Part 9
#
"So the spell is completely broken?" Giles looked at Buffy and Angel, while Faith was lounging on his couch, flipping through the channels on his ancient TV. The night was finally over and all of them were very much exhausted.
"It seems that way," Angel said, one hand resting on Buffy's shoulder. "We finished off a few more vampires and demons, but thankfully most of them seem to have called it a night. As far as I could see they were all in human faces again."
"Good, good," Giles muttered, looking over the books spread out across his couch table and desk. Cordelia had gone home the moment the danger seemed past, saying something about needing her beauty sleep. Oz, no longer furry, had gone looking for Willow.
"Hopefully with their cover back in place they will refrain from another full-fledged assault like the one last night."
"We still don't know why the spell broke," Buffy reminded him. "Amy certainly did not do it and I doubt it suddenly ended all by itself."
"Unlikely," Giles agreed. "Plus there is the fact that most people seem to have forgotten the events of last night, which I think is more than this town's usual happy ignorance at work."
"Why do we remember?" Buffy cocked her head at him. "I mean, I get that those of us who turned into monsters might remember, but how come the more human among us didn't forget anything?"
Giles rubbed his eyes. "I think we were all subjected to a mild form of mass hypnosis. It worked on most people because they wanted to forget last night. I can't really blame them."
"So we remember because we want to?" Faith looked at him.
"It's a possibility," Giles sighed, sitting down. "We also have, all of us, first-hand knowledge of the fact that a spell has been cast in the first place, not to mention that we know that monsters are abound in Sunnydale. It would take a very, very powerful hypnotic spell to erase all that. No, I think whoever did this was as surprised as we were and doing his or her best to fix things quickly."
"Any theories on who that mysterious he or she is?"
Giles shook his head. "Considering that this is Sunnydale there might be a very large number of possible suspects. Maybe some witch or warlock managed to break the spell in order to end the carnage."
"Or someone broke it because it did not suit his purposes for all the monsters to be unveiled," Angel offered.
"There's that possibility, too, yes."
Buffy sighed, dropping down on the couch beside Faith, looking spent.
"Xander should really pray that I won't get my hands on him anytime soon." Buffy shook her head. "I don't know what he is going on inside that dense head of his these days."
Giles held back from speaking the first thing that sprang to mind, namely that the boy was not doing much with his head at all these days. In the past he had admired Xander for his fierce loyalty to the Slayer, as well as his talent to lighten even the most grim situation. These days, though, the only thing he could think of was how much Xander had hurt Buffy through that single lie four months ago, as well as his actions after her return from hell. How much he resented the boy for that.
"We need to deal with Xander, that much is true. He did something incredibly stupid tonight and I'm afraid it has gone beyond the point where we can just let it slide and hope he comes to his senses."
"Willow wanted to talk to him first," Angel said.
"Didn't she try that before?"
"Let's hope she has a little more luck this time."
"For his sake," Buffy added grimly, clenching her fist.
#
The sun was just rising outside, but Xander barely noticed. It had been a long night without rest and though he was beyond tired he could not get himself to sleep, not after everything that had happened. So he sat on his bed and stared straight ahead, not seeing the ugly wallpaper in front of him. He only saw the faces of the people who had once been his friends.
All of them had been changed. Even Willow. He had seen her eyes, looking almost like Amy's, had seen the sparks around her hands. His best friend since childhood was turning into a witch. Somehow that had not seemed so scary a prospect before he had seen her like that.
It was not really the issue, though, that much he had to admit. After all, it had not been the people looking like monsters who had tried to kill Amy and that boy last night.
Only the others. The ones that looked perfectly human.
He only noticed that someone else had come into the room when said someone stepped into his line of sight. Willow's eyes met his when he looked up.
"Are you happy now?"
The question confused him for a moment, left him unable to answer.
"You almost got a lot people killed last night," Willow continued, her mouth set in a harsh line that made her resolve face look downright harmless and friendly. "Scratch that, some people did get killed for real because of the spell you made Amy do. Was it worth it?"
"I ...," he began, but could not find the words.
"What?" Willow walked closer to him. "Speak up! What did you hope to get out of that?"
"I ... I just wanted ... the spell should only have hit Angel, not the rest of you. I just wanted ... wanted you to see."
Willow looked at him for a long moment, then laughed bitterly.
"See? See what? That Angel carries a monster inside of him? Boy, that really was big news to all of us."
