"Nightmares"
Based on the Episode Written by Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt
The following story is copyright © 2021 by Mark Moore.
Buffy quietly made her way into what she knew to be the Master's lair, stake in hand. She stopped and took a look around. Slowly, she made her way down to the floor below. She raised the stake to be ready. Buffy continued into the lair. She spun around and raised the stake when she sensed the Master behind her. He hissed loudly. Buffy froze with fear and dropped the stake. He was grotesque: no hair, blood-red eyes, pasty wrinkled skin, pointed ears, and pointed fingernails. He was dressed in black leather.
Buffy slowly retreated as the Master advanced on her. When she couldn't retreat any further, she watched as the Master reached out with his hand and clasped it around her neck. She looked up at him as he closed in for the bite.
"No! No!" Buffy screamed.
"No..."
"Yes."
Buffy woke suddenly, opening her eyes wide. She was in her room. She'd been having a nightmare. Her mother was sitting on the edge of her bed and had shaken her awake.
"It's time to get up for school."
"Mom?"
"Are you all right?"
"No. Uh, yeah! Yeah! I'm - I'm fine! Oh..." Buffy sat up. "School! Great." She got out of bed.
"You wanna go to school?" Joyce stood up.
"Sure! Why not?"
"Okay." Joyce opened the blinds. "Good day to buy that lottery ticket. I spoke with your father."
"He's coming, right?"
"You're on for this weekend."
"Good."
"Get dressed. I'll drive you. He'll pick you up after school."
Joyce pulled her Jeep up in front of the school. She looked at Buffy. "You're awfully quiet this morning."
"I didn't sleep well."
"I'll say. I came in to check on you twice. You were yelling in your sleep. Do you know what you were dreaming?"
Buffy paused and debated whether she should tell her mom or not. Deciding it would just worry her, she shook her head. "Not really. Oh, no, my bag! I-I packed it for the weekend, and I forgot it!"
"You and your dad can swing by the house and get your bag. It's not an international crisis."
"Okay. Yeah, I just, uh, had meant to bring it. H-He's picking me up here, right? A-At 3:30?"
"Honey, a-are you worried your father isn't gonna show?"
"No! N-Not really. Should I be?" Buffy asked her.
"Well, of course not! I-I-I just, I-I know it's a hard situation. You just have to remember that your father adores you. No more than I do, by the way."
Buffy smiled. "Goodbye."
"Have a great day."
"Thanks." Buffy unfastened her seatbelt, opened the door, got out of the Jeep, and closed the door.
She went into the school and headed for her locker.
Tara walked up beside her and smiled. "Hey, you."
Buffy looked at her and smiled. "Hey."
Tara kissed Buffy on the lips. "Heading to your locker?"
"Uh-huh. Oh, the weekend with my dad is on, so no practice for the next few days."
"Okay. So...do you see your dad a lot?" Tara asked her.
"Not a whole lot. He's still in L.A.; he, like, comes down for weekends sometimes."
"When did they get divorced?"
"Well, it wasn't finalized till last year, but they were separated before that."
"Musta been harsh."
They reached Buffy's locker.
"Yeah, that's the word you're looking for." Buffy worked the combination. "I-I mean...they were really good about it around me, anyway, but still..."
"My parents don't even bicker. Sometimes, they glare."
Buffy detected a sort of sadness in Tara's voice, and it made her sad as well.
"Do you know why your folks split up?" Tara asked.
Buffy opened her locker. "I didn't ask. They just stopped getting along. I'm sure I was a really big help, though, with all the anger and acting out and everything. I was in so much trouble. I was a big mess."
"Well, I'm sure that didn't have anything to do with him leaving."
"No." Buffy closed her locker, unconvinced.
Tara smiled in an attempt to cheer Buffy up. "And he still comes down on weekends."
"Sometimes."
They walked to class.
"So where are we on the band?" Buffy asked, changing the subject.
"Trina is working on getting a bass guitar. Amy's gonna get an SR-16 drum machine."
They entered the classroom.
Cordelia was checking her makeup in her mirror. Wendell Sears came over and stopped to look at his paper in the light.
"Hello? Doofus!" Cordelia called.
Wendell looked at her.
"You're in my light."
"Wendell, what is wrong with you?" Buffy asked. "Don't you know that she is the center of the universe, and the rest of us merely revolve around her?"
"Why don't you revolve yourselves out of my light?" Cordelia suggested.
The bell rang. Buffy, Tara, and Wendell went to their seats.
Buffy looked at Tara. "Uh, Wendell was in Cordelia's light."
Wendell looked at them. "I'm so ashamed."
"Hey, guys, was there any homework?" Buffy asked them.
Tara looked at her. "We're doing active listening today."
They sat down.
"Chapter five? Active listening? Where you put on your big ears and really focus on the other person?" Buffy asked.
Wendell looked at her. "Ms. Tishler demonstrated it yesterday."
"With you!" Tara added.
"She was wearing that tight sweater?" Buffy asked.
Tara nodded. "The midnight blue angora."
