"God that could not have gone more horribly!", Ethan Rayne yelled. He was usually not one for violent outbursts, but his plans had gone horribly awry tonight

    "Well 'pard, its that Chaos magick o' yers. Unpredictable and the like.", the vampire Lyle Gorch replied throwing cards into his cowboy hat at the end of the bed.

    "You don't get it! That behemoth was the best chance I had at protecting myself!", Ethan yelled again.

    "You sayin' I can't?", Lyle asked looking up his demon visage

    "Well your gang has done a really sodding BANG UP JOB SO FAR!", Ethan yelled again, "Especially considering your gang is just down to you!"

    "Watch yerself meat. I might forget about all the money yer payin' me to protect yer skinny hide and decide to have a snack.", Lyle growled in warning.

    "Oh please. I know you're more interested in money than you are in killing me.", Ethan said, crossing his arms

    "I dunno. You're looking pretty good right now.", Lyle said showing his fangs

    "I'll double what I'm paying you now.", Ethan replied

    "Funny, I just lost my appetite.", Lyle snorted as he went back to throwing cards in his hat.

    Ethan sat down in a huff. Things had not been going well lately. In fact, things had been going miserably. They were downright bloody awful. Not only was he back in Sunnydale, he was sharing a motel room with a very annoying vampire who had been raised in the old west. The worst thing was this vampire was his only protection against THEM. He had run into Lyle and his gang in Arizona when he was on the run from the things that had been following him across the country. Hell, across the world. Ethan had managed to buy off the vampires with all the cash he had left in the world and even some cheap magicks he knew.

    However, the vampires hadn't exactly been a proper defense against the things that were pursuing him. Oh no, they were little more than an annoyance. Only Lyle remained, partly because he was more experienced than the rest of his gang and partly because he knew to run when he had to. Clearly, Ethan needed better help. That's when he thought about using a spell to summon a beast to come to his aid. Just a little something from the local waters. He would have settled for a sea serpent, but when he got Gaira he was happy. Unfortunately, Chaos Magick being, well chaotic, his hold over the beast hadn't lasted very long. To add to his woes, Gaira seemingly disappeared. The news people were crediting Wonder Man for the monster disappearing. But Ethan knew that Ripper's little Slayer and her gaggle of chums had to be involved somehow.

    He sighed as he looked to his right hand and the object he had duct taped to it, "All this trouble over this bloody trinket."

    "Ya know, If I was you I'd just give it to them.", Lyle responded

    "Yes and that's why I'm the brains and you're the hired muscle, Lyle. You think I'm daft enough to hand something over to those things if they actually want it? I may be an arse, but I'm not a stupid arse.", Ethan replied rolling his eyes

    "Yeah yeah. Well, think I'm gonna head out to have a smoke. Maybe admire the destruction. Scrounge up a bite.", Lyle said putting his hat and boots on.

    "You're going to leave me here alone?!!", Ethan screamed in fear.

     "Yer a big boy Ethan. I think you can handle yourself for a little while. Though if ya need me to leave on the night light, I will.", Lyle chuckled as he opened the door. He stopped chuckling when the drill bit entered his forehead and dug in.

    Lyle gurgled and tried to fight off his attacker, but couldn't. He was too rapidly losing his frontal lobe. A violent push sent him sprawling on the motel floor. Ethan swallowed in fear. They had found him.

    Across town, in a graveyard to be exact, a young woman stumbled in the mud as the cold rain beat down. She was cold, and wet, and crying. None of this was right. None of it at all. Just a few minutes ago she was standing in Willow's room by the window. Willow had on the nicest white blouse. But then it was red all of a sudden. It was like blood was on it, but Willow wasn't bleeding. She slammed her fist in the mud and let out a frustrated cry. Where was she? Where was Willow?

    "W-what's going on?", Tara cried as she lay in the mud.

    The crow that had pecked on her tombstone immediately landed in front of her and cawed at her. Tara looked at it dumbfounded.

    "D-did you just say something?", Tara asked it, her eyes wide.

    The crow cawed again.

    Tara sat up and held her knees in front of her as it cawed, "Chosen? What do you mean I'm chosen?"

    The crow continued to caw at her, flapping its wings slightly.

    "B-but I'm not dead.", Tara said giving it an odd look. Well slightly more odd as she was talking to a crow. The crow continued.

    "Oh. I was dead.", Tara replied to it, looking down. The crow cocked its head and cawed slightly.

