Chapter Two
Everything was so bright; that was the first thing Darry noticed about good ol' Sunnydale. The second thing she realized was that she had no idea where she was; or, she knew where she was persay. She knew that she was in Sunnydale, free from the ground, and in a cemetery. However, she couldn't remember the address for the Summers house or even which way the Summers house was; in fact, she was surprised she remembered her own name.
Darry stood up and brushed some of the dirt off the velvet front of her black dress. She began walking, more like stumbling, away from the cemetery, to where she didn't know.
Amy finally was able to pull herself away from her father, who insisted that they watch some movie together; Amy promised she would be back as soon as possible.
She ran to the graveyard, barely hearing the slap of her sneakers against the pavement. When she arrived at the graveyard, she was shocked at what she saw. The dirt and earth around Darry's gravestone was upturned and looked as though someone had pulled themselves out of the ground.
Amy cursed loudly as she realized that Darry had indeed risen from the dead but Amy knew that she had forgotten something: Darry had to claw herself from her grave, like zombies in those old movies. How could she have been so stupid, how could she have overlooked that fact? Why hadn't Rex done something to keep Darry from having to claw her way out like some buried rabbit.
However, Amy knew that there was a bigger problem that she needed to attend to, other then Darry having to claw her way out. The fact that Darry wasn't here.
Buffy opened the door to the kitchen and nearly dropped into one of the chairs around the kitchen table. Dawn trudged in behind her, frowning.
"So, I don't understand what that whole meeting was about." Dawn muttered.
"I have no clue but I think that it was a good idea we went." Buffy answered, looking up at her sister.
Willow entered the kitchen and looked down at the tried Summers girls. "Meeting not go well?" She asked.
Buffy looked up. "It went rather well." Buffy said, knowing that she sounded like Giles. "But it was pointless, I think." Buffy answered.
"As always." Willow muttered.
Dawn sat down beside her sister and ran her finger along the table. "I miss Darry, she would be here, a funny comment ready to perk us all up." Dawn muttered.
Buffy looked over at her sister, remembering for the first time that Dawn had befriended Darry when everyone else doubted her means and intentions. Buffy wondered if she had been right in judging Darry's intentions; the girl wasn't evil but it was in her blood to be evil. However, Buffy wanted to kick herself for thinking bad about Darry; Darry had done but Buffy had been afraid of, scarficing herself and dying, again. However, Darry didn't think about that, she just did and accepted the consequences.
"I miss her too, Dawnyine." Buffy muttered and laid her hand on Dawn's. Dawn looked up at her sister and gave her a half smile.
Before Dawn could say anything, there was a knock on the door; the knock turned into a pounding. Willow hurried to open the door; she was surprised when Amy walked into the house and headed for the kitchen.
"Buffy, please, ask questions later but we have to act now. Darry's alive but I don't know where she is and we have to find her." Amy said, the words pouring out of her mouth.
Buffy stood up, pushing her chair behind her. "What? Back up Amy." Buffy said.
Amy frowned. "What part of 'ask questions later' don't you understand? We have to find her, something bad could happen to her." Amy said.
"Darry's alive?" Dawn asked.
Buffy frowned as she realized what Amy was telling her. "You brought her back to life?" Buffy asked.
"Not me, but yes she is." Amy answered.
Willow turned to face the witch. "Rex, you didn't use Rex to bring her back did you?" Willow asked, she didn't bother to wait for Amy to answer. "How could you trust him, after all he did?" Willow snapped.
Amy turned. "I thought I was doing the right thing." Amy muttered.
"Okay, I thought we had all learned our lesson on bringing people back from the dead but there's nothing we can do about it now." Buffy said. "Let's go find her." She added.
Dawn stood up. "I'm going." She said, hoping that the tone of her voice didn't leave room for rebuff.
"Let's go." Buffy said. "All of us." She said, looking over at Amy with a glare. When no one moved, Buffy said, "Now!"
Everyone headed out the back door, all thinking different thoughts.
Darry stumbled along the roads of Sunnydale, squinting her eyes because of the streetlights. She held her bloody fingers up to her head and slightly covered her eyes, attempting to stop the head-ache that pounded in her temples.
She looked around, trying to get her bearings but she couldn't really tell where she was. She looked up at the sky and saw the sparkling stars and half-moon nestled in the blanket of darkness. Darry frowned as she looked back down, things were starting to get familiar. To her left was a shop labeled 'The Magic Box' which rang a bell in Darry's head.