"All right, take your seats. In a moment, we will choose partners and practice what we read about in chapter five. Before we do, let's review. Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs after food and shelter is to be heard."
Buffy dropped her pencil and bent down to pick it up.
"Wendell, would you read the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight..."
As Buffy sat back up, she saw a young boy standing at the door, looking in at her.
"...where Isaacson describes the rapid improvement active listening brought to some special needs clients?"
Wendell opened his book. He screamed and dropped it on his desk when there were suddenly a bunch of tarantulas crawling out of it. Ms. Tishler and the students closest to him screamed and quickly got out of their chairs and away from him. The tarantulas crawled all over Wendell.
"Please! Get 'em off of me! Help! Help! Get 'em off of me! Help me! Oh, please help me! Please! Please help me!" Wendell begged.
Later, Buffy came around a corner and was met by Tara.
"Oh, Buffy, I've been looking for you. About the spiders, did you talk to Mr. Giles about them?" Tara asked her.
"Yeah." Buffy detected a hint of fear in Tara's voice. "Kinda wigged, huh?"
"I don't like spiders, okay? Their furry bodies and their sticky webs, and what do they need all those legs for, anyway? I'll tell you: for crawling across your face in the middle of the night. Ewww! How do they not ruffle you?"
"It's not that I'm unruffled; it was pretty intense. Still, welcome to the Hellmouth, the center of mystical convergence and supernatural monsters."
They entered the library.
"Anyway, Giles said he was gonna look it up. Giles?" Buffy called.
Tara looked at her. "Maybe he's in the faculty room."
Giles came out of the stacks and looked around, bewildered.
"Hey, Giles! Wakey, wakey!" Buffy called.
"I was, uh, in the stacks. I got lost."
"Did you find any theories on spiders coming out of books?" Buffy asked him.
Giles was mildly confused. "I couldn't find anything, uh, particularly illuminating. Um, I think perhaps you'd best have a chat with Wendell himself."
"Okay. If he can still talk." Buffy gave Giles an odd look, slightly concerned.
She and Tara started out of the library. Giles looked back into the stacks, still confused.
Buffy and Tara went outside and found Wendell sitting on a bench.
"Hey, Wendell. How are you?" Buffy asked.
Wendell looked up. "Huh?"
"You okay?" Buffy asked him.
"Do you guys want something?" Wendell asked them.
Buffy shrugged. "We just thought you might wanna talk about what happened."
"I don't know what to say about that."
Buffy sighed. "Yeah, it's difficult. I understand. You saw two-hundred arachnids; you freaked; anybody would have."
Wendell was impressed. "Very good. They're not insects. They're arachnids. I didn't expect you to know that."
"Yeah, well, I, uh, I...had a good teacher." Buffy fought back tears.
"Spiders are arachnids. They have eight legs. Insects only have six. Why does everyone make that mistake?" Wendell asked her.
"Don't know. Has anything like this ever happened before?" Buffy asked him.
Wendell nodded.
"When?" Buffy asked.
"Lots of times."
Tara made a face. "Ew! You must hate spiders more than I do."
Wendell smiled and laughed. "I don't hate spiders. I love 'em. They hate me."
Cordelia walked by behind Wendell and turned to Buffy. "I hope you studied for the history test."
"What history test?" Buffy asked her in surprise.
"The one we're having in fourth period right now."
"There's a history test? Nobody told me there was a history test!" Buffy yelled. "I haven't...I...Okay, I will catch up with you guys later." She ran off.
Tara sat down next to Wendell. "What do you mean, you love spiders?"
"I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns and tarantulas and black widows. Then my folks shipped me off to wilderness camp. All my brother had to do was maintain their habitats. Instead, he left their heat lamp on for a week. When I came home, they were all dead. That's when the nightmares started."
"The nightmares?" Tara asked.
"It's always the same. I'm sitting in the classroom, teacher asks me to read something, I open up my book, and then there they are. They're comin' after me. God, can you blame them after what I did?"
"And that's how it happens? Every time?" Tara asked.
"Earlier in class, I thought I'd just nodded off again. But then everyone else started screaming, too."
Buffy was looking for her history class.
Cordelia was waiting by the door, holding it open. "You don't know where class is, do you?"
"Uh..."
"Hardly a shocker. You've cut history just about every time we've had it."
"Well, I was there the first day. I think."
"It's in here."
"I haven't been to class; I haven't read any of the assignments; how am I gonna pass this test?" Buffy asked her.
"Blind luck?" Cordelia suggested.
Buffy was sitting at her desk and looking around at the other students. The teacher walked by. Buffy looked over at Cordelia, who apparently wasn't having any problems with the test. Cordelia turned the page, looked back at Buffy, and went back to taking the test. The teacher came by again and stopped to glance at Buffy's work. He continued, apparently satisfied. Buffy flipped through the short-answer test. All of the pages were still blank. She glanced up at the clock. 11:20. She looked at the space for her name.
"Well, at least I know my name."
She started to write, but her pencil broke. She let out an exasperated sigh. She grabbed her sharpener and sharpened her pencil. She looked back up at the clock, and it was now 12:10 already. She stared at it in disbelief. She looked around at everyone. The teacher was watching her intently and tapping his pencil. She looked back down at her test, and the bell rang.
