Author's Note: Hey y'all. Feels like I'm getting pretty close to the end, doesn't it? Well, think again buster. There should be at least four more chapters before this tale of discord and mayhem is all said and done.

A/N 2.0: In the second and third part of the chapter, there may be a bit of name confusion. Cordelia becomes Drusilla and vice versa. . . you'll know when you get there.

A/N 3.0: Sorry it took so long for another update. I was on a band trip and just didn't have enough time to post. Now here it is for your reading enjoyment.

********

The floor was cold, the tower was cold, the park was cold, the world outside her was cold, those demons that are coming are cold, her skin was cold (which couldn't be helped), the doll between her hands was cold. Everything was dreadfully freezing and she didn't like it one bit.

The tips of her nails were caked with her own flesh and blood. Because she was so cold and trapped and frightened and the pixies' voices she so often heard in her head were getting louder and echoing off the stone walls that she began ripping the skin right off the bone in a fit of frenzy. She was going stir crazy. Funny thing, that. She was *already* crazy.

She hated being caged like those pretty animals at the zoo. She'd always like the tigers. They way they paced back and forth and back and forth and. . . it had always hypnotized her the way she had the ability to over her victims. Those tigers at the zoo hummed with power, dripped with majesty. But she never wanted to be them. The locked-up ones, anyway. She couldn't imagine what it was like having so much energy and life and color just to be locked away by those naughty zookeepers. To be gawked at by voyeurs who don't understand you. More than once, Spike had to stop her from leaping over that velvet rope and setting those tigers free. As much as he would have enjoyed the chaos and havoc a loose tiger would bring by its freedom alone, he didn't want to see his sweetheart mauled if one of those tigers decided that she would make a tasty meal.

Right now, she neither a free tiger nor the ones at the zoo. She felt like a rat who had lost its mind and was about ready to bite off one of its arms in order to get free.

But she couldn't leave. No. . . this place was a safe haven, if there was one to be found here. If she even stepped outside the confines of the castle, they would know she was trying to interfere and have her killed.

Then she couldn't save Little Brother.

Those nasty demons who were going to end the world in two days didn't understand the importance of Little Brother. All they cared about was their silly Sacred Demise. In order to ensure the future of Little Brother she had to make sure that he was protected. Even if that meant helping the Slayer.

A ghost of a smile appeared on her lips. She lifted her chin from her chest and looked up at the gleaming sight on the wall in front of her. For several minutes, she focused her view on the glass, eyes never blinking or wandering. Just. . . looking.

They were so close to figuring it out. Especially her Spike. A clever one he always was. They just needed to figure out one more thing. . .

She gently closed the lids of her eyes and let her mind wander. She felt like she was floating in the sky, dancing on the edges of the sun-deprived clouds, hovering over the vast city of tall buildings and honking cars until. . .

There! She mentally swan dived toward the building she had been searching for and, without any barrier of concrete or stone at all, ended up in the lobby, seemingly unnoticed. She was looking for the one that would help her communicate with all the rest. She took a good, hard look around for the pretty girl. At the desk, there was the cunning ex-Watcher that Daddy works for. To his left stood the dark-haired Slayer, the roguish one and to his right stood the small, mousy brunette. Sitting at the TV was the silly singing chartreuse-colored demon and the shining, green-glowing kid sister of the other Slayer. Daddy, the bad Slayer, the other Watcher and her darling boy weren't there. Neither were those lovely witches.

The bald boy was sitting at the foot of the couch, reading the comics section of the newspaper. Then she saw who she was looking for. Laying on the couch, eyes shut, mind off in her own little dream world. Unconsciousness is key when it comes to switching minds, you know.

She looked so peaceful, so serene. Her arms were folded across her light blue, tank top clad upper body in a "Somebody please for the love of God get me a blanket" fashion. She was resting comfortably on her side. Her head was resting on one of the pillows on the couch and had her mouth open like a fish, drooling. Apparently no one was brave enough to wake her up and point this fact out to her.

The tranference didn't take long. She was sure the Cheerleader didn't feel a thing as the minds were switched.

The final stage in Drusilla's plan was complete.