She headed toward the store, squinting her eyes and trying to see if anyone was in the store. Darry didn't notice the vampire lurking in the shadows, scanning for potential victims. When the vampire saw the stumbling Darry, he knew he had found an easy meal.
Buffy scanned the graveyard feverishly, looking for any sign of life in such a dead place. However, there was no sign of Darry; Buffy wouldn't have believed Amy aside from the fact that it was clear that someone had dug themselves out of the ground. That someone happened to be Darry.
Buffy knew what it felt like to wake up in a coffin and have to dig your way out; however, Buffy had her slayer strength to aid her in the task, she couldn't believe that Darry had managed to free herself. But then again, Darry wasn't exactly your run-of the-mill girl, either.
Dawn kicked at the dirt around Darry's tombstone and then looked over at Buffy. "What will they do with her tombstone?" She asked, looking down at the rose-quartz stone.
Buffy shrugged. "That's the least of our problems, at the moment, Dawn. We need to find Darry." She said.
Willow looked around. "There's no way to tell which way she went." Willow muttered.
"Okay then, we split up. Dawn you come with me, but Amy and Willow you guys go separate ways." Buffy commanded.
Willow and Amy nodded and split up while Dawn and Buffy headed into the heart of Sunnydale.
Darry pounded with bloody hands on the door of the Magic Box, knowing that no one was inside but unable to keep herself from trying.
A growl sounded in the shadows behind her and Darry whirled around, coming face to face with a vampire in full face. Darry's eyes widened in surprise but she wasn't afraid, not really. However, she backed into the door of the Magic Box and tried to assume the fighters' stance that she had seen Buffy take so many times.
The vampire lunged at Darry and even though the girl tried to block his attack, he managed to secure his hands around her neck. Darry gasped for air and managed to shove the vampire backward, giving herself more room to move.
The vampire attempted to shove her to the left, away from the brick wall that was at the right of the Magic Box, at the same time Darry tried to shove him into the brick wall. The two turned a semi-circle, leaving the vampire backed against the glass door of the Magic Box. The vampire growled and swung Darry toward him, throwing her threw the glass door.
Both Darry and the vampire fell threw the broken glass door and onto the ground. Darry felt the little bits of glass bite into her skin but she ignored them as she pulled out of the vampire's hold.
She stood up, shaky at first, but then getting her footing; Darry looked around and remembered that Anya and Xander owned the Magic Box. There was bound to be a stake or some sort of weapon to fight her attacker.
The vampire shook his head and stood up, growling at Darry as he watched her through glowing eyes. The girl, his prey, was looking around for a weapon; perhaps she wasn't as helpless as he thought she was, at first.
Buffy and Dawn passed by another set of stores on Main Street without seeing sign of Darry. Buffy was beginning to get worried about Darry; people disappeared in Sunnydale all the time and it was a good thing.
Buffy looked around and saw the Magic Box; however, something was amiss, Buffy could tell at first glance. Looking closer, Buffy saw that the glass door had been shattered.
The vampire leapt at Darry as she attempted to open the glass on the front of the counter and take out one of the knives. Both Darry and the vampire flipped over the counter and landed on the floor behind it with a hard thud.
Darry felt her bones jar as she hit the ground, also hearing her teeth clank together in her jaw.
Blinking away tears, Darry stood up but was shoved down again by her vampiric attacker.
"Let her go!" A voice commanded, sounding from the front of the shop.
The vampire, who had Darry in another choke hold, looking up, turning his head to face the voice. He barely had chance to blink because a sharp stake protruded his chest and turned him to dust.
When the vampire 'died', Darry felt the air return to her lungs. She coughed and blinked her eyes, brushing dust off her.
She looked up to see a wide-eyed Buffy, clutching a stake and staring open-mouthed at her.
"You are alive." Buffy muttered, hardly giving the demter of a Slayer.
Darry looked around and then down at herself, her dirt covered self. "Looks like." She said.
As soon as Buffy and the others returned home, Buffy called Anya and Xander to tell them that Darry was alive. Then she told Darry that she should get a shower to clean herself off. Buffy couldn't help but grimace when she looked down at Darry's torn and bloody fingers.
Darry took a towel off the rack and ran it quickly through her wet hair. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought, 'same old Darry; same old alive Darry'. She wrapped the towel around her body, tying it together in a makeshift toga. She had forgotten to ask Buffy where her clothes were, if they were still in the house at all.
Darry felt a little self-conciess as she slowly went downstairs; however, she had to ask Buffy where her clothes were.
