Thanks for the feedback & suggestions. Tentatively, I plan to close out this story once the Cordy and Oz piece is dealt with and then do Part 2 to focus on Spike et. al. I want to establish these characters first. I have lots of plans for Spike so hold on he's on the way!

Chapter 22

Oz senses that the sun is setting. If he is going to do anything, if cannot wait any longer. Soon he will be back under Willow's influence.

Cordelia senses the beast's growing agitation. It stirs her own unrest. Animals are supposed to sense earthquakes and stuff. She worries about what the dog is sensing. "Oh Spot? What is it? I wish you could talk." She wraps her arms more tightly around him, glad to have something to cling to.

Oz tries to gather his strength. Is he sure that passing this curse on to her is the best thing? Is he even sure that he can do this in this pure wolf form? Thinking again about the stories of Angelus driving Drusilla insane, he feels compelled to try. He calls upon his beast, its feral nature. It is always there a part of him, closer to the surface than he would like.

Before Cordelia knows what hit her, she feels a horrible tearing pain in her arm. The dog has bitten her - without a growl or any kind of warning, the dog has attacked her. She screams with pain but soon the pain is so great that she is only whimpering. She is sure that the dog is going to kill her.

The dog leaps off the cot and pads to the far corner of the room. She can see her blood on its huge canines. She is so scared but the blood loss and shock are really a kindness because she soon falls unconscious.

As soon as Oz settles on the wolf's haunches in the corner of the room, he feels the change coming. It always begins with this particular wild smell. He has read that some epileptics have olfactory hallucinations right before seizures. He guesses the sensation is something like that. Soon he feels his muscles contorting, his senses shifting. And then there he is. He is naked and soaking wet just as he is always after changing. He is also exhausted and hungry - as always.

He quietly goes to the table beside the cot, and takes off the white tablecloth and uses it to dry off. He then eases the lightweight blanket off the bed and wraps it around his waist. He thinks 'Hey, Toga Party!' and then talking to the unconscious Cordy says, "If this worked, it's really going to be an Animal House around here. Hope you don't mind a new fur coat." He says dryly.

After he has drunk most of the water on the table and eaten all but one piece of fruit, he feels a bit better. He takes the sheet and rips its end to make a bandage for Cordy's arm. He figures it's the least he can do. He looks around for something to wash the wound but then thinks what the hell no one's around. He looks around one more time and then licks the wound clean with his tongue.

When the gash is clean, he sees that it is already healing. By tomorrow, it will be just a scar. This is good he thinks, the curse has taken hold or else, she would need stitches.

Cordy slowly opens her eyes, she feels so disoriented.

Oz - she sees Oz. The surprise at seeing Oz distracts her momentarily. "Oz? Oh my God, they got you too." She blurts out in her usual fashion.

It is good to see the ol' Cordelia.

Suddenly, her eyes dart around the room. "Where's the dog? I mean the wolf? There was this big dog, wolf thingy. And it was all cuddly and then it bit me."

Oz can see her mind working. No one ever said Cordy was dumb - maybe shallow - but never dumb. She is putting together his silence, his state of undress, his appearance and the disappearance of the wolf. He sits quietly while she puts it all together.

"Oh my God, you bit me! I've been bitten by a werewolf!" She screams as she gets up and runs across the room. She pulls off an earring and says "Listen, Buster, this is sterling silver. If you come near me, I'm going to --- I'm going to stick you in the heart with it."

She looks pleased with her naïve threat. Oz almost feels sorry for her. But her naivete confirms his own decision to share his curse with her. He holds up his hands, palms open. "Cordy, man, calm down. That bite is the least of your worries." She continues to scream until Oz uncharacteristically yells for her to shut up.

This gets her attention and she slides against the wall, sitting down where she stood.

"Now, Cordy, we don't have time to do this. They are going to be coming soon."

In true Cordelia Chase style, she asks, "And just who by chance - are 'they'"?

"Angelus AND Buffy AND Willow AND Xander. Cordy, I don't know exactly how. I've got my ideas but --- I think --- I'm pretty sure that Angelus turned Buffy and Buffy turned Willow and Xander."

"You're telling me that Xander is a vamp? That's crazy, I just ---saw --- him ---last -------night." The slowing of her response seemed to indicate that she did realize that something was off.

"Why didn't he just kill me?" she asks in a kind of shocked pseudo-calm voice.

Oz looks down, trying not to scare her; "I think --- from what I know about Angelus --- that he --- that they want to torture you for awhile."

The look of horror and disbelief on her beautiful features pains Oz to do end. He tries to reassure her. "Cordy, that why --- I bit you --- I thought, I hoped that at least that way you would have a chance. As a human, you wouldn't even have had that."

The former look of horror on her face is now increased by a hundred fold. Oz realizes that she hadn't made the connection, that she had been infected with his curse until now. She begins to shake and rock herself.

Tears roll down her face as she asks, "Why Oz? Why would you do this?"

He begins to approach her but she backs up further, pressing her back into the wall. He stops and kneels five feet away from her, "I'm sorry, Cordelia. I was the wolf; I couldn't talk to you. I didn't know if I would ever be able to talk to you in time, to warn you. I did what I thought was best. I'm sorry."

Hearing, his profession, she looks at him with tears in her eyes. She utters something that he has never heard from her before. "Thank you, Oz."