All around her, the students got up and began turning their tests in as she just sat and watched. Buffy saw the same boy outside the door with a sad look on his face. He walked off down the hall. The classroom was empty now, and Buffy was sitting at her desk alone.
After class, Buffy wandered aimlessly, lost in a daze.
Giles came out of the library and walked over to her. "Buffy."
Buffy stopped and looked at him.
"There's been an incident. A student was attacked rather mysteriously."
"Who?" Buffy asked.
"Her name is Laura Egler."
"Is she all right?" Buffy asked him.
"She's been taken to the hospital. Come on."
Buffy and Giles walked through a hallway in Sunnydale Memorial Hospital, looking for Laura's room.
"I think they said room 3016."
"Do you know the girl?" Giles asked her.
"To say hi to. Laura's nice enough. Nobody saw who attacked her?" Buffy asked.
"Well, I was rather hoping that Laura did."
Buffy and Giles entered Laura's room. Laura was lying in bed; she had long brown hair with blonde highlights but also had cuts and bruises all over. She saw them and looked up at Buffy.
"Hey, Laura."
"Hi."
"I hope we're not intruding, um..." Giles held out a small potted flower arrangement.
Buffy took it from him and set it next to the bed.
"That's okay. I don't wanna be left alone."
"You understand we're anxious to make sure this - this doesn't happen again."
Buffy sat in a chair next to Laura's bed. "Can you tell us what happened?"
"I was in the basement. I went down for a smoke. There was...someone there."
"Someone you knew?" Buffy asked.
"I've never...seen anything like it."
Buffy exchanged a look with Giles and then looked back at Laura. "It?"
"Can you describe it?" Giles asked Laura.
Laura was having trouble talking about it and couldn't answer.
Buffy sympathized. "Hey, that's okay. Don't worry about it."
"Yes, you - you - you just rest now."
"You know, but-"
"Hi, Laura."
Buffy looked and saw a nurse had come in. She looked back at Laura. "-i-if you remember anything? You can tell us. Even if it may seem weird."
"She needs her rest now."
Buffy stood up. She and Giles started to go.
"'Lucky nineteen.'"
Buffy and Giles stopped and turn around.
"I'm sorry?" Giles asked Laura.
"It's what he said, right before..." Laura paused. "He said 'lucky nineteen'. That's weird, right?"
"Yes. Yes, it is."
"Feel better." Buffy smiled at Laura.
Giles nodded. "Take care."
They left the room.
Giles saw Laura's doctor in the hallway. "Doctor, is she gonna be all right?"
"You family?" the doctor asked.
Buffy shook her head. "Friends."
"She'll recover. She's got a couple of shattered bones, a little internal bleeding; she got off pretty easy."
"Easy?" Buffy asked in disbelief.
"Have you looked up the word lately?" Giles asked him.
"Well, the first one's still in a coma." The doctor stopped at another room.
"First what?" Buffy asked him.
"First victim." He looked into the room. "They found him a week ago. Exact same M.O. as the girl, only he's in worse shape. If he doesn't wake up soon..." He paused. "Somebody's gotta stop this guy."
Buffy looked at the bruised boy in the room, her anger growing. "Somebody will."
Tara was walking down the hall to her locker. She worked the combination and opened her locker. As she exchanged books, she saw a punk nearby.
"Listen, I'm not afraid of him. Hey, if he wants to fight, then I'm takin' him down. I'm not backin' off on this. This is about honor. I'll break his neck!"
The punk's mother suddenly appeared in the hall. "Oh, there's my little baby!"
"Mom, what are you doing here? Mom..."
The mother laughed and kissed him. "How's my little pookie?"
"Mom, Mom, please don't kiss me in front of the guys! It's embarrassing, Mom! Please!"
She continued laughing. "You cute little rascal, you!"
"Mom..." He paused. "Thanks, but, Mom, please, my friends are right here..."
Tara closed her locker and headed to her next class, a bit amused.
In the library, Giles was going over a number of newspapers. "This can't be happening. This can't be..."
Buffy came into the library. "What's the word?"
"Oh, uh, I've got back issues of the, uh, papers, um, to try to do some research."
"Did you find anything?"
"I don't know."
Buffy was confused. "You don't know if you didn't find anything."
"I'm having a problem."
"What is it?"
"I-I can't read!" Giles exclaimed.
"What do you mean?" Buffy asked. "You can read, like, three languages."
"Five, actually, on a normal day. Th-The words here don't make any s-sense. I-It's gibberish!" Giles stepped away in frustration.
Buffy looked at the paper. "That's him."
"Who?"
"The kid I've been seeing around school. 'Twelve-year-old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his Kiddie League game Saturday. Doctors describe his condition as critical.' When was this published?" She looked at the date. "Last week. It says he's in a coma in intensive care. This is the boy from the hospital!"
"The first victim? Uh..." Giles paused in confusion. "You-You've seen him around the school?"