    "Yeah I guess I am taking it all pretty well. This is a Hellmouth. And it's not like like I'm the first dead person to come back to life here.", Tara spoke to it, feeling more at ease, "How long have I been dead?"

    The crow hopped up onto her shoulder and started cackling again.

    "Wait a minute, y-you said I'm back from the dead but you don't know how long I've been dead?", Tara said looking at the bird. The bird began cawing again.

    "Right. Just the messenger. Sorry.", Tara slightly blushed.

    The crow leapt off of her shoulder and flew away at a startling rate.

    "Hey, where are you going?!", Tara called after it.

    The crow cawed back its response.

    "You're taking me h-home?", Tara replied.

    The crow cackled again.

    "Yes I'm going to follow you. No need to get snippy.", Tara said getting up.

    Ethan sweat profusely as he backed against the wall in fright. They were here and his only method of protection had just suffered a lobotomy. He stared in abject fear of the thing standing above Lyle Gorch's prone form.

    It was only average sized, but size was not what made it frightening. The bare parts of its body seemed to ooze blood and gore. Its arms seemed to be pure muscle. Bare muscle. Bare sinew. The parts of the body that were not bare were covered with black leather and wires. The wires seemed to intertwine with its body and in some cases even traveled through it. The creature's back seemed to be pure black metal. This is the area the drill bit had come. This is the area where it retreated to after it tore into Lyle's head. Speaking of heads, this creature had his covered with what seemed to be a black metal version of a bondage mask. Barbed wire wrapped around the head and went into the mouth of the mask.

    Two others soon joined this creature. One was a female who had a demonic visage, yet disturbingly appealing visage to Ethan. She wore clothing that would make a dominatrix blush and at first glance seemed to have her hair in dreadlocks. But it wasn't hair. They were tendrils, each with a little horn at the end. The other was a taller creature similarly garbed in black leather. Its head was hideous, repulsive and twisted, devoid of eyes. But the sounds it made, the sounds were the worst because its jaws chattered endlessly. Teeth ground upon teeth. The sound made Ethan want to heave, but he held it in. When the final member of the group entered, Ethan did heave. Explosively.

    He was the by the far the tallest of the newcomers. His black leather clothes hung at his body and almost made a skirt or kilt on his lower body. As you traveled up you would see various rips in the front of his clothing on the stomach and chest area. Coinciding with these rips were deep lacerations. His face was impassive and cold. His eyes were as dark as pitch. And his entire head was covered in nails.

    "Ethan," it began in a cold, deep voice, "it's time."

    "N-no, get away!", Ethan screeched in horror.

    "Oh Ethan. Your fear is so appetizing. Your pain must be absolutely mouth watering.", the creature replied coldly.

    "Oh God.", Ethan said closing his eyes tightly.

    "No sense in praying. He doesn't listen anyway.", the creature said again as it advanced.

    Ethan threw up his hands in defense, "You can't harm me as long as I hold the box!"

    The creature regarded the object duct taped to Ethan's hand.

    "Can't I? You've run for weeks Ethan. And we've found you. Your defenses, we've shattered. Can you run any further? I have hurt you in this way. And soon, I will raze your flesh and suck the marrow from your bones. And I will enjoy making you enjoy every agonizing second. Give me the box and accept destiny. Your fate is inevitable as is this world's. As inevitable as pain.", the creature said in an almost soothing voice.

    Ethan looked around and saw one chance for escape. He ran past the creature and leapt onto the bed and past the others and threw himself through the window, "Lucky for me destiny is all a lot of rot!"

    The female moved to pursue.

    "No Angelique. Let him go. There is nowhere left to run. He is hanging by his last thread. We will find him, and when we do the pain will be most succulent. Until then, the demon will do.", the lead creature said as hooks on chains seemingly came from nowhere and dug into Lyle Gorch and hung him high over the bed. The vampire's quick healing factor had already repaired his brain. He finally knew what had happened as he felt the skin ripped from his body. He was damned.

     Buffy's house was reasonably quiet after Gaira's rampage and the Kevin Smith movies. Everyone was asleep with visions of Jason Mewes being eaten by the Gargantua. Everyone but Willow that was. She was sitting in the kitchen upset by the earlier events of the evening. She had given in to the dark again. She was weak. No one could really help her with her problem. No one understood. Certainly not Kennedy. Not even Buffy and Xander could understand. Only someone who used magick could understand. Someone like Amy or….

    "Tara?", Willow said in shock as the back door opened.

    "Willow.", Tara smiled.