of who or what was inside.
"Supper's out. Eat fast. I'm takin' the tray back in five minutes, done or not."
He quickly slammed and relocked the door.
"Go in and take a look around, Willow. The locks won't stop you."
Willow looked uncertainly at Jenny, then stepped through the closed door. What she saw on the other side made her gasp.
"Tara! What have they done to you!"
The girl was wolfing down the pitiful meal before her as though she hadn't eaten in days. She looked horribly thin and malnourished. Her filthy clothes hung on her like a scarecrow's castoffs. Her eyes, always wide to begin with, had grown enormous with constant fear. Her hair was lank and matted. The only object in the room was one ragged blanket. The window was boarded over from the outside. Tears streamed down Willow's face as she tried to take the other girl's hand, but of course she couldn't touch her.
"When her family came to take her away from the university, no one tried to stop them. Buffy didn't even know her name. Her father figured out she really was a witch and panicked, locking her in. She's been living this way for over a year. They never allow her to go outside."
Willow swore violently. How could anyone treat this sweet, kindhearted girl so horribly?
"Why doesn't she use a spell to get out of here?"
"She wouldn't know how. She never had the opportunity to learn any but the simplest spells, and even they were enough to get her locked in here. Besides, she wouldn't let herself out if she did know how. They've got her convinced that she'd turn into a demon if she was free." Jenny looked very angry. After all, she had been a rather powerful witch herself.
"Isn't there anything we can do to help her?"
"Not a thing. Although I would if I could," she muttered.
The drab room began to fade away. Willow would have stayed if she could have. Even if she wasn't able to let Tara know she was there, she didn't want her to be left alone in that awful place. However, Willow had no choice in the matter. Before she knew it, another setting had surrounded her.