********

"How's the plan coming along, Wes?" Faith said as she looked over his shoulder.

"It's flawless," he replied. Both girls surrounding him responded to the reply with a questioning look. "Well, it's flawless in the sense that many things could go wrong."

"Uh-huh," Fred remarked. "That's what I thought."

"I'd like to see you come up with something better. Or anything at all for that matter. At this point, this is all we got so we're going to go with it."

Gunn, who was sitting on the end of the couch that Cordelia was sleeping on, suddenly looked up from his paper. "Ya ever get the feeling you're being watched?" he mumbled as he gazed at the ceiling of the lobby.

"All the time, boyo," Lorne replied sarcastically. His attention had never wandered away from the screen he and Dawn were watching. "Damn you're good, kid."

"You got that right," she said, still fixated on the TV. "Ha ha! Nobody messes with Dawn Summers, Queen of 'Dr. Mario!'"

"Those viruses never stood a chance," the green demon said with a tinge of sympathy in his voice.

Gunn took another survey of the room. "Where is everybody? Did they all just vamoose after the beacon thing?"

Wesley broke in. "Angel, Spike, Buffy and Giles went out to get more books at the rare book shop."

"I understand why the librarian went. But why'd Buffy and the two vamps go with?" Faith interrupted.

"Spike and Angel were complaining of hunger pangs and they were going to stop off and get some blood on the way back."

Faith further pursued. "And Buffy?"

"Didn't want Spike killing Angel or Angel killing Spike." Wesley looked up from his book. "Though I don't know why she would want to prevent the second from coming to pass. The former, yes. The latter. . ."

"What about those two witches? Where'd they wander off to?" Gunn continued.

"No. . . Leave me alone. . . Get your animatronic hands off. . ." Cordelia stirred awake.

"Morning sleepyhead," Lorne said in a motherly tone.

"Whoa. . . I've got a major head rush." Cordelia looked down at the pillow she had been resting her head on and noticed the trail of drool. "Why didn't anybody tell me I drooled in my sleep?"

No answer. She then stood up from the couch and nearly lost her balance. The dizziness was threatening to consume her wholly.

"What is it, Cord?" Gunn asked when she had to lean against the couch arms to maintain equilibrium. "Is it a vision?"

Cordelia shook her head. "It's not the mind-blowing, 'Good God my head's about to burst' type of deal. That would be more like this." She impersonated herself having a vision but didn't fall to the floor. "I think I got up too fast."

"Happens to the best of us," Faith interjected.

Fred had to put in her thoughts. "Slayers get head rushes? Wouldn't they be like super head rushes 'cause of your super strength?" Faith didn't reply. "I'll be quiet now."

"Is it hot in here or is it just me?" Cordelia wondered aloud. She wiped the sweat beads that were beginning to form on her head.

"You're smoldering, Dollface," the green demon quickly responded. "You light up the room."

Cordelia wiped away more sweat. "No. . . I'm serious. It's as hot as hell in here and. . ." The brunette suddenly grew very, very quiet. Too quiet for Cordelia. This worried Wesley greatly.

"Cordelia. . . Cordelia, what is it? Are you okay?"

A wily grin creapt onto her face. "I've never been better, lovely Watcher."

Gunn screamed like a girl (which he would later defend) and fell off the back of the couch. Dawn made a choking sound while Faith, Fred and Lorne stared at Cordelia in horror. Wesley dropped the papers he had been holding in his hands.

"P- Par- Par-. . . What?! Cordelia, what's gotten into you?"

"Yeah seriously, girl!" Gunn cried out from his spot behind the couch. "You're wiggin' out on us!"

The now possessed-by-a-lunatic-vampire Cordelia answered the cries and the stares by dancing around the room like a ballerina on stage. A twirl here, a pirouette there and a pretty little hum to go with it all.

"Are you okay, Cordelia?" Wesley asked. "You're not. . ."

". . . yourself." Fred finished when Wesley couldn't. Wesley didn't have the heart to tell Fred that was not what he was about to say.

Cordelia abruptly halted dancing, covered her mouth with her hands and let out a child-like giggle. "Of course I'm not myself."