Oz moves over to her and puts his arms around her. While not as warm and fuzzy as Spot, she accepts his comfort.

"Well, well, well - what do we have here." Xander says gleefully as he looks into the small black and white screen.

He and Willow had bet on whether Cordy would still be alive by now. Willow betting in her favor. It was decided that before going into the room that they would look in through the camera. Seeing Oz wrapped in a blanket in human form holding a crying Cordy is a surprise.

Xander pushes a button and rewinds several hours' worth of tape. As he starts to play, the imagines back at double time. He pushes another button and the imagines being replayed jump up to the biggest screen in the room.

Both watch intently at the goings on that Angel's toy has recorded, each of them thinking about how the developments between Oz and Cordy.

Willow loves mayhem and this twist looks to be a good one so she doesn't have any complaints. Xander, on the other hand, is pissed. Cordy is his - to do with as he pleases. His demon rears up and Willow's follows suit. Willow finds that she is increasingly drawn to this vicious new side to Xander. Even when she mooned over him from afar, she was still frustrated with his passivity - his habit of standing in the background while commenting on everybody else's action. This Xander will act - no doubt. She couldn't wait.

***********************

The sight of Xander and Willow standing in the small room with them is almost overwhelming to both Oz and Cordelia. Both are in game face, and from their evil smiles, it is clear that they mean to have some fun.

"Cordelia, and I thought that I was your one true love." Xander says in a mocking tone. "I'm hurt."

As Xander is talking, Willow drops to her knees and begins to crawl over to the pair. Already, in the corner, they have no where to move. Seeing Willow in the guise of a vampire succubus is heart breaking to Oz. Her subtle shyness, her softness is dead - just as she is. He feels his anger well up inside of him towards the demon she has become.

As she stops in front of him, still on her hands and knees, clad in black leather - he turns his head to look away from her. She almost purrs her words, "Oz, Baby, what's the matter. Wolf-boy doesn't want to play? Ah, come on." She approaches until her own altered face is touching the side of his own. At the feel of her touch, he shutters and closes his eyes. Her skin feels like cold velvet. He fights to ignore her advances as she licks a cool tongue up the side of his face. "Umm, salty goodness".

She smiles up at Xander before turning back suddenly to rear up and tear Cordelia out of Oz's arms. A harsh gasp comes out of the girl's mouth as Willow throws her to the floor and immediately straddles her. If possible, Willow's visage grows even more demonic, her eyes taking on a reddish glow. When she leans down to the girl's face to speak, her voice has taken on a strange, raspy quality. She takes hold of Cordelia's shirt and pulls her up until their faces are touching.

Cordelia can feel the cool, death breath on her face as she looks at her attacker. "Bitch, don't you ever, ever touch my puppy again." Willow then uses her hold on Cordelia's shirt to push her back to the floor. Her head snaps as it hits the floor.

"Bitch" Willow announces again as she stands and kicks the semi-conscious girl hard with a high-heeled foot. "And don't forget, who owns this one too", as she looks at Xander who has been watching the display with interest.

Willow's play has left him aroused and ready for blood. He can smell Cordy's blood seeping from the back of her skull and he wants to taste it. He looks to Willow and commands with a growl "Leave us." When Willow hesitates more than a second does, he snarls at her "Leave us and take your dog".

She shrugs her shoulders, "OK, OK." She says sarcastically. She turns to Oz, and claps her hands, "Come on, Puppy. Follow Mommy".

*******************

Buffy and Angel arrive at Revello Drive just before Joyce. They go in and make themselves at home.

"Looks like we have some time. She's always late." Buffy says suggestively. She looks so innocent in her pink sweater and flowered skirt. If he didn't know better he would think that she was the same ol' Slayer.

He takes the bait; he's always been a sucker for angora. Angel approach her in the front hall, tracing a finger on a cleavage. "Well, well, well, little girl. What exactly are you purposing?" She pouts innocently, looking up at him through her thick eyelashes. "How about a kiss?"

He smiles flirtatiously as he leans forward over her. He brings his lips within an inch of hers. "A kiss?" He questions softly, "A kiss? The girl wants to kiss."

Suddenly in gameface, he turns her in his arms so that she is facing the wall. "What if Daddy wants more?" he snarls in a menacing way. Before the words are out of his mouth, he has pulled up the back of her skirt and ripped off her underwear. In another second, he is plunging into her with all the force at his disposal. She arches her head back as he pounds into her.

Surprised to find it unlocked, Joyce opens the front door calling out to Buffy. When she sees the scene in front of her, she screams. Her daughter is being viciously raped. Acting on the most elemental of maternal urges, she drops her bags and takes an umbrella from the stand beside the door. She takes the ten or so steps to where the monster stands and begins to hit it. She calls out for the monster to stop.

After what seems like an eternity, the man stops and turns. She is terrified of what she sees. He must be on drugs or something. She screams for him to get the hell away from Buffy as she rears back to hit at his ugly face.

The man moves so fast that she has no time to step back. He draws up his arm and backhands her. With one fatal blow, he breaks her neck.

Buffy steps to look out from behind Angel's back, "Well, that didn't quite work out, did it".

"Nope". He agrees shaking his head.

"Want'a watch some TV? We've got pay for view?" she asks blithely as she steps over her dead mother.

TBC