See part one for notes, disclaimers.
Part Four
Buffy took a deep breath and threw herself at the largest of the hellhounds. The creature was strong, and it took everything she had to keep its slavering jaws away from her neck ... which meant that she had no attention to give to the rest of the pack. By the time she killed the leader, she was bleeding in half a dozen places. She didn't have any time to think about her wounds, however, because she still had another seven hellhounds to Slay.
It took Buffy nearly an hour to kill the last hellhound, and by that time she looked like a doggy chew toy. Almost every inch of her body had been cut or slashed by vicious canine teeth and blood was gushing from every one of her wounds, for Willow's anti-stain spell had another unexpected consequence. Blood could not touch her dress, so it continually flowed up and away from her body. Not even Slayer healing could close wounds that wouldn't clot up, and the steady blood loss was starting to make her light-headed.
She started to crawl towards the prom, knowing that Giles would patch her up in no time ... provided she could get to him. Her knees gave out after two feet; there was no way she could possibly make it all the way to the prom. She finally collapsed, admiring the beauty of the precious red streamers flowing away from her body. As she lay dying, two thoughts continued to plague her: would the gang be able to stop the Ascension without her? And would Giles be all right without her? She was sorry she didn't get a chance to see him in his tuxedo. And then she wasn't sorry for anything else at all, because it was:
THE END
What? You don't like a dead Buffy? I don't either. Why don't you go to part five to see what would have happened if Buffy had run away from the hellhounds.
