Spike leaned back against the filthy brick wall behind him. The feel of the
music combined with the hundreds of beating hearts thrummed through him as
he closed his eyes and took a long drag from his cigarette.
Running a hand through his blond locks, Spike finally pushed himself upright and kicked away the remains of his dinner; a young, slim woman with long red hair. He looked down at her for a moment.
It was always redheads these days. There was something about them, he didn't know what. At this thought, Spike scoffed to himself. He knew what it was that drew him to them. *Reminds me of my Red, that's why. God, I'm so pathetic. I'll have her, then she'll be out of my system. For good.*
Somewhat placated by this thought, Spike strode back to his ancient DeSoto and climbed in. Then, with a newly lit cigarette dangling from his bottom lip, Spike stepped on the gas and sped down the freeway towards his ultimate destination.
Sunnydale.
~@~
Willow didn't know how much more of this she could take. She had been trying to listen to Mr. Draper explain that day's lesson, but his voice just blended in with the cacophony of voices clamoring around in her brain. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shut it out.
*Oh my god. She's so hot. I just want to push her up against that wall and - .* Willow didn't hear the rest of the particularly demented boy's train of thought as he was interupted by a half dozen students trying to calculate the rate of motion of Train A in the problem that was presently written on the board.
Then Xander's voice intruded into the noise. *Okay. So Train B goes - no wait - that's not right. Train C...C...ummmm..Cordy. God. She looks so beautiful..No! Must not focus on Cordy's extreme lusciousness...oh, my. Now she's - yes! Dear god, please. Pencil..pick it up..Lean just a little farther.* Willow looked over to see Xander arching over in an extremely obvious attempt to see down Cordelia's blouse. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at his antics, but the smile faded quickly as the rest of the class joined back in, adding their noise to the din in her head.
Willow pulled off her sweater and crammed it over her ears in an attempt to block out some of the noise, but to no avail. The whole school was in her head.
More and more voices kept joining the others. "Too many voices," Willow mumbled. Buffy gave Willow a worried look and put her hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Too many voices. Too many voices. Too many voices." Willow repeated the phrase over and over again and began to rock back and forth in her chair.
~@~
By the time Buffy and Xander had managed to get Willow back to the library, their friend was too far gone to recognize anybody.
Giles looked up as the trio entered and headed over to them. "I have been researching that spell of Willow's and I think I may have found a way to reverse it's affects."
"Thank God," Xander said as he cradled his broken friend. "She's fading Giles. We have to do something. Now."
"Don't worry. I've got the ingredients. It's a simple enough counter-spell. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Giles disappeared into his office and returned a few minutes later with a book and a few bowls containing various herbs.
Buffy aided her watcher in setting up the candles and herbs while Xander held Willow and stroked her hair while she continued to rock and mutter to herself. "Too many voices. Gotta stop. Too many. So much pain. Please. Too many. Too many. Too many."
Giles stood in the middle of the candles and recited a short incantation. A flash of white light filled the room, extinguishing the candles. Willow let out a blood curdling scream as the energy entered her and mixed with the energy already in her, but when the smoke cleared, Willow was no better.
Giles shook his head. "I don't understand. It should have worked. Unless it's not that spell, but I don't see any other -"
Giles was promptly cut off as Willow jerked herself out of Xander's arms. Flailing wildly she knocked away Xander's arms as he attempted to gather her back to him, punching him solidly in the eye in the process. As Xander cradled his broken face Willow turned and ran out into the hallway.
