thanks Shellie and stevie for reviewing! and thanks Shellie for telling me some ways on how this story could be improved!!
mwahahaha! I confused the lot of you! but don't worry... explanation here in this chapter! read on!
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Chapter Four: Tough Questions
The back door of the Summers' house flew open without warning, and Angel rushed inside, smoking a little from the sun. Dawn, Willow, Cordelia and Fred all looked up with shock at the vampire. The had all been spending the night researching on the net and through the many books Giles had left here in Sunnydale.
"Angel," Willow sighed in relief when realising who it was. "Where's Gunn?"
"He's coming," Angel replied, a worried look was planted on his face. "I had to run home due to a little sun factor. Did you guys find anything about these demons?"
"Nope, not yet," Fred answered. "Well, not from research, anyways. Dawn, Willow, and her friends have all been up against this demon before."
"Even Buffy?" Angel asked Willow.
"I-I don't know," Willow shrugged. "I don't-"
"Remember," Angel finished.
"Yeah," Willow nodded. "How did you know?"
"Same thing happened to Buffy and Gunn tonight. They don't recall anything about a fight. So, did you remember everything, Dawn?" Angel turned to Buffy's teenage sister. Dawn just nodded quietly. "What happened?" Angel then asked her.
"Umm, it was weird," Dawn replied. "There were a whole bunch of demons. And this really ugly demon in the middle seemed interested in us... like it kind of smiled at us, in an uber creepy sort of way. Then it did this weird glowy thing. Buffy started fighting the demons, who seemed to be protecting the one in the middle. And after she killed a couple of the demons, they all just ran away. And then the ugly demon just... vanished. And then everyone became confused about where they were, and what they were doing there."
"Hmm," Angel mused.
"We were thinking it might have been a spell," Fred told him.
"But then why wasn't Dawn or Angel affected?" Willow asked.
"Must be some kind of vampire slash key thing where we don't get affected," Dawn shrugged.
"Key?" Gunn asked, still extremely confused. Life on the hellmouth was more weirder than L.A., which Gunn didn't think was possible.
"Long story," Dawn sighed.
"The key opens up the portals to other worlds," Willow explained. "The key is in the form of Dawnie here."
"Okay, not so long then," Dawn said.
"Oh, and I thought she was a normal teenager," Gunn said. "Are there *any* normal people living in Sunnydale?"
"Present," Xander appeared at the kitchen doorway. Willow woke him up and called him over to help out with the research. "I'm as normal as people get in Sunnydale."
"Normal?" Cordelia cocked an eyebrow at Xander. "You got together with a praying mantis demon as well as an Inca mummy girl and an ex-vengeance demon."
"Ah, Cordy. I said I was normal, not the people I once dated," Xander hinted to Cordelia and smiled.
Cordelia scowled, and quickly went back to her research.
"I don't think it was a spell," Angel told everyone in the room. "I'm thinking the demon did this. Try looking for demons that collect memories. The demon said something about me and Buffy being powerful. But it couldn't take my 'energy' for some reason. I'm thinking that he calls memories, 'energy'. We all have two sets of memories, because of Dawn being the key. But I'm a vampire, and my thoughts and memories can't be reflected in some other person's mind, or in this case, be taken away from me." Angel purposely left out the part about him having the memory of one extra day.
"And he didn't take my memory because he looked at me as useless, because I only have one set of fake memories," Dawn said, and pouted.
"Fake memories or not, Dawnie," Willow sympathised. "I still like them. They were fun. Remember that time when we went trick-or-treating when you were seven, and that mean old Mrs. Stiller-" Willow stopped when Dawn gave her a deadly stare, telling her not to go on. "Anyways, that doesn't really matter. W-We should really get back to researching. It's helpful, and non-embarresing." Willow blushed as she sat behind her laptop.
* * *
Buffy watched as Angel ran home. She offered to go with him, but she needed to bring Gunn back, as he didn't know the way, and could never keep up with the supernatural speed of a vampire and a Slayer.