"Yeah, first when the spiders got Wendell, and - and then when I didn't know a thing on the history test. I thought it was weird seeing this kid around, but I forgot about it."
"Uh, the boy's been in a coma for a week. How can this be possible?"
"What, am I knowledge girl now?" Buffy asked. "Explanations are your terrain."
"Uh, well, um, there's astral projection, uh, the theory that, while one sleeps, one has another body, a-an astral body, which can travel through time and space."
"Billy's in a coma. That's like sleep, right?"
"In a manner of speaking, a-a-although one doesn't always awake from a coma."
"Could I be seeing Billy's asteroid body?" Buffy asked him.
"Astral body, and I-I don't know. As usual, one doesn't have an inordinate amount of information to work with."
Buffy thought of something. "Lucky nineteen."
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere. Why aren't you in class?"
Buffy looked toward the source of the voice. Her father, Hank Summers, had entered the library.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Buffy asked him. "Y-You're not supposed to pick me up till after school. Is something wrong?"
"Well, I-I need to talk to you."
"Something is wrong. Is it Mom?" Buffy asked.
"No, no, it's not your mother; she's fine." Hank lowered his voice. "Could I speak with you for a moment? Privately?"
"Um, sure! Yeah." Buffy looked at Giles. "Uh-oh! I'm sorry. Dad, this is Mr. Giles, the librarian. Uh, this is my dad, Hank Summers."
"My pleasure." Giles shook Hank's hand.
"Likewise."
"I'll be back." Buffy followed her father out of the library.
Giles tried reading the papers again.
Buffy and her dad walked outside.
"I came early, because there's something I've needed to tell you. About your mother and me. Why we split up."
"Well, you always told me it was because-"
"Uh, I know we always said it was because we'd just grown too far apart."
"Yeah, isn't that true?" Buffy asked him.
"Well, c'mon, honey, let's - let's sit down."
They sat on a bench.
Hank sighed. "You're old enough now to know the truth."
"Is there someone else?" Buffy asked.
"No. No, it was nothing like that."
"Then what was it?"
"It was you."
"Me?" Buffy asked in surprise.
"Having you. Raising you. Seeing you everyday. I mean...do you have any idea what that's like?"
"What?" Buffy asked in shock.
"Gosh, you don't even see what's right in front of your face, do you? Well, big surprise there; all you ever think about is yourself. You get in trouble. You embarrass us with all the crazy stunts you pull, and do I have to go on?"
"No. Please don't."
"You're sullen and...rude, and...you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were going to be..." Hank paused. "Hey, Buffy, let's be honest. Could you stand to live in the same house with a daughter like that?"
"Why are you saying all these things?" Buffy started crying, and a tear rolled down her cheek.
"Because they're true. I think that's the least we owe one another."
Buffy began to sniff and cry freely.
"You know, I don't think it's very mature, getting blubbery when I'm just trying to be honest. Speaking of which, I don't really get anything out of these weekends with you. So...what do you say we just don't do them anymore?"
Buffy stared at him in shock.
Hank patted her on the leg. "I sure thought you'd turn out differently." He got up and left.
Buffy couldn't do anything but watch him go for a moment, and then she looked down. She looked up again and saw Billy looking at her. Billy turned and left. Buffy fought back the tears.
Tara came into the library and walked over to Giles. "Where's Buffy?"
Giles looked at her. "Uh, she - she just stepped out. Her - Her father came by early. He - He needed to talk to her."
Tara sat on the edge of the table. "I've got a theory. Something is bringing people's nightmares to life."
Giles stared at her doubtfully.
"I'm just saying...Wendell had a dream, and then that exact thing happened."
"Eerie, I admit, but do you think that ties in with Laura?" Giles asked her.
"I dunno. Maybe she dreamed about getting beat up. We should ask Buffy when she gets back here."
Giles pondered the situation in silence for a moment. "I-I dreamt that I got lost in the stacks, and I...I couldn't read. Of course!"
"So...why is this happening?" Tara asked.
"Billy."
"Who's Billy?" Tara asked.
"He's a boy in the local hospital. He was beaten. He's in a coma. Somehow, I think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in."
"And he brought the nightmare world with him. How could he do that?" Tara asked.
"Things like that are easy when you live on a Hellmouth."
"Well, um, we have to stop it."
Giles nodded. "And soon. Or else everyone in Sunnydale is gonna be facing their own worst nightmares."
Tara got off the table. She and Giles walked out of the library to find Buffy.
"Buffy doesn't know this is happening. And given the sort of thing that she tends to dream about, it's imperative that we find her."
Tara knew exactly what he was talking about. Buffy had shared descriptions of her nightmares with her.
Tara looked at Giles. "Probably faster if we split up to look for her."
"Good idea."
He and Tara went off in opposite directions.
In the hallway, Cordelia opened her locker and looked at her mirror. Her hair had become totally frizzy, and she freaked out. She tried to force a comb through it to no avail.
"I don't understand! This can't be happening! I was just at the salon!" Cordelia put her hands on her head in terror. "Oh, my God!"
She tried the hair on the other side of her head, but it was just as bad.