"You don't see!" Xander surged to his feet, pacing the room. "You only see that handsome human face he puts up. Sure, he slips into demon mode when he fights, but that's all. Once that's over he's all nice and human again and none of you see."
"See what, Xander?" Willow gave him a sad look. "That he is the man who ruined your life by the simple fact that he made Buffy fall in love with him instead of you?"
"This is not about ...," he began.
"It's never been about anything else," Willow interjected. "God, Xander! We went through this very talk just a few weeks ago, remember? I thought you learned something. Angel's carrying a demon inside of him has never been your issue, only your excuse. You seem to think that all our lives would have been just wonderful if he'd never been here, but guess what? Most of us would be dead if not for him. Buffy certainly would. He saved all our lives at one point or another with total disregard for his own safety."
"He turned her into a monster, Willow!" Xander clenched his fists, trying to stop the tears from running down his cheeks. "He made her ..."
"Still nothing new," Willow interrupted again. "He did what he had to do to keep her alive. Yes, Buffy has changed. Thirty years of hell will do that to a person. Yet you don't care about any of that, do you? Have you managed to forget your lying to her yet? Or is that the next step on your self- delusion program?"
"I'm sorry for that," he whispered.
"You're only sorry that things did not work out the way you wanted them to. You're sorry that she did not kill Angel that day. Or sent him to Hell without her by his side. Or at least failed to figure out that you lied to her."
Xander did not know what to say, so he just rested his forehead against the ugly wallpaper and prayed that all this would just go away. Willow looked at him, a tiny part of her still wanting to make him feel better, but her resolve was stronger than that.
"What did you achieve with all this, Xander? You lost all your friends, your girlfriend, and if you have even an ounce of self-respect left by now it's one heck of a miracle. Was it all worth it?"
A moment later he heard her leave, the door clicking shut behind her.
"Was it all worth it?" The question seemed to echo inside his skull, bounce back and forth until he wanted to press his hands to his ears. He had not wanted things to happen this way. Things should have been different. Better.
And who was to blame for the fact that they were not? Try as he might, Xander could only come up with one answer that would not immediately shatter under Willow's echoing words.
#
"Are you all right?" Oz was waiting for Willow outside Xander's home, seeing the sad look on her face.
"No, I'm not," she mumbled, walking into his embrace. "I don't even recognize him anymore. God, Oz, he was my best friend for so long and now ..."
He soothed her, stroking her hair as they walked away. Oz had never been a man of many words and that was not about to change, but his outward silence did not spread to his thoughts. He tried to figure out what was going on with Xander, if for no other reason than it was hurting Willow.
Oz knew all about bitterness, about being angry because of things beyond your control. When he had first learned about the wolf he had seethed with anger, though no one would have known looking at him. If anything he had gotten even more stoic and reserved after that, afraid of the beast that slumbered inside him.
Xander was not the type to hide things behind a stoic façade. He was the kind to lash out at the things he perceived as the cause of the bad things in his life. Somehow Angel had gotten himself elected as Xander's scapegoat and now the boy was incapable of seeing past that. As long as that was the case all his attempts to make things better would have the exact opposite effect because he was fighting against the wrong opponent.
Xander was his own worst enemy and before he did not realize that nothing would change. The sad thing was that Oz had no idea how to make him realize that. So he said nothing, just held his girlfriend. Then he thought of something else.
"Would you mind a complete change of topic?" Willow looked up at him, curious.
"What?"
"Amy's spell. Somehow it unleashed the wolf, but I was in control."
Willow smiled, understanding. "You think we might find a way to make that permanent?"
Just a few words, Oz mused, and they understood each other. Maybe he could not help Xander fight against his enemy, but maybe Xander had unintentionally given Oz a chance to successfully fight his own battle.
#
Part 10
#
It was just past noon when the door to the mayor's office opened, a man in a sharp-cut blue suit entering and giving a disapproving glance to the open blinds. Richard Wilkins looked at the man, then at the windows, nodding in understanding.
"I am sorry, how thoughtless of me. Allan, would you be so kind?"
The deputy mayor gave the newcomer a nervous glance, then quickly proceeded to close the blinds and plunge the room into twilight.
"Thank you!" The man proceeded into the office, closing the door behind him, sitting down in the chair facing the mayor's desk.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," the mayor smiled at his visitor. "I realize that this is not the best time of day for you, but the matter at hand is rather delicate and urgent."