Buffy was still really shocked to see him here, and also, incredibly confused. She started the night fighting demons, and the next minute she finds Angel and his friend standing with her in the cemetery. And the demons were gone. Angel said he would explain everything when they got to her house, so she thought the quicker the better, and she picked up the pace a bit.
Buffy had just met Gunn, but he seemed to know about her. So Buffy just assumed they sometimes mentioned her.
"You seem... smaller than I'd thought you'd be," Gunn told her. "I mean, Wesley told me you were heaps strong, and defeated heaps of big bads, and... well, you're really small."
"Yeah, I noticed that too." Buffy had no idea what to say, and just said the first thing that came to her head. "So umm, how is Wesley?" She asked after a minute of uncomfortable silence. They were both nervous, and didn't know what to say.
"He's... I don't know," Gunn shrugged, and struggled to find the right words. "Something happened. Maybe Angel should fill you in with this story. So, you liking your new life? Well, your old life... I mean, life after death..." Gunn trailed off, giving up trying to make his question making sense. He just needed to change the subject, and to him, it seemed like an easy question. He'd definitely rather life over death, even though he hadn't experienced it. But it was something he hoped he wouldn't experience for a LONG time.
"It's..." Buffy struggled. "It's life." Buffy didn't feel like telling someone she just met that it was tough, and hard, and painful. That she wanted to go back to wherever she was. Where it was peaceful, and nice, and warm. Here seemed like Hell compared to that place. 'Heaven?' Buffy shrugged at the thought. It seemed like it to her. It seemed like the perfect place. And her friends just pulled her out. She knew should be grateful, but she wasn't.
"Things not going well here?" Gunn asked, concerned about why she wouldn't be loving life. He thought it was a million times better than the other option. Death. It seemed so cold and dark for him. But then again, she's experienced with this sort of stuff. Apparently, she has already died twice.
"You could say that," Buffy simply replied. Gunn stopped prodding her with questions, feeling he's already asked too much personal questions already. And he just met her five minutes ago. Well at least he thought so. In his mind, it felt like there was stuff missing.
Just then, out of nowhere, a cloaked figure appeared in front of Buffy and Gunn. Buffy immediately stopped, and raised the sword she still held in her hand('Why the hell is there a sword in my hand?').
The cloaked figure let out a soft, creepy laugh. And in its deep, croaky voice it said to them, "The vampire is not here to help you. I shall take your energy now, Slayer."
The cloaked figure then removed its hood, uncovering its incredibly ugly face.
"I think this is the demon in Cordy's vision," Gunn told Buffy.
Buffy nodded, "It won't be after I kill it." She lunged at the demon with her sword, but it quickly disappeared into thin air. "What the-"
"Behind you!" Gunn yelled. And Buffy quickly spun around with her sword, but once again, it vanished. "Watch out, Buffy. It started glowing. It must be up to something."
Buffy nodded. She stayed quiet, and very still. Gunn did the same, assuming her plan was to sense it when it appeared again. Buffy clutched onto her sword tighter, and waited silently for the demon to make its move.
After a couple of minutes, it suddenly appeared again directly behind Gunn. Buffy sensed it, but she was too far away. She heard and felt a disturbance in the atmosphere over there. And she whirled around to see that Gunn's reflexes were too slow. The demon picked him up and threw him with incredible strength into a nearby brick wall. Gunn was out cold.
So it was just Buffy and the demon. No back up, nothing. Except for her sword. And Buffy hoped that it would be enough.
"You have no one now, Slayer," It croaked. "You're all alone. And you can't stop me."
Buffy was about to lunge at it again with her sword, but she couldn't move. It was like someone was holding her down. "What are you doing to me? Let me go!" Buffy screamed.
The demon just laughed. "You expect me to just let you go because you asked?"
"Not really, but it was worth a try," Buffy replied through gritted teeth. She hated feeling like this. Like she was helpless. Buffy wouldn't give up though. No matter what. She kept struggling to get free, hoping that the restraints would weaken a little.
"Now Slayer, your energy is mine!"
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Okay, I didn't get a chance to check over this, so maybe there are some mistakes or it's just plain crap, and confusing. But I really wanted to get something up tonight, to explain a few things. So please review! And any mistakes or improvements, I will do soon.