Outside, Buffy was walking along sadly with her arms crossed. She noticed Billy going down some stairs to the gym entrance. When the students had all come out, he went in.
Buffy followed him in and found him sitting on the stands. "Billy?"
He looked at her a moment.
Buffy came closer. "Are you Billy Palmer?"
"I'm Billy."
"Why are you here?" Buffy sat down next to him. "Did something bad happen to you after your game?"
"Something bad?" Billy ran his hands through his hair. "I-I don't remember."
"Do you remember playing baseball?" Buffy asked him.
"Uh-huh. Yeah. I play second base."
"Are you 'lucky nineteen'?"
Billy looked at her. "That's what he calls me."
"Who?"
"The Ugly Man. He wants to kill me. A-And he hurt that girl."
"Why does he want to kill you, Billy?" Buffy asked.
"He's..." Billy fell silent.
"Billy, it's okay! What? Just tell me."
"He's here!"
Buffy suddenly felt a sharp blow to her back and got knocked down from behind. Then she saw the creature, which Billy called the Ugly Man; he was a tall, bulking figure in dark clothing with a bald head and a deformed, burned face. He hit Buffy in the face with his club-like arm, knocking her off the stands and onto the floor. She quickly got up as he tried another swing and missed. She ducked a third swing, kicked him in the jaw with a high side kick, and followed up with a spinning out-to-in crescent kick to his face. He wasn't fazed. He swung again with his club arm and hit her squarely in the back, knocking her into the stands. He swung again as she got up and knocked her legs out from under her, making her fall backward and onto the floor again.
Buffy rolled out of the way as he swung again, got up, and quickly followed Billy, who was already gone out the door, as well as she could; she was limping.
Once outside the gym doors, Buffy closed the door, picked up a hockey stick, and slid it through the door handles to slow the Ugly Man down. He pounded on the door as she leaned against it.
Buffy looked around, saw Billy, and went over to him. "Billy!"
"I'm sorry, I can't help it."
"Who is he?" Buffy asked him.
"He's the Ugly Man."
"He's too strong! I can't fight him! We have to find my friends. They can help us."
"We have to hide."
"No! He'll find us!" Buffy yelled.
"Yes, but we have to hide. That's how it happens. We hide, and then he comes."
Buffy stared him straight in the eyes and tried to muster a forceful tone. "We find my friends."
Billy nodded. They went to find the others.
Tara went down the stairs and walked down the hall. She froze in shock when she saw her locker. The word "DYKE" was spray-painted on it in black paint.
Tara punched her locker in frustration and then turned to see if anyone else was around. "Who did this?!"
"Me."
Tara looked and saw Cordelia standing there.
"Why?!" Tara cried.
"Because I can't stand you. Who gave you permission to exist?" Cordelia asked her.
A tear ran down Tara's cheek. "Cordy..."
"Don't 'Cordy' me, you fucking deviant." Cordelia suddenly punched Tara in the face, knocking her back against her locker.
Tara stared at Cordelia in anguish, and then she punched her in the face. Cordelia staggered backward. Tara ran past her and over to the door to the basement. Cordelia ran after her. Tara opened the door and went in. She turned around, closed the door, and locked it.
Cordelia started pounding on the door. "Open the fucking door, you fucking cunt! I'm gonna kill you, you fucking bitch! Open it!"
Tara stood with her back pressed against the door, sobbing.
Buffy and Billy came out of a door, outside.
Buffy was confused. "Wha...? I was sure this led to the library."
Billy looked at a couple students playing on the other side of the fence.
Buffy went over to him. "They're just playing. What is it? What's bothering you?"
"Baseball. When you lose, it's bad."
"Did you lose your game last week?" Buffy asked him.
Billy nodded. "It was my fault."
"Why was it your fault?"
"I missed a ball, and I should have caught it."
"You missed one ball, and the whole game was your fault? What, you were the only one playing? There wasn't eight other people on your team?" Buffy asked him.
"He said it was my fault."
"Who said?" Buffy was suddenly disturbed. "Billy, did he hurt you after the game?"
"Can we go another way to find your friends?" Billy asked her.
"Sure. Okay. We can go around the cafeteria."
Suddenly, the Ugly Man came in their direction and punched a student out.
"Bad idea!" Buffy looked around. "Uh, this way! C'mon!" She pushed Billy ahead of her through some bushes.
When they got through to the other side, they were in the cemetery, and it was night.
"What just happened?" Buffy asked, confused.
"Is this where your friends are?"
"No, it's not." Buffy walked and looked around. "I don't see the Ugly Man. I also don't know where the sun and the rest of the world went."
"Look at this."
Buffy looked down where Billy was looking and saw a freshly dug grave with an open pine coffin inside.
Billy looked at her. "I guess we're gonna bury someone. I wonder who died."
"Nobody died."
Buffy and Billy looked up at the Master in surprise.
"What's the fun of burying someone, if they're already dead?" he asked.
Buffy stared at him in disbelief. "You!"
"So! This is the Slayer! You're prettier than the last one."
"This isn't real. Y-You can't be free!"