"I'm a very delicate person." Finely manicured hands folded as the vampire leaned back in his chair.
"Good to hear it," Wilkins smiled at him. "Would you care for a refreshment?"
"Certainly."
"Allan, your neck please!" The deputy mayor froze for a moment, his eyes widening with dread. Wilkins sighed. "A joke, Allan. Could you please get our guest a drink from my special bottle?"
"Ah, of course, sir."
Wilkins shook his head, facing his visitor again. "I am sorry. I fear Allan is still getting used to some of the more extraordinary activities around this office. Plus he has very little sense of humor."
Allan quickly returned and handed the vampire a wine glass filled with thick red liquid.
"Thank you!" Mr. Trick took an appreciative sip.
"To the matter at hand, then," Wilkins said, crossing his legs. "I have a little loose end to tie up. Loose ends are not good. They tend to come back to haunt you long after you have forgotten them. I am a great believer in thoroughness, Mr. Trick."
"I heard about the troubles you had last night." Trick took a piece of paper from his black leather suitcase, reading. "Something about all the vampires losing their ability to appear human?"
"You are up to date? That is good. Yes, that was unfortunate business last night. I am sure you understand, Mr. Trick, that something like this can seriously hamper the smooth running of a town."
"I can imagine."
"I would tie up the matter myself," Wilkins sighed, "but there are many things on my to-do list at the moment and I'm afraid time has become something of a precious commodity to me."
He frowned for a moment, looking around his desk. "Allan, where is my to-do list?"
"I believe in your left drawer, sir."
"Oh, there it is. Thank you." He went over the list for a moment. "Yes, as I told you. No time to spare. Plus I have made some rather unfortunate experiences concerning the quality of the hired help around here. Can you imagine that I had to fix things up myself last night? There are so few people left who actually strive to deliver quality work these days."
Trick leaned forward a little. "I understand, believe me. In all honesty, though, the thought of working in Sunnydale again is ... how shall I put it ... not exactly soothing to me. I, too, have had some rather unfortunate experiences around these parts."
"Ah, yes," Wilkins nodded. "I heard about Kakistos. Terrible thing that happened there."
Trick shrugged. "One of the dangers of letting things get personal."
"Yes, how true. I understand your worries, Mr. Trick, but this matter does not concern either the Slayers or Angelus, the latter of which I think is responsible for Kakistos' untimely demise, is that correct?"
"He was there, yes," Trick confirmed. "Seeing as my job was done by that time, though, I did not stick around for any formal introductions."
"Sensible," the mayor nodded. "Well, as I said, this does not concern our mutual friends. As you guessed it is about the events of last night."
Wilkins took a small wooden box out from behind his desk, carefully placing it in front of Mr. Trick.
"This is a very important year for me, Mr. Trick," he began, his face very serious now, no trace of the friendly politician remaining. "I am on a tight schedule and distractions are not something I suffer lightly. The power I had to spend last night was needed for other ventures. As things stand I will have to modify my plans. I do not want something like what happened last night to happen again."
He nodded at the small box. "This will help you track the person who cast the spell over my town. Find him or her! Deal with the matter!"
Trick took the box with a big smile on his face. "This should not be too much of a problem."
"Good!" Wilkins' smiling face returned in an instant, leaving none of the hard lines that had been there but a moment ago. "Allan will take care of the monetary matters. I trust you will have this resolved soon?"
Trick checked his watch. "In about eight hours or so."
#
"That's everything?" Willow looked over the list Amy had given her.
"That's the spell, yes," Amy sighed. "I hope it can help with your friend. Just a tip! Don't try and cast it on a vampire! Could lead to difficulties."
Willow saw Amy shivering, the self-loathing in her eyes, but could not think of anything to say. Amy had been the one to cast the spell, no matter that she would never have done so without Xander's prodding. If nothing else she held partial responsibility for what had happened.
"While you're at it," Amy continued, interrupting Willow's train of thoughts, "take it all with you!" She pointed at the large chest where all her mother's magic books were stored. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be around this stuff."
Shaking her head Willow saw down beside Amy, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You made a mistake," she said softly. "Don't kill yourself over it, okay?"
"I made the same mistake twice!" Amy shook off her hand. "I listened to Xander and played around with forces that I have no business using. It's that kinda stuff that turned my mother into a monster. I don't want to end up like her." There was a tear gleaming in her eye.