Buffy was in the kitchen, hanging up the phone. Buffy glanced up at Darry, giving her the once-over. "Right, clothes, sorry. Um, I think Oz went through all that stuff; he put it in a cardboard box that should be in you and Kellie's room." Buffy told her, without waiting for Darry to ask a question.
Darry smiled, wincing slightly at the mention of Oz's name; she didn't have to ask, Oz wasn't here and neither was Kellie.
Darry turned to leave but was stopped by Buffy's words. "Are you okay, I mean serouisly, are you feeling fine?" Buffy asked.
Darry turned around to face the Slayer. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not exactly twirling around on a mountain top, the wind in my hair, 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' fine but, yeah, I'm dealing. I'm alive and kicking; it takes more then that to keep me down." Darry answered.
Buffy gave her the once-over and then said, "I guess it does. Clothes." She pointed out with a smile.
Darry nodded sheepishly and then headed upstairs. Darry walked the familiar route to her room in the attic that she had shared with her cousin, almost as though it was a normal night. Almost as though she hadn't been dead for a month.
She entered the room and was surprised at how bare it was; the top of Kellie's dresser was so bare after having so many pictures stacking upon it. She looked over at her night table and was surprised to see her gold necklace laying atop it.
She barely remembered taking it from her father right before he killed her; she had wanted to give it back to Oz but...she wasn't able to. He must have found it anyway and brought it.
She walked over to the table and picked up the necklace. The clasp wasn't broken, like it had been when her father broke it; Oz, or someone, must have repaired it. She put the necklace on and bit her lip to keep the tears from coming. It worked.
She looked around for a cardboard box, Buffy had said her clothes were in. She saw the box by her bed; the cardboard flaps her folded together, pressed down.
She walked over to the box and dropped to her knees. She opened the flaps and sucked in a breath when she saw what was nestled among her clothes.
She reached into the box and picked the item up, hardly believing what it was; in her hands was the picture of her and Oz that Kellie had taken Christmas Eve night. Darry looked at the picture and had to admit that she looked a little silly covered in snow; however, she looked very happy, as did Oz.
Darry took a deep breath and held the picture to her chest, clutching it tightly. Then she pulled an outfit out of the box; a pare of sweat pants and a sweat shirt would have to do for the moment. As she put the outfit on, she couldn't help but
think about where Oz and Kellie might be at the moment
Everything was so bright; that was the first thing Darry noticed about good ol' Sunnydale. The second thing she realized was that she had no idea where she was; or, she knew where she was persay. She knew that she was in Sunnydale, free from the ground, and in a cemetery. However, she couldn't remember the address for the Summers house or even which way the Summers house was; in fact, she was surprised she remembered her own name.
Darry stood up and brushed some of the dirt off the velvet front of her black dress. She began walking, more like stumbling, away from the cemetery, to where she didn't know.
Amy finally was able to pull herself away from her father, who insisted that they watch some movie together; Amy promised she would be back as soon as possible.
She ran to the graveyard, barely hearing the slap of her sneakers against the pavement. When she arrived at the graveyard, she was shocked at what she saw. The dirt and earth around Darry's gravestone was upturned and looked as though someone had pulled themselves out of the ground.
Amy cursed loudly as she realized that Darry had indeed risen from the dead but Amy knew that she had forgotten something: Darry had to claw herself from her grave, like zombies in those old movies. How could she have been so stupid, how could she have overlooked that fact? Why hadn't Rex done something to keep Darry from having to claw her way out like some buried rabbit.
However, Amy knew that there was a bigger problem that she needed to attend to, other then Darry having to claw her way out. The fact that Darry wasn't here.
Buffy opened the door to the kitchen and nearly dropped into one of the chairs around the kitchen table. Dawn trudged in behind her, frowning.
"So, I don't understand what that whole meeting was about." Dawn muttered.
"I have no clue but I think that it was a good idea we went." Buffy answered, looking up at her sister.
Willow entered the kitchen and looked down at the tried Summers girls. "Meeting not go well?" She asked.
Buffy looked up. "It went rather well." Buffy said, knowing that she sounded like Giles. "But it was pointless, I think." Buffy answered.
"As always." Willow muttered.
Dawn sat down beside her sister and ran her finger along the table. "I miss Darry, she would be here, a funny comment ready to perk us all up." Dawn muttered.
Buffy looked over at her sister, remembering for the first time that Dawn had befriended Darry when everyone else doubted her means and intentions. Buffy wondered if she had been right in judging Darry's intentions; the girl wasn't evil but it was in her blood to be evil. However, Buffy wanted to kick herself for thinking bad about Darry; Darry had done but Buffy had been afraid of, scarficing herself and dying, again. However, Darry didn't think about that, she just did and accepted the consequences.