"You still don't understand, do you? I am free, because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have little Billy to thank for that."
Buffy looked behind her, but Billy was gone. She turned back to the Master. "This is a dream."
"A dream is a wish your heart makes." The Master grabbed Buffy by the neck. "This is real life." He pulled her around, so her back was to the open grave. "Come on, Slayer! What are you afraid of?"
He growled and bared his teeth but didn't bite. He threw her into the coffin at the bottom of the grave, and the lid slammed shut.
"No! Help me!" Buffy yelled.
"How 'bout being buried alive?" The Master laughed maniacally.
Buffy heard the sound of dirt being shoveled into the grave.
"Somebody help me! Please! No! No! Please! No! No! No! Somebody help me! Please! No!" Buffy screamed, panicking.
The first shovelful of dirt hit the coffin, and some fell in through the cracks of the poorly constructed coffin.
"Please! No! Help me! No!" Buffy screamed.
The next shovelful of dirt covered the crack between the boards.
"Help!" Buffy screamed.
"This can't be real! This can't be real!" Tara cried. Suddenly, she came to a realization, and she wiped away her tears. "This isn't real!"
She felt a sudden surge of power. The pounding ceased.
Cautiously, Tara unlocked and opened the basement door. No one was standing on the other side. Cordelia was nowhere to be seen. Tara exited the basement and walked through the hall. She looked at her locker. It wasn't defaced.
Tara went through a door. Cordelia ran up to her.
Tara stared at her, uncertain. "Cordy?"
"Tara?" Cordelia asked.
"Listen. Our nightmares are coming true. But we can will them away."
Cordelia shook her head. "This school has so much weird shit happening, I fucking swear."
"C'mon. Let's find the others."
They started walking.
"What happened to you? Your hair's a mess." Tara paused in thought. "Oh. I guess I kinda answered my own question."
Cordelia closed her eyes and concentrated intensely on her hair. She eventually added humming for good measure. She opened her eyes and looked at Tara. "How's my hair?"
"Still a mess."
"I thought you said we can will our nightmares away."
"Well, I did." Tara paused and thought about that.
"So...what was your nightmare?" Cordelia asked.
Tara hesitated. "You...being a homophobic cunt, defacing my locker, punching me, and threatening to kill me."
Cordelia looked at Tara in shock. "Is that how you see me?!"
Tara shrugged timidly.
Cordelia stopped walking. "Is that something that you're genuinely afraid of?"
Tara stopped walking as well. "One of the things, I suppose."
Cordelia stared into Tara's eyes. "I would never do that."
"Oh, really?" Tara asked, recalling Cordelia's past behavior toward her.
Cordelia sighed. "I admit I might have done that in the past. Minus the murdering part. Maybe. But hanging around you weirdos has changed me. A little. I no longer view you as quite so detestable."
"Thanks?" Tara asked, confused. She started walking again. "C'mon, we gotta find Buffy and Mr. Giles."
Cordelia walked alongside Tara. They turned a corner and walked right into Giles.
"Ow!" Giles exclaimed.
"Sorry!" Tara apologized.
"No sign of Buffy?" Giles asked them.
Tara shook her head. "Not yet."
They walked out of the building and stopped. People were running past them.
Giles looked at the girls. "Things are getting worse. In a few hours, reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."
"Well, what do we do?" Tara asked him.
"The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy."
Tara shook her head. "Uh, no, we can't leave without Buffy."
"Agreed, but who knows where she might have gone?" Giles asked.
Tara saw a dimensional rift to the graveyard across the street. "Excuse me, when did they put a cemetery in across the street?"
"And when did they make it night over there?" Cordelia added.
They walked across the street, through the rift, and into the cemetery.
"Whose nightmare is this?" Cordelia asked.
Giles looked at a gravestone. On it was inscribed "Buffy Summers" and, below that, "1981 - 1997".
"It's mine."
They all gathered around the grave. Tara didn't know what to think and fought back tears.
Giles kneeled next to it. "I've failed...in my duty to protect you. I should have been more c-cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry..." He lay his hand on the fresh soil.
As he started to get up, a hand reached up through the dirt and grabbed his. Tara and Cordelia screamed. Giles tore himself away as Buffy came up through the dirt, out of the grave. She brushed herself off.
"Buffy?" Giles asked.
Buffy looked up. "I thought I was dead!" She grinned, revealing fangs in her mouth.
"Buffy, your teeth!" Tara exclaimed.
Buffy felt her teeth and realized what had happened. "Oh, shit!"
Tara took a couple steps toward her. "Buffy-"
Buffy turned away. "Don't look at me!"
Tara hugged her and kissed her on the lips. "I'm not afraid of you."
"You're not?" Buffy asked her.
"How could I be?" Tara smiled. "You're Buffy, the love of my life."
Giles was surprised. "You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire."
Buffy was horrified. "This isn't a dream."
"No. No, it's not. But there's a chance that we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if - if we can only wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop, and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now! I need you to hold together long enough to help us. Can you do that?" Giles asked her.
Buffy looked at Giles and nodded. "Yeah. I think I can."