"Then don't!" Putting the list of the spell ingredients in her pocket Willow scooted closer to Amy. "You're not a bad person, I know that."
"Do you?" The blonde witch looked at her with desperation on her face. "I don't know that anymore."
"Try to help us fix things then," Willow told her. "This spell here could do a lot to help a friend of mine. Plus we need to figure out who broke your spell. There are a lot of things we could use the help of an experienced witch with."
"I'm not an experienced witch," Amy denied. "I'm an amateur dabbling with things that ... that get people killed."
Willow patted her shoulder, not knowing what to say to her anymore. She almost laughed, thinking about how much this little talk differed from the one she had had with Xander just this morning. Amy knew she had done something wrong, unlike other people she could name. The only question was, of course, whether knowing that would help her any.
"I'll be back tomorrow," Willow just said, rising from her seat. "I'm sure I'll need some more help with this spell. You'll help me, right?"
Amy looked up and managed to give her a shadow of a smile. "You really want to risk having my help?"
"Yes."
"Then ... okay! But I'm telling you right now, I won't be the one casting this spell again. Under no circumstances!"
"I understand."
Amy dropped her head back onto the table as Willow left, trying to get a grip on her whirling thoughts. How could she have been so stupid to help Xander? Again? Small magics like making a teacher think she had given her a brilliant test, that was easy. How come she had not learned to stay away from the big things yet?
Granted, the spell had not appeared all that big at the start. Just a simple spell, aimed at a single person, not doing anything but bringing that person's true face to light. Easy as pie, right? No more difficult than ... than a love spell.
Groaning she pounded her head on the table a few times. She needed a moment to realize that there was another pounding to be heard. One on the door. With another groan she rose, strolling toward the front door, opening it to peek outside.
"You forgot anything, Will..." Her voice trailed off when she looked into the face of the vampire standing in front of her door.
"Good evening, Miss Madison," the suited demon greeted her. "How nice of you to step outside."
Amy had half a second to realize that making even half a step outside her own door at night could be a very big mistake, then she was violently pulled towards the grinning demon and her scream cut off abruptly.
TO BE CONTINUED
#
"So the spell is completely broken?" Giles looked at Buffy and Angel, while Faith was lounging on his couch, flipping through the channels on his ancient TV. The night was finally over and all of them were very much exhausted.
"It seems that way," Angel said, one hand resting on Buffy's shoulder. "We finished off a few more vampires and demons, but thankfully most of them seem to have called it a night. As far as I could see they were all in human faces again."
"Good, good," Giles muttered, looking over the books spread out across his couch table and desk. Cordelia had gone home the moment the danger seemed past, saying something about needing her beauty sleep. Oz, no longer furry, had gone looking for Willow.
"Hopefully with their cover back in place they will refrain from another full-fledged assault like the one last night."
"We still don't know why the spell broke," Buffy reminded him. "Amy certainly did not do it and I doubt it suddenly ended all by itself."
"Unlikely," Giles agreed. "Plus there is the fact that most people seem to have forgotten the events of last night, which I think is more than this town's usual happy ignorance at work."
"Why do we remember?" Buffy cocked her head at him. "I mean, I get that those of us who turned into monsters might remember, but how come the more human among us didn't forget anything?"
Giles rubbed his eyes. "I think we were all subjected to a mild form of mass hypnosis. It worked on most people because they wanted to forget last night. I can't really blame them."
"So we remember because we want to?" Faith looked at him.
"It's a possibility," Giles sighed, sitting down. "We also have, all of us, first-hand knowledge of the fact that a spell has been cast in the first place, not to mention that we know that monsters are abound in Sunnydale. It would take a very, very powerful hypnotic spell to erase all that. No, I think whoever did this was as surprised as we were and doing his or her best to fix things quickly."
"Any theories on who that mysterious he or she is?"
Giles shook his head. "Considering that this is Sunnydale there might be a very large number of possible suspects. Maybe some witch or warlock managed to break the spell in order to end the carnage."
"Or someone broke it because it did not suit his purposes for all the monsters to be unveiled," Angel offered.
"There's that possibility, too, yes."
Buffy sighed, dropping down on the couch beside Faith, looking spent.
"Xander should really pray that I won't get my hands on him anytime soon." Buffy shook her head. "I don't know what he is going on inside that dense head of his these days."