Lorne nodded. "Because we were all supposed to know that, right?"

She glided across the floor in Lorne's direction and tilted her head to one side. "This one sees life in song," Cordelia murmured, fingers playing the air like a harp.

"That I do, babycakes, that I do," the demon replied. "But why are ya talking all funny? This isn't like you." A thought came to him. "Hold on a sec, Cord, sing me a few verses of 'Danny Boy.'"

The other spectators gave Lorne confused glares.

"I don't think she even *knows* Danny Boy," Wesley mentioned. The demon held up his hand as the girl complied.

Once she was finished, a look came across Lorne's face as though he'd been hit by a truck.

"Sweet Jesus on a tricycle. . ." he croaked.

Gunn stood up. "What is it, greenie? What's gotten into Cordy?"

"At least I can still hit people when they piss me off!"

"I thought you were too busy being guilt-ridden to hit people."

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?!" Buffy hollered as the four entered the hotel. "I can't stand your bickering and arguing anymore!"

"But Buffy. . ."

"Don't 'But Buffy' me!" the Slayer screamed as she pointed a pointed stake Angel's way. Her fury and the stake went Spike's way. "And YOU! This little catfight is all your fault! You two are starting to sound like a pair of old ladies!"

"Oh, he's just bitter I drank all his O positive," Spike defended.

"You're damn right I'm bitter! That was MY blood!"

Buffy threw up her arms. "There you go again. Sometimes I think you *like* to get into meaningless fights."

Giles walked in with a bookbag in one hand and his forehead resting in the other. "For those of you keeping score at home, they've been fighting like this ever since we left."

"First it was the 'Hey Angel, would you like some hair with that gel?' comment, then the 'I swear you would make a perfect gay man' comment and now this!" Buffy sighed an angry sigh. "Do you two *ever* stop fighting?"

The two vampires looked at each other, then back at Buffy. "No," they said in unison.

"Been like this since 1880, love. It'll never stop."

"Hey, wait a minute!" Angel exclaimed. "I almost forgot about the 'gay man' comment!"

"No!" Buffy interrupted. "Don't start this again!"

Meanwhile, Drusilla had been eyeing Dawn like a child eyes a candy store. "So pretty. . ."

"Uh, Cordy?" Dawn asked and for the first time took her attention away from the video game. "You okay? You don't look yourself."

"She shines. All green with pretty lights floating all around her," Drusilla mumbled. She reached her hands out to touch Dawn as if she was a strange object that fascinated her. "Can I play with it?"

"That's it!" Dawn put the game on pause and stood up. "She's lost her mind! Only whackos can see the shiny in me."

"Whackos. . .?" Spike repeated. "Cor. . . You don't think. . ?"

"Think what?" Buffy inquired.

Spike stepped down from the foyer and stood right up next to the fluttering girl without a word of response to Buffy's question. "Dru? Is that you?"

********

The first thought that entered Cordelia's mind was "OhGodOwItHurtsWhatTheHellHappened?" She sat there, curled up in a forward-leaning ball with her eyes squeezed tight not only from the massive pain in her head but from a little bit of fear as well.

'Okay, Cordy,' she told herself, 'Don't be afraid. Fear leads to hate, hate leads tos. . . Dammit Gunn! Now he's got "Star Wars" mantras stuck in my head. Calm down, girl, calm down. Yelling at Gunn is going to get you nowhere. . . this time anyway. First things first, open your eyes.'

Her body abided by the mind's command and lifted open one eye followed by the other to find. . . a stone wall. 'Well, that's just hunky-dory. Of all the things to see and of all the clues to be given, I get the stone wall. That about narrows it down to. . . every place in the world that has a wall.'

A gleaming of light above the section of wall caught her eye. It was glass and it contained something. Okay, there was some progress. With every amount of strength left in her body (which felt really cold by the way) she hoisted herself onto her knees and then to her feet.

'Strange,' Cordelia thought, 'Normally after doing something fast like that I get a head rush like Niagara Falls.' She shrugged and leaned in to look at the diorama encased in the glass. The scene before her she recognized immediately as Sleeping Beauty's death scene.