"Thank you."
Tara let go of Buffy.
"Well, we better hurry...'cause I'm getting hungry." Buffy started walking away.
Cordelia followed her. "That is a...joke, right?"
Tara and Giles followed.
Cordelia looked at Giles. "Are you sure everything will go back once he's awake?"
"Oh, uh, positive."
"Well, how do we wake Billy up?" Cordelia asked him. "What if we can't?"
"Cordelia, do shut up."
Pandemonium reigned in the hospital. Buffy, Giles, Tara, and Cordelia ran down the hall to Billy's room. The doctor was there, looking into Billy's room.
"Doctor!" Giles called. "Is the boy Billy still here?"
"My hands!" The doctor raised his hands, showing they were severely crippled. He went away.
Giles, Tara, and Cordelia ran into Billy's room. Buffy remained in the hall as a lookout. She found a mirror and checked her reflection. She bared her teeth and felt her fangs.
"What now?" Cordelia asked.
"Um..." Giles bent down to Billy. "Billy! Billy?"
"That won't work." Billy's astral body was standing by the curtains.
Giles looked up at him. "Billy! Uh, Billy, you have to wake up."
"No. I told her. I have to hide."
"Why? From what?" Giles asked him.
"From him!" Buffy saw the Ugly Man coming toward her.
Giles ran over to the window to look.
"What do we do?" Cordelia asked.
"I think I know." Buffy took off her jacket.
Tara heard buzzing outside and peeked through the blinds to see giant black wasps flying over the town. "Whatever it is, it better be soon!"
"Glad you showed up!" Buffy told the Ugly Man. "You see, I'm having a really bad day."
"Lucky nineteen!" the Ugly Man exclaimed.
"Scary! I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you." Buffy took two steps forward. "And I'm one of them."
The Ugly Man stopped in his tracks and looked at her. Buffy roared and ran to attack. She jumped on him, knocked him down, and punched him twice in the face. She tried for a third punch, but he blocked her and got his foot under her stomach. He pushed hard, and Buffy fell backwards. She got up quickly and roundhouse-kicked him in the gut, making him double over, but he pushed her into the window of Billy's room and then threw her into the opposite wall. He tried to punch her with his club arm, but she ducked, and his arm slammed into a wall. She came up behind him and side-kicked him in the back. He slammed into her, knocking her through the door into Billy's room and against his bed. She got up to face him as he came in after her. He swung again with his club arm, but she grabbed it and roughly brought it down, breaking it over her knee. He wailed in pain, and she body-checked him into the wall, where he hit his head and slumped to the floor, unconscious. Everyone just stared at him.
"I-Is he dead?" Billy asked.
Buffy looked at him. "Come here, Billy."
"I-I don't-"
"You have to do the rest."
Billy slowly came around the bed and over to the Ugly Man.
"What are they doing?" Cordelia asked.
Giles gestured for her to be quiet.
Tara understood what was happening. Buffy took Billy's hand in her own. He looked up at her.
Buffy looked down at him. "No more hiding."
Billy looked down at the Ugly Man. Buffy let go of his hand, and he reached for the Ugly Man's neck. He peeled back his face, and a bright light streamed out.
In the next instant, everything was back to normal. The Ugly Man was gone, Buffy was herself again, Cordelia's hair was stylish, and the hospital was functioning. Buffy smiled and felt her teeth. Tara breathed a sigh of relief. Cordelia checked her reflection in the mirror. Billy woke up and opened his eyes.
"Hey, he's waking up!" Cordelia announced.
They all gathered around Billy's bed.
"I had the strangest dream. And you were in it, and you..." Billy paused in confusion. "Who are you people?"
They all smiled.
"Let's get a doctor." Giles turned toward the door.
A man came in as Giles and Cordelia were about to go get a doctor.
"Oh! Huh. Billy's got company." The coach took off his cap. "I-I-I'm his Kiddie League coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon. He's, uh, my lucky nineteen."
Buffy and Giles exchanged a look.
"So, um, how is he?" the coach asked.
Buffy stepped aside. "He's awake."
"What?" the coach asked in surprise.
"You blamed him for losing the game. So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?" Buffy accused him.
"What are you talking about?" he asked her.
Billy sat up. "You said that it was my fault that we lost."
The coach turned and tried to get away. Tara grabbed him by the jacket and stopped him. Cordelia helped keep him in place.
"It wasn't my fault. There's eight other players on the team. You know that." Billy lay down.
Buffy looked at Billy. "Nice going!" She smiled at him.
Billy smiled back.
Before they left the hospital, Buffy stopped in Laura's room. She was awake and reading a book.
Buffy knocked on the open door. "Hey."
Laura looked at her and smiled. "Hey, Buffy."
"Just so you know, that thing that attacked you won't be bothering you anymore. I took care of it."
Laura grinned. "That's great. Thank you."
"How are you feeling?" Buffy asked her.
"Better. Still got a way to go, though."
"If you want, I can bring you some of my paperbacks from home to read."
"That'd be great, thanks."
Buffy smiled. "Feel better, Laura."
