Part 9

Stepping into Darkness

Part 9

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"So, do you think this has anything to do with the sudden appearance of Willow's leather clad vampire twin?" Buffy whispered to Giles as the group made their way through the sewers.

"My what?" Willow looked alarmed as she gave Buffy a confused look.

"Yeah, seems our little friend has come back from her own dimension again," Buffy replied as they continued through the damp tunnel.

"Leather clad?" Spike asked, suddenly interested in the conversation. "You left out that part before, luv."

Willow's cheeks glowed red, much to Spike's amusement as he knew that her mind had drifted to the conversation they had had on that unfortunate night, where he had become impo...had lost the use of his fangs. The fact that the witch still vividly remembered it pleased him.

He leaned forward to whisper in her ear, "Well, seems your bad side has surfaced...at least in another dimension." Willow took a sharp intake of breath at the feel of him so close to her and then quickly scolded herself at the act. It was only Spike, and he was only teasing. Spike chuckled at her reaction, but quickly moved away at the quiet growl from his sire.

There was a sudden howl in the distance and they all began to run. As the tunnel opened out into a larger area, they stopped dead.

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The group gazed at the scene in awed silence. No one could quite believe what they were seeing. As the swirling vortex whooshed closed in front of them, Xander and Willow took a tentative step forward but neither had the power to speak. They were both transfixed.

"Glad you could join us."

The group collectively shook themselves out of their trances as the soft voice rang out through the sewer. It had an eerie effect as it echoed through the dark corridors, slowly dimming into a gentle murmur in the distance. They couldn't see the owner of the voice and yet it had a chilling familiarity that no one could place, that they didn't want to place.

Xander, finally finding his voice, stepped towards the figure crouched in the centre of the room, "Anya?" The figure moved slightly but did not raise its head. Xander took yet another tentative step forward, reaching out to the body that was curled up on the floor.

"Anya?" Suddenly the figure turned to face him and he fell backwards in shock.

"Stay away from me, Xander." Xander opened his mouth but failed to reply. He simply stared into the face of what looked like a rotting corpse.

"Anya, what happened?" Buffy walked towards her.

"They...they gave me back my powers...they need my help."

"Who's they?" Angel asked stepping forward.

Anya didn't reply, she simply turned to Willow, "You."

"A Vampire Willow?" Giles asked.

"Yes. She was pulled from her own universe again. She said she'd only just left so it must have been right after we returned her that she was brought back."

"Who brought her back?" Buffy asked, as Xander finally pulled himself to his feet again, "Who did this to you?" Anya's eyes filled with tears as she started to reply, but was cut off by laughter, ringing through the sewers.

There was movement in the shadows to their right, and Anya shrank back behind Xander. The group stepped back as the shadow emerged. Willow, on the other hand, walked towards the figure that had spoken to them.

"Tara?"

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END OF PART 9