Cordelia also noticed something a bit off, but couldn't quite put her finger ('Blood?! Oh, that's gross') on it. In any case, now she knew where she was.

'Second things second, Cord. How did you get here?' After a moments pondering, 'Easy enough. And hell will freeze over and Angel will learn to appreciate the sun more. Great.'

She carefully inspected her arms and noticed the many gashes and slices and cuts in her skin. Cordelia tried to remember what exactly had happened. She had been taking a nap, woke up from the nightmare of being attacked alive by those little dolls from "It's A Small World," began to feel really, really dizzy and then blacked out. If she had to put into words the feeling she had experienced moments after her blackout, she would tell you that it felt like someone took a Bissel vacuum and pulled her mind right out of her body.

'Was I drugged, kidnapped, dragged out of the hotel and thrown in here? Why didn't the others try and save me? What if they're hurt? Was I magically transported here by some freaky shaman who has an obsession with cartoon death scenes? WHY ME?' Cordelia took a deep breath and found it quite unnecessary.

Her gaze caught the glass once more. Where was she? She strained her eyes and availed no reflection of Cordelia and her ragged state. She waved her hand in front of her to try and catch any kind of movement. Again, nothing.

A dim light appeared up the stairs a little ways away and Cordelia decided to investigate her surroundings a bit. As she took her first step she tripped on a porcelain doll with curly blonde hair and decked out in a chardonnay-colored dress, but paid no mind to it.

Cordelia passed by another glass cased diorama and checked for her reflection once more. No Cordelia. That still bothered her. Cordelia remembered when she was little and her parents would take her into the castle, she would press her face up to the glass and fog it up. She always remembered staring at the miniature scene in front of her and seeing her tiny eyes peer back at her. She knew for a fact that these things cast a reflection and at this present moment there wasn't one.

Before Cordelia reached the top step of the stairs, it hit her. She. Was. A. Vampire. The non-reflection, the peculiar craving for blood, it all made sense.

And she was not just any vampire. She was Drusilla. Angel's good-girl-gone-insane childe and the one who made the really annoying blonde guy.

How did the ex-cheerleader know this? She wasn't brainless, after all. Only a crazy person would tear the skin off her own arms and cradle themselves in a ball in front of a cartoon death scene. 'Besides, didn't Angel mention something about her being in Aurora's tower? Yeah, that's right. He did. But wait a sec. . . If I'm here. . .' Her eyes widened in shock. 'Then she's there! In me!' Cordelia cradled herself with her torn arms. 'There's a vampire inside my body. . .' The thought sent shivers down her spine.

But what the hell did Drusilla want with her anyway? Would she try and use her to attack Angel right at his home base? Maybe she wanted to do things to Spike. . . "AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Her own will power couldn't stop the scream from escaping. She knew that bleached nightmare was a creep but she knew no matter what his sire said to him, he wouldn't do *that* to Cordelia's body. Hopefully.

After taking a few unneeded deep breaths to calm herself down, she went further up the stairs towards the open window. Her abnormally good vampiric hearing caught voices that drifted in through the window crack.

"What in the name of Ch'Nalin was that?" a gruff voice inquired.

Another similar sounding voice arose. "Oh, don't mind that. It's only that crazy hybrid we got locked up in the tower. She does that from time to time. Completely out of her mind." The voice got louder as the two demons got closer. "She's been up there since we locked her in there. Crazy bitch thought she could actually stop us from getting the child. Kept howling something about 'Little Brother,' whoever the hell that is."

The first demon spoke again. "A psycho, eh? But who ever heard of a vampire trying to stop the Apocalypse?"

"I don't know," the other demon replied. "But she's a complete nut job if she thinks she can prevent the Sacred Demise and the rising of our Lord Ch'Nalin." Both gruff voices erupted into laughter and disappeared off into the distance.

Cordelia's heart suddenly felt as if it weren't beating. Then she remembered she was in the body of a vampire that didn't even have a beating heart. With an irritated sigh, she leaned against the wall and slid down right to the floor.

She spoke for the first time with Drusilla's vocal chords. The voice that came out startled her. "Check me out. . . I'm Cordelia Chase: the 142 year old crazy vampire."