"Thanks for visiting."
Back at the school, Buffy and Tara were walking along outside, holding hands.
"Well, it seems everything's back to normal."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah. I'm kinda gonna miss the fangs, though."
Tara looked at her in surprise. "Seriously?"
Buffy looked at her. "Uh-huh. They were fucking dope. They would've come in handy. Sometimes, I just can't tear through beef jerky."
Tara laughed. "So...what was it like? Being a vampire."
Buffy thought about it. "I felt stronger. More powerful. Like I had all of the strengths and none of the weaknesses of both a Slayer and a vampire. A Slaypire, if you will."
"Did you still feel like yourself?" Tara asked her.
"What do you mean?"
"Did you still have your soul?"
Buffy shrugged. "I assume so. I mean...I have it now, right? I mean...how do I know if I have a soul or not? I'm just...me...as far as I'm concerned. Besides, I wasn't bitten, so I wasn't a 'real' vampire. I just had a taste of it." She looked at Tara and couldn't hold in her laughter.
Tara smiled and rolled her eyes.
Buffy suddenly grew somber and shook her head. "I just can't believe a Kiddie League coach would do something like that."
Tara looked at her. "That shit gets intense. I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents. I'm just glad he's behind bars, where he belongs."
"That was pretty heroic, Tara, grabbing him and all."
"Well, I just did what anyone else would've."
"Personal question?" Buffy asked.
"Sure."
"When I was a vampire, were you still, like, attracted to me?" Buffy asked her. "Not in love; I know that. I mean, like, aroused."
"Yeah. Is that fucked up?" Tara asked her.
Buffy thought about it and shrugged. "Nah." She was silent for a moment and then smiled. "It kinda turns me on."
Tara smiled sexily. "Oh, yeah? Gonna bite me?"
Buffy grinned. "You into that?"
"Maybe."
They moved closer together. But then they were interrupted by a honking sound. They looked.
Hank drove up, honked, got out of the car, and waved. "Hi!"
Buffy smiled. "Hi, Dad!"
Hank came up the steps and hugged his daughter. "Hi, sweetheart! Oh, it's so good to see you!"
Buffy hugged him. "Same."
Hank released her. "How was your day?"
Buffy released him. "Fine. You know, usual."
"Buffy!"
Buffy looked. Dawn ran up the steps and threw her arms around her big sister in a big bear hug.
Buffy grinned and hugged her little sister. "Hey, Dawn!"
Dawn looked at Tara and then at Buffy. "Who's your friend?"
Buffy cleared her throat and let go of Dawn. "Um, Dawn, Dad, this is Tara." She put an arm around Tara's waist. "My girlfriend."
Hank was stunned. He slowly regained his composure. "Oh." He nodded at Tara. "Hello."
Tara nodded at Hank. "Hello."
Dawn, meanwhile, could barely contain her excitement. Every so often, a squeal escaped her lips. Eventually, unable to control herself, she hugged Tara.
"Oh!" Tara exclaimed in surprise. She gently hugged Dawn.
After an awkward moment, they released each other.
Buffy kissed Tara on the lips and then smiled. "Have a nice weekend, sweetie. I'll see you on Monday."
Tara smiled. "Okay. Stay safe. I love you."
"I love you, too."
Buffy, Dawn, and Hank headed down the steps.
Dawn looked at Buffy. "So you're going blonde?"
"What?" Buffy asked. "Oh! Yeah. You like it?"
Dawn shrugged. "It's okay. But what's wrong with brown hair?" She then shook her head to whip her hair in her attempt at a glamour pose.
Buffy smiled in amusement. "Nothing, you Twinkie. I just felt like a change."
They got into the car and fastened their seatbelts. Hank started the car and started driving.
"Oh, Dad, we gotta stop by the house, so I can get my bag."
"Okay."
Buffy looked at Dawn. "So what have you been up to?"
Dawn smiled. "I came up with this new creation. I call it burger in a bowl."
Buffy stared at her in confusion.
"Basically, you take ground beef, season it with black pepper, add chopped onion and slices of cheese, and nuke it in the microwave. Then you add ketchup, mustard, and mayo, and voila!" Dawn smiled proudly. "Burger in a bowl."
Buffy thought about that for a moment. "That's actually a decent idea for a change."
"So what have you been up to?" Dawn asked her.
"Oh, let's see. Moved to a new town. Transferred to a new school. Made some new friends. Fell in love. Started a band. Discovered I'm a Vampire Slayer. Fought a witch. Fought a praying mantis. Dealt with a gang of bullies that were possessed by hyenas. Fought a robotic demon. Teamed up with a living puppet to defeat an organ-harvesting demon. And...temporarily became a vampire."
Dawn stared at her sister for a moment, and then she looked straight ahead. "My burger thing's cooler."
Hank looked at his daughters in the rear-view mirror. "So...where do you two wanna stop for dinner?"
Dawn looked at Buffy. "Doublemeat Palace?"
Buffy shrugged. "Okay."
Dawn looked out the window as they arrived on Revello Drive. "Whose ugly-ass van is that in the driveway?"