Giles held back from speaking the first thing that sprang to mind, namely that the boy was not doing much with his head at all these days. In the past he had admired Xander for his fierce loyalty to the Slayer, as well as his talent to lighten even the most grim situation. These days, though, the only thing he could think of was how much Xander had hurt Buffy through that single lie four months ago, as well as his actions after her return from hell. How much he resented the boy for that.
"We need to deal with Xander, that much is true. He did something incredibly stupid tonight and I'm afraid it has gone beyond the point where we can just let it slide and hope he comes to his senses."
"Willow wanted to talk to him first," Angel said.
"Didn't she try that before?"
"Let's hope she has a little more luck this time."
"For his sake," Buffy added grimly, clenching her fist.
#
The sun was just rising outside, but Xander barely noticed. It had been a long night without rest and though he was beyond tired he could not get himself to sleep, not after everything that had happened. So he sat on his bed and stared straight ahead, not seeing the ugly wallpaper in front of him. He only saw the faces of the people who had once been his friends.
All of them had been changed. Even Willow. He had seen her eyes, looking almost like Amy's, had seen the sparks around her hands. His best friend since childhood was turning into a witch. Somehow that had not seemed so scary a prospect before he had seen her like that.
It was not really the issue, though, that much he had to admit. After all, it had not been the people looking like monsters who had tried to kill Amy and that boy last night.
Only the others. The ones that looked perfectly human.
He only noticed that someone else had come into the room when said someone stepped into his line of sight. Willow's eyes met his when he looked up.
"Are you happy now?"
The question confused him for a moment, left him unable to answer.
"You almost got a lot people killed last night," Willow continued, her mouth set in a harsh line that made her resolve face look downright harmless and friendly. "Scratch that, some people did get killed for real because of the spell you made Amy do. Was it worth it?"
"I ...," he began, but could not find the words.
"What?" Willow walked closer to him. "Speak up! What did you hope to get out of that?"
"I ... I just wanted ... the spell should only have hit Angel, not the rest of you. I just wanted ... wanted you to see."
Willow looked at him for a long moment, then laughed bitterly.
"See? See what? That Angel carries a monster inside of him? Boy, that really was big news to all of us."
"You don't see!" Xander surged to his feet, pacing the room. "You only see that handsome human face he puts up. Sure, he slips into demon mode when he fights, but that's all. Once that's over he's all nice and human again and none of you see."
"See what, Xander?" Willow gave him a sad look. "That he is the man who ruined your life by the simple fact that he made Buffy fall in love with him instead of you?"
"This is not about ...," he began.
"It's never been about anything else," Willow interjected. "God, Xander! We went through this very talk just a few weeks ago, remember? I thought you learned something. Angel's carrying a demon inside of him has never been your issue, only your excuse. You seem to think that all our lives would have been just wonderful if he'd never been here, but guess what? Most of us would be dead if not for him. Buffy certainly would. He saved all our lives at one point or another with total disregard for his own safety."
"He turned her into a monster, Willow!" Xander clenched his fists, trying to stop the tears from running down his cheeks. "He made her ..."
"Still nothing new," Willow interrupted again. "He did what he had to do to keep her alive. Yes, Buffy has changed. Thirty years of hell will do that to a person. Yet you don't care about any of that, do you? Have you managed to forget your lying to her yet? Or is that the next step on your self- delusion program?"
"I'm sorry for that," he whispered.
"You're only sorry that things did not work out the way you wanted them to. You're sorry that she did not kill Angel that day. Or sent him to Hell without her by his side. Or at least failed to figure out that you lied to her."
Xander did not know what to say, so he just rested his forehead against the ugly wallpaper and prayed that all this would just go away. Willow looked at him, a tiny part of her still wanting to make him feel better, but her resolve was stronger than that.
"What did you achieve with all this, Xander? You lost all your friends, your girlfriend, and if you have even an ounce of self-respect left by now it's one heck of a miracle. Was it all worth it?"
A moment later he heard her leave, the door clicking shut behind her.
"Was it all worth it?" The question seemed to echo inside his skull, bounce back and forth until he wanted to press his hands to his ears. He had not wanted things to happen this way. Things should have been different. Better.
And who was to blame for the fact that they were not? Try as he might, Xander could only come up with one answer that would not immediately shatter under Willow's echoing words.
