Chapter 2

The Apocalypse Child

Buffy and Willow were on the last patrol for the night. The rest were at their homes, Giles was watching Dawn and the Summers' place. Willow had insisted she come with her. Buffy had protested, but when Willow gave her resolve face Buffy shut up. They didn't really need to patrol, but Buffy said she had a strange feeling and wanted to go check the streets again. Willow talked about collage and how Tara and she were getting along again and Buffy only half-listened. She couldn't help but notice that things were too quiet. She tried to look at the quiet as a good thing, but it bothered her. She continuously double checked in alleyways and listened extra carefully and when Willow finally noticed her concentration, she kept quiet.

"What is it Buffy?" She said after a quiet moment.

"I-I'm not sure…." She replied uncertainly. It suddenly began to rain lightly, getting heavier by each passing second. Buffy and Willow quickly pulled on their hoods. Buffy glanced around, her head moving in nervous sharp jerks and Willow sensed that something was really wrong. They stopped walking suddenly, a strong force seeming to stop them. They found themselves standing in front of a small girl, eight or nine years old.

"Hey!" Buffy said a little surprised, glancing at her watch. "It's really late. Are you lost? Do you want us to help you find your way home? Your parents must be worried."

She shook her head and smiled, amused. "No parents." She whispered.

"Well…you must have some legal guardian we could get you back to. It isn't safe with…. well, there're really bad….men….who could hurt you." She indicated, glancing at Willow. Willow looked around and found no signs of any demons. She gave Buffy the 'all clear'.

"No." The girl said eerily.

"Well, you could stay at our-" Before Willow could finish, the girl's eyes shone a bright red, and she screamed:

"Go away! Get away from this place! Nothing is as it ought to be! Leave!" A bright orange and red light spun around her, surrounding her and she directed all that power over to Willow and Buffy. Willow quickly did a counter spell, but being as rushed as it was it was weak and didn't work properly. Willow and Buffy collapsed to the ground and when they looked up again, the girl was gone.

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The gang all sat around the Summers' living room, again. Willow and Buffy were given towels to dry off on and they went to their rooms to change into some dry clothes. The rest waited silently, in a shock. When they came back down, Giles said:

"My God, Buffy what happened?"

"I don't know! Will and I were patrolling and then we stopped in front of a little girl and I was asking her if she had a family she could, you know, go home to and she went ballistic." Buffy said, stopping to take a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Yes, but ballistic how?" Giles replied to her short answer. Willow took part in the conversation.

"Her eyes went all….red and glowey and she started screaming things…." She began darkly.

"Something about things being….not as they should be and….to go away." Buffy piped in.

"And then she did this spell thing….only there was no incantation. It knocked us over, it was so powerful. It caught me off guard and I couldn't do anything to stop it. Giles, it was so powerful!" Willow said, clearly shaken up. Tara put a hand on her shoulder soothingly.

After a long silence Xander asked, "That's it? I mean, its nothing compared to what we've faced before. It's just a paranoid girl with….super powers and….hey cool! Where have we seen one of those before?" he said mockingly, looking over at Buffy. Buffy smacked him on the arm lightly, but nevertheless Xander winced and rubbed his arm. "Ow."

"Xander. Evil is hardly ever symbolized or disguised as a child. Children are innocent, and we can learn the biggest and most important lessons from them. They symbolize hope, and forgiveness, love and friendship. Using it as a sign of evil is a really….well…. evil thing. This is bigger than it seems." Anya said matter-of-factly.

Xander gave her a look, "I knew that." he pouted. Anya continued.

"I've lived a long time; 1124 years, actually. I've heard things. Was this girl wet?" She asked Buffy suddenly.

"W-what?" Buffy stammered, confused.

"You said it was raining. Was she wet?"

"Well of course she was-" Buffy stopped and thought. The girl was dry, she remembered. "Well-actually no. She was….dry. Dry? Why was she…?" She looked over at Anya's knowing expression and waited for an explanation.

"I think were dealing with The Apocalypse Child."