In unison, we all turned to look at the orb. It was now hovering several
feet above the bed, and the glowing had increased significantly. The bed
started to shake.
Instinctively, I looked for Dawn. She was still in the bathroom. She was probably safer in there, but I went to get her anyway. I always felt like I could protect her from anything, as long as I could see her.
"Dawn!" I yelled, and pounded on the bathroom door. "Get out here. Emergency time."
She opened the door a crack. She was crying. I saw one blue eye, a strand of blond hair, and half her mouth. I snuck my arm through the opening, found her arm, and pulled. She came stumbling into the room.
"What's so important that you can't let me cry alone?" she asked, then looked over towards the bed. "Oh," she said. "OH."
The bed was shaking now. The orb was bright enough that it lit the entire room, and was it just my imagination, or was it getting bigger?
"My god, it's growing!" Giles exclaimed.
Nope, not just my imagination.
"This is fascinating!" Giles again.
"Um, I vote for creepy," said Dawn, walking closer to the bed.
"Don't get too close to it!" I yelled.
"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to. Not too keen on the whole being sucked into another world thing." Yet she was still inching forward as she spoke. I ran up to her and stopped her by putting my hand firmly on her shoulder.
"What the bloody hell is going on here, Buffy?" asked William.
"Do I look like I know? I didn't know what the orb did before it went all supernova, and I still don't know. But I'm betting it's not going to be something happy. I wish I had weapons. I don't suppose either of you has an axe handy? An axe would be a good thing to have about now." I looked frantically around the room for any kind of weapon.
"What, are you gonna smash the bad orb to smithereens?" William sounded so much like Spike then that I almost didn't want to look at him.
"If that works, I will. But more, I was thinking that something might come out of that portal." I pointed. Where the orb had been, there was now a small, dark portal. It shimmered and pulsed.
"What the fuck is that?" Dawn swore.
"It's a portal," I told them. "It's a door to some other dimension. It may be a portal to "It's a portal," I told them. "It's a door to some other dimension. It may be a portal to my dimension, actually."
"Are you going to jump in there and go away?" Dawn was again crying, but the tears were falling silently.
"No. Not until I know what's in there, anyway." But as I spoke, it became apparent that I wasn't going to get a chance to go in. Something else was coming out.
"Everyone get back!" I said in my "Slayer Knows Best" voice. They didn't listen, but stood there, staring, as a black hand, covered in scales and pointed claws reached out of the now-widening portal.
Dawn screamed. William gasped.
"Get back, I said!" This time they listened.
"What the bloody hell is that thing?" asked Giles. He, William and Dawn had gone behind the other bed. They were crouched down, with their heads looking over the covers. If I had had the time to be amused, I would have been.
"Demon. I don't know what kind. I'd need to look it up in some musty book that doesn't exist here. I'm just gonna call it ugly and leave it at that."
By now the thing had an entire arm, and part of its head sticking out of the portal. I still didn't have a good weapon. Improvising, I ran to the bathroom, and gave the bar where the shower curtain hung a good yank. Plaster fell from the wall, but it didn't dislodge completely. I pulled harder, tearing the thing out of the wall.
"This better work," I mumbled at the mirror, and dashed back out again.
"Oh my god," said Dawn as she saw me come out of the bathroom. "You totally just ruined our room. They're gonna charge us for that!"
"They'll charge us more if Ugly there gets out and goes on a rampage." I nodded towards the demon, which was now halfway between worlds. Thank god the thing was a slow mover. Maybe portal jumping made him dizzy.
I thrust the pole towards its emerging midsection. Ugly was harder than he looked, and didn't affect the thing.
"Do you need any help?" called William.
A clawed hand made a swipe at my head, and I ducked, running to the other side of the room.
"I need an axe!" I answered. "I don't need any of you to get killed. So stay there!"
"I'm not moving!" yelled Dawn, helpfully.
Ugly was out of the portal now. He was about eight feet tall, purplish- black, and dripping with some kind of ooze.
"That's gonna stain the carpet," I said.
The demon looked at me, or turned my way. I couldn't tell if it was looking at me or not, because it didn't have any eyes. Instead, it had a black, gaping hole where its eyes should have been. As I stared at it, I felt myself start to lose control of my body. The shower rod slipped from my hand, and bounced on the carpet.
"Buffy!" screamed Dawn, "What's happening?"
I opened my mouth to answer her. Tried to open my mouth. It wouldn't move. I was paralyzed, and Ugly was coming at me, claws raised. I guess he'd taken offense at my poking him in the tummy.