#
"Are you all right?" Oz was waiting for Willow outside Xander's home, seeing the sad look on her face.
"No, I'm not," she mumbled, walking into his embrace. "I don't even recognize him anymore. God, Oz, he was my best friend for so long and now ..."
He soothed her, stroking her hair as they walked away. Oz had never been a man of many words and that was not about to change, but his outward silence did not spread to his thoughts. He tried to figure out what was going on with Xander, if for no other reason than it was hurting Willow.
Oz knew all about bitterness, about being angry because of things beyond your control. When he had first learned about the wolf he had seethed with anger, though no one would have known looking at him. If anything he had gotten even more stoic and reserved after that, afraid of the beast that slumbered inside him.
Xander was not the type to hide things behind a stoic façade. He was the kind to lash out at the things he perceived as the cause of the bad things in his life. Somehow Angel had gotten himself elected as Xander's scapegoat and now the boy was incapable of seeing past that. As long as that was the case all his attempts to make things better would have the exact opposite effect because he was fighting against the wrong opponent.
Xander was his own worst enemy and before he did not realize that nothing would change. The sad thing was that Oz had no idea how to make him realize that. So he said nothing, just held his girlfriend. Then he thought of something else.
"Would you mind a complete change of topic?" Willow looked up at him, curious.
"What?"
"Amy's spell. Somehow it unleashed the wolf, but I was in control."
Willow smiled, understanding. "You think we might find a way to make that permanent?"
Just a few words, Oz mused, and they understood each other. Maybe he could not help Xander fight against his enemy, but maybe Xander had unintentionally given Oz a chance to successfully fight his own battle.
#
Part 10
#
It was just past noon when the door to the mayor's office opened, a man in a sharp-cut blue suit entering and giving a disapproving glance to the open blinds. Richard Wilkins looked at the man, then at the windows, nodding in understanding.
"I am sorry, how thoughtless of me. Allan, would you be so kind?"
The deputy mayor gave the newcomer a nervous glance, then quickly proceeded to close the blinds and plunge the room into twilight.
"Thank you!" The man proceeded into the office, closing the door behind him, sitting down in the chair facing the mayor's desk.
"Thank you for coming so quickly," the mayor smiled at his visitor. "I realize that this is not the best time of day for you, but the matter at hand is rather delicate and urgent."
"I'm a very delicate person." Finely manicured hands folded as the vampire leaned back in his chair.
"Good to hear it," Wilkins smiled at him. "Would you care for a refreshment?"
"Certainly."
"Allan, your neck please!" The deputy mayor froze for a moment, his eyes widening with dread. Wilkins sighed. "A joke, Allan. Could you please get our guest a drink from my special bottle?"
"Ah, of course, sir."
Wilkins shook his head, facing his visitor again. "I am sorry. I fear Allan is still getting used to some of the more extraordinary activities around this office. Plus he has very little sense of humor."
Allan quickly returned and handed the vampire a wine glass filled with thick red liquid.
"Thank you!" Mr. Trick took an appreciative sip.
"To the matter at hand, then," Wilkins said, crossing his legs. "I have a little loose end to tie up. Loose ends are not good. They tend to come back to haunt you long after you have forgotten them. I am a great believer in thoroughness, Mr. Trick."
"I heard about the troubles you had last night." Trick took a piece of paper from his black leather suitcase, reading. "Something about all the vampires losing their ability to appear human?"
"You are up to date? That is good. Yes, that was unfortunate business last night. I am sure you understand, Mr. Trick, that something like this can seriously hamper the smooth running of a town."
"I can imagine."
"I would tie up the matter myself," Wilkins sighed, "but there are many things on my to-do list at the moment and I'm afraid time has become something of a precious commodity to me."
He frowned for a moment, looking around his desk. "Allan, where is my to-do list?"
"I believe in your left drawer, sir."
"Oh, there it is. Thank you." He went over the list for a moment. "Yes, as I told you. No time to spare. Plus I have made some rather unfortunate experiences concerning the quality of the hired help around here. Can you imagine that I had to fix things up myself last night? There are so few people left who actually strive to deliver quality work these days."
Trick leaned forward a little. "I understand, believe me. In all honesty, though, the thought of working in Sunnydale again is ... how shall I put it ... not exactly soothing to me. I, too, have had some rather unfortunate experiences around these parts."
"Ah, yes," Wilkins nodded. "I heard about Kakistos. Terrible thing that happened there."