"I miss her too, Dawnyine." Buffy muttered and laid her hand on Dawn's. Dawn looked up at her sister and gave her a half smile.
Before Dawn could say anything, there was a knock on the door; the knock turned into a pounding. Willow hurried to open the door; she was surprised when Amy walked into the house and headed for the kitchen.
"Buffy, please, ask questions later but we have to act now. Darry's alive but I don't know where she is and we have to find her." Amy said, the words pouring out of her mouth.
Buffy stood up, pushing her chair behind her. "What? Back up Amy." Buffy said.
Amy frowned. "What part of 'ask questions later' don't you understand? We have to find her, something bad could happen to her." Amy said.
"Darry's alive?" Dawn asked.
Buffy frowned as she realized what Amy was telling her. "You brought her back to life?" Buffy asked.
"Not me, but yes she is." Amy answered.
Willow turned to face the witch. "Rex, you didn't use Rex to bring her back did you?" Willow asked, she didn't bother to wait for Amy to answer. "How could you trust him, after all he did?" Willow snapped.
Amy turned. "I thought I was doing the right thing." Amy muttered.
"Okay, I thought we had all learned our lesson on bringing people back from the dead but there's nothing we can do about it now." Buffy said. "Let's go find her." She added.
Dawn stood up. "I'm going." She said, hoping that the tone of her voice didn't leave room for rebuff.
"Let's go." Buffy said. "All of us." She said, looking over at Amy with a glare. When no one moved, Buffy said, "Now!"
Everyone headed out the back door, all thinking different thoughts.
Darry stumbled along the roads of Sunnydale, squinting her eyes because of the streetlights. She held her bloody fingers up to her head and slightly covered her eyes, attempting to stop the head-ache that pounded in her temples.
She looked around, trying to get her bearings but she couldn't really tell where she was. She looked up at the sky and saw the sparkling stars and half-moon nestled in the blanket of darkness. Darry frowned as she looked back down, things were starting to get familiar. To her left was a shop labeled 'The Magic Box' which rang a bell in Darry's head.
She headed toward the store, squinting her eyes and trying to see if anyone was in the store. Darry didn't notice the vampire lurking in the shadows, scanning for potential victims. When the vampire saw the stumbling Darry, he knew he had found an easy meal.
Buffy scanned the graveyard feverishly, looking for any sign of life in such a dead place. However, there was no sign of Darry; Buffy wouldn't have believed Amy aside from the fact that it was clear that someone had dug themselves out of the ground. That someone happened to be Darry.
Buffy knew what it felt like to wake up in a coffin and have to dig your way out; however, Buffy had her slayer strength to aid her in the task, she couldn't believe that Darry had managed to free herself. But then again, Darry wasn't exactly your run-of the-mill girl, either.
Dawn kicked at the dirt around Darry's tombstone and then looked over at Buffy. "What will they do with her tombstone?" She asked, looking down at the rose-quartz stone.
Buffy shrugged. "That's the least of our problems, at the moment, Dawn. We need to find Darry." She said.
Willow looked around. "There's no way to tell which way she went." Willow muttered.
"Okay then, we split up. Dawn you come with me, but Amy and Willow you guys go separate ways." Buffy commanded.
Willow and Amy nodded and split up while Dawn and Buffy headed into the heart of Sunnydale.
Darry pounded with bloody hands on the door of the Magic Box, knowing that no one was inside but unable to keep herself from trying.
A growl sounded in the shadows behind her and Darry whirled around, coming face to face with a vampire in full face. Darry's eyes widened in surprise but she wasn't afraid, not really. However, she backed into the door of the Magic Box and tried to assume the fighters' stance that she had seen Buffy take so many times.
The vampire lunged at Darry and even though the girl tried to block his attack, he managed to secure his hands around her neck. Darry gasped for air and managed to shove the vampire backward, giving herself more room to move.
The vampire attempted to shove her to the left, away from the brick wall that was at the right of the Magic Box, at the same time Darry tried to shove him into the brick wall. The two turned a semi-circle, leaving the vampire backed against the glass door of the Magic Box. The vampire growled and swung Darry toward him, throwing her threw the glass door.
Both Darry and the vampire fell threw the broken glass door and onto the ground. Darry felt the little bits of glass bite into her skin but she ignored them as she pulled out of the vampire's hold.
She stood up, shaky at first, but then getting her footing; Darry looked around and remembered that Anya and Xander owned the Magic Box. There was bound to be a stake or some sort of weapon to fight her attacker.
The vampire shook his head and stood up, growling at Darry as he watched her through glowing eyes. The girl, his prey, was looking around for a weapon; perhaps she wasn't as helpless as he thought she was, at first.
Buffy and Dawn passed by another set of stores on Main Street without seeing sign of Darry. Buffy was beginning to get worried about Darry; people disappeared in Sunnydale all the time and it was a good thing.
Buffy looked around and saw the Magic Box; however, something was amiss, Buffy could tell at first glance. Looking closer, Buffy saw that the glass door had been shattered.
The vampire leapt at Darry as she attempted to open the glass on the front of the counter and take out one of the knives. Both Darry and the vampire flipped over the counter and landed on the floor behind it with a hard thud.
Darry felt her bones jar as she hit the ground, also hearing her teeth clank together in her jaw.
Blinking away tears, Darry stood up but was shoved down again by her vampiric attacker.
"Let her go!" A voice commanded, sounding from the front of the shop.
The vampire, who had Darry in another choke hold, looking up, turning his head to face the voice. He barely had chance to blink because a sharp stake protruded his chest and turned him to dust.
When the vampire 'died', Darry felt the air return to her lungs. She coughed and blinked her eyes, brushing dust off her.
She looked up to see a wide-eyed Buffy, clutching a stake and staring open-mouthed at her.
"You are alive." Buffy muttered, hardly giving the demter of a Slayer.
Darry looked around and then down at herself, her dirt covered self. "Looks like." She said.
As soon as Buffy and the others returned home, Buffy called Anya and Xander to tell them that Darry was alive. Then she told Darry that she should get a shower to clean herself off. Buffy couldn't help but grimace when she looked down at Darry's torn and bloody fingers.
Darry took a towel off the rack and ran it quickly through her wet hair. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought, 'same old Darry; same old alive Darry'. She wrapped the towel around her body, tying it together in a makeshift toga. She had forgotten to ask Buffy where her clothes were, if they were still in the house at all.
Darry felt a little self-conciess as she slowly went downstairs; however, she had to ask Buffy where her clothes were.
Buffy was in the kitchen, hanging up the phone. Buffy glanced up at Darry, giving her the once-over. "Right, clothes, sorry. Um, I think Oz went through all that stuff; he put it in a cardboard box that should be in you and Kellie's room." Buffy told her, without waiting for Darry to ask a question.
Darry smiled, wincing slightly at the mention of Oz's name; she didn't have to ask, Oz wasn't here and neither was Kellie.
Darry turned to leave but was stopped by Buffy's words. "Are you okay, I mean serouisly, are you feeling fine?" Buffy asked.
Darry turned around to face the Slayer. "Yeah. I mean, I'm not exactly twirling around on a mountain top, the wind in my hair, 'the hills are alive with the sound of music' fine but, yeah, I'm dealing. I'm alive and kicking; it takes more then that to keep me down." Darry answered.
Buffy gave her the once-over and then said, "I guess it does. Clothes." She pointed out with a smile.
Darry nodded sheepishly and then headed upstairs. Darry walked the familiar route to her room in the attic that she had shared with her cousin, almost as though it was a normal night. Almost as though she hadn't been dead for a month.
She entered the room and was surprised at how bare it was; the top of Kellie's dresser was so bare after having so many pictures stacking upon it. She looked over at her night table and was surprised to see her gold necklace laying atop it.
She barely remembered taking it from her father right before he killed her; she had wanted to give it back to Oz but...she wasn't able to. He must have found it anyway and brought it.
She walked over to the table and picked up the necklace. The clasp wasn't broken, like it had been when her father broke it; Oz, or someone, must have repaired it. She put the necklace on and bit her lip to keep the tears from coming. It worked.
She looked around for a cardboard box, Buffy had said her clothes were in. She saw the box by her bed; the cardboard flaps her folded together, pressed down.
She walked over to the box and dropped to her knees. She opened the flaps and sucked in a breath when she saw what was nestled among her clothes.
She reached into the box and picked the item up, hardly believing what it was; in her hands was the picture of her and Oz that Kellie had taken Christmas Eve night. Darry looked at the picture and had to admit that she looked a little silly covered in snow; however, she looked very happy, as did Oz.
Darry took a deep breath and held the picture to her chest, clutching it tightly. Then she pulled an outfit out of the box; a pare of sweat pants and a sweat shirt would have to do for the moment. As she put the outfit on, she couldn't help but
think about where Oz and Kellie might be at the moment