"Someone has to help her!" Dawn's voice was moving rapidly from scream to shriek. "Do something!"
William moved, then. He hopped onto the bed, pulled the nearest lamp from the wall, and hurled it at the demon. The lamp glanced off its head, and didn't harm it in the least, but it was enough of a distraction to get the eye thing unfocused. As soon as it was off me, I could move again.
"Don't look at it!" I told William. "It's hypnotic."
Too late. He was frozen in his place on the bed; eyes glazed and fixed on the demon. It swung at him before I could stop it, and bright red gashes appeared on his shoulder, through torn bits of shirt.
"Oh, shit." I muttered.
I picked up the shower rod again.
"Hey! Over here! Demon guy! I'm the one you want to put to sleep, not him. Come fight me."
It turned, and I closed my eyes. Blindly, I thrust the shower rod, hoping I'd make contact. I felt something squish, and then I was thrown back against the wall. I hit hard, and slid down. I opened my eyes, looking to see what I'd hit.
Ugly was stumbling, the metal bar poking out of its hole-for-eye. The shower rod was all melty, and the demon was starting to get melty, too. It shook and gasped, then collapsed on the bed that didn't hold William.
A quick look told me that Giles was helping William to the bathroom. He had that under control, so I went over to the fallen body of Ugly.
"Are you gonna touch that?" asked Dawn, disgust readily apparent in her voice.
"I was planning on it. I have to make sure it's dead."
"Gross. I'm glad I'm not a vampire slayer. Does this happen a lot when you're around?"
"Pretty much. I think by now I've put the drycleaner's kid through college." I looked down at my shirt, which was covered in rapidly drying purple ooze. "I hate to see what the bed looks like."
Dawn was walking closer to the bed and the demon corpse. "Smells bad, too."
"Yeah, maybe we should open a few windows, air the place out –" I was cut off by a loud noise.
I looked over, and saw the bed shaking. Dawn jumped back. "Is it still alive? It looked way dead."
"I don't think it's alive."
The shaking continued, and sped up. The bed flew up into the air, and started spinning around. Giles came out of the bathroom. "What the…" he said, trailing off.
There was a flash of light, and then it was all gone. No demon, no bed, no orb.
"I guess we don't have to worry about cleaning off the bed anymore," said Dawn.
* * *
Instinctively, I looked for Dawn. She was still in the bathroom. She was probably safer in there, but I went to get her anyway. I always felt like I could protect her from anything, as long as I could see her.
"Dawn!" I yelled, and pounded on the bathroom door. "Get out here. Emergency time."
She opened the door a crack. She was crying. I saw one blue eye, a strand of blond hair, and half her mouth. I snuck my arm through the opening, found her arm, and pulled. She came stumbling into the room.
"What's so important that you can't let me cry alone?" she asked, then looked over towards the bed. "Oh," she said. "OH."
The bed was shaking now. The orb was bright enough that it lit the entire room, and was it just my imagination, or was it getting bigger?
"My god, it's growing!" Giles exclaimed.
Nope, not just my imagination.
"This is fascinating!" Giles again.
"Um, I vote for creepy," said Dawn, walking closer to the bed.
"Don't get too close to it!" I yelled.
"Yeah, I don't think I'm going to. Not too keen on the whole being sucked into another world thing." Yet she was still inching forward as she spoke. I ran up to her and stopped her by putting my hand firmly on her shoulder.
"What the bloody hell is going on here, Buffy?" asked William.
"Do I look like I know? I didn't know what the orb did before it went all supernova, and I still don't know. But I'm betting it's not going to be something happy. I wish I had weapons. I don't suppose either of you has an axe handy? An axe would be a good thing to have about now." I looked frantically around the room for any kind of weapon.
"What, are you gonna smash the bad orb to smithereens?" William sounded so much like Spike then that I almost didn't want to look at him.
"If that works, I will. But more, I was thinking that something might come out of that portal." I pointed. Where the orb had been, there was now a small, dark portal. It shimmered and pulsed.
"What the fuck is that?" Dawn swore.
"It's a portal," I told them. "It's a door to some other dimension. It may be a portal to "It's a portal," I told them. "It's a door to some other dimension. It may be a portal to my dimension, actually."
"Are you going to jump in there and go away?" Dawn was again crying, but the tears were falling silently.
"No. Not until I know what's in there, anyway." But as I spoke, it became apparent that I wasn't going to get a chance to go in. Something else was coming out.