Trick shrugged. "One of the dangers of letting things get personal."
"Yes, how true. I understand your worries, Mr. Trick, but this matter does not concern either the Slayers or Angelus, the latter of which I think is responsible for Kakistos' untimely demise, is that correct?"
"He was there, yes," Trick confirmed. "Seeing as my job was done by that time, though, I did not stick around for any formal introductions."
"Sensible," the mayor nodded. "Well, as I said, this does not concern our mutual friends. As you guessed it is about the events of last night."
Wilkins took a small wooden box out from behind his desk, carefully placing it in front of Mr. Trick.
"This is a very important year for me, Mr. Trick," he began, his face very serious now, no trace of the friendly politician remaining. "I am on a tight schedule and distractions are not something I suffer lightly. The power I had to spend last night was needed for other ventures. As things stand I will have to modify my plans. I do not want something like what happened last night to happen again."
He nodded at the small box. "This will help you track the person who cast the spell over my town. Find him or her! Deal with the matter!"
Trick took the box with a big smile on his face. "This should not be too much of a problem."
"Good!" Wilkins' smiling face returned in an instant, leaving none of the hard lines that had been there but a moment ago. "Allan will take care of the monetary matters. I trust you will have this resolved soon?"
Trick checked his watch. "In about eight hours or so."
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"That's everything?" Willow looked over the list Amy had given her.
"That's the spell, yes," Amy sighed. "I hope it can help with your friend. Just a tip! Don't try and cast it on a vampire! Could lead to difficulties."
Willow saw Amy shivering, the self-loathing in her eyes, but could not think of anything to say. Amy had been the one to cast the spell, no matter that she would never have done so without Xander's prodding. If nothing else she held partial responsibility for what had happened.
"While you're at it," Amy continued, interrupting Willow's train of thoughts, "take it all with you!" She pointed at the large chest where all her mother's magic books were stored. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to be around this stuff."
Shaking her head Willow saw down beside Amy, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"You made a mistake," she said softly. "Don't kill yourself over it, okay?"
"I made the same mistake twice!" Amy shook off her hand. "I listened to Xander and played around with forces that I have no business using. It's that kinda stuff that turned my mother into a monster. I don't want to end up like her." There was a tear gleaming in her eye.
"Then don't!" Putting the list of the spell ingredients in her pocket Willow scooted closer to Amy. "You're not a bad person, I know that."
"Do you?" The blonde witch looked at her with desperation on her face. "I don't know that anymore."
"Try to help us fix things then," Willow told her. "This spell here could do a lot to help a friend of mine. Plus we need to figure out who broke your spell. There are a lot of things we could use the help of an experienced witch with."
"I'm not an experienced witch," Amy denied. "I'm an amateur dabbling with things that ... that get people killed."
Willow patted her shoulder, not knowing what to say to her anymore. She almost laughed, thinking about how much this little talk differed from the one she had had with Xander just this morning. Amy knew she had done something wrong, unlike other people she could name. The only question was, of course, whether knowing that would help her any.
"I'll be back tomorrow," Willow just said, rising from her seat. "I'm sure I'll need some more help with this spell. You'll help me, right?"
Amy looked up and managed to give her a shadow of a smile. "You really want to risk having my help?"
"Yes."
"Then ... okay! But I'm telling you right now, I won't be the one casting this spell again. Under no circumstances!"
"I understand."
Amy dropped her head back onto the table as Willow left, trying to get a grip on her whirling thoughts. How could she have been so stupid to help Xander? Again? Small magics like making a teacher think she had given her a brilliant test, that was easy. How come she had not learned to stay away from the big things yet?
Granted, the spell had not appeared all that big at the start. Just a simple spell, aimed at a single person, not doing anything but bringing that person's true face to light. Easy as pie, right? No more difficult than ... than a love spell.
Groaning she pounded her head on the table a few times. She needed a moment to realize that there was another pounding to be heard. One on the door. With another groan she rose, strolling toward the front door, opening it to peek outside.
"You forgot anything, Will..." Her voice trailed off when she looked into the face of the vampire standing in front of her door.
"Good evening, Miss Madison," the suited demon greeted her. "How nice of you to step outside."
Amy had half a second to realize that making even half a step outside her own door at night could be a very big mistake, then she was violently pulled towards the grinning demon and her scream cut off abruptly.
TO BE CONTINUED