"Everyone get back!" I said in my "Slayer Knows Best" voice. They didn't listen, but stood there, staring, as a black hand, covered in scales and pointed claws reached out of the now-widening portal.
Dawn screamed. William gasped.
"Get back, I said!" This time they listened.
"What the bloody hell is that thing?" asked Giles. He, William and Dawn had gone behind the other bed. They were crouched down, with their heads looking over the covers. If I had had the time to be amused, I would have been.
"Demon. I don't know what kind. I'd need to look it up in some musty book that doesn't exist here. I'm just gonna call it ugly and leave it at that."
By now the thing had an entire arm, and part of its head sticking out of the portal. I still didn't have a good weapon. Improvising, I ran to the bathroom, and gave the bar where the shower curtain hung a good yank. Plaster fell from the wall, but it didn't dislodge completely. I pulled harder, tearing the thing out of the wall.
"This better work," I mumbled at the mirror, and dashed back out again.
"Oh my god," said Dawn as she saw me come out of the bathroom. "You totally just ruined our room. They're gonna charge us for that!"
"They'll charge us more if Ugly there gets out and goes on a rampage." I nodded towards the demon, which was now halfway between worlds. Thank god the thing was a slow mover. Maybe portal jumping made him dizzy.
I thrust the pole towards its emerging midsection. Ugly was harder than he looked, and didn't affect the thing.
"Do you need any help?" called William.
A clawed hand made a swipe at my head, and I ducked, running to the other side of the room.
"I need an axe!" I answered. "I don't need any of you to get killed. So stay there!"
"I'm not moving!" yelled Dawn, helpfully.
Ugly was out of the portal now. He was about eight feet tall, purplish- black, and dripping with some kind of ooze.
"That's gonna stain the carpet," I said.
The demon looked at me, or turned my way. I couldn't tell if it was looking at me or not, because it didn't have any eyes. Instead, it had a black, gaping hole where its eyes should have been. As I stared at it, I felt myself start to lose control of my body. The shower rod slipped from my hand, and bounced on the carpet.
"Buffy!" screamed Dawn, "What's happening?"
I opened my mouth to answer her. Tried to open my mouth. It wouldn't move. I was paralyzed, and Ugly was coming at me, claws raised. I guess he'd taken offense at my poking him in the tummy.
"Someone has to help her!" Dawn's voice was moving rapidly from scream to shriek. "Do something!"
William moved, then. He hopped onto the bed, pulled the nearest lamp from the wall, and hurled it at the demon. The lamp glanced off its head, and didn't harm it in the least, but it was enough of a distraction to get the eye thing unfocused. As soon as it was off me, I could move again.
"Don't look at it!" I told William. "It's hypnotic."
Too late. He was frozen in his place on the bed; eyes glazed and fixed on the demon. It swung at him before I could stop it, and bright red gashes appeared on his shoulder, through torn bits of shirt.
"Oh, shit." I muttered.
I picked up the shower rod again.
"Hey! Over here! Demon guy! I'm the one you want to put to sleep, not him. Come fight me."
It turned, and I closed my eyes. Blindly, I thrust the shower rod, hoping I'd make contact. I felt something squish, and then I was thrown back against the wall. I hit hard, and slid down. I opened my eyes, looking to see what I'd hit.
Ugly was stumbling, the metal bar poking out of its hole-for-eye. The shower rod was all melty, and the demon was starting to get melty, too. It shook and gasped, then collapsed on the bed that didn't hold William.
A quick look told me that Giles was helping William to the bathroom. He had that under control, so I went over to the fallen body of Ugly.
"Are you gonna touch that?" asked Dawn, disgust readily apparent in her voice.
"I was planning on it. I have to make sure it's dead."
"Gross. I'm glad I'm not a vampire slayer. Does this happen a lot when you're around?"
"Pretty much. I think by now I've put the drycleaner's kid through college." I looked down at my shirt, which was covered in rapidly drying purple ooze. "I hate to see what the bed looks like."
Dawn was walking closer to the bed and the demon corpse. "Smells bad, too."
"Yeah, maybe we should open a few windows, air the place out –" I was cut off by a loud noise.
I looked over, and saw the bed shaking. Dawn jumped back. "Is it still alive? It looked way dead."
"I don't think it's alive."
The shaking continued, and sped up. The bed flew up into the air, and started spinning around. Giles came out of the bathroom. "What the…" he said, trailing off.
There was a flash of light, and then it was all gone. No demon, no bed, no orb.
"I guess we don't have to worry about cleaning off the bed anymore," said Dawn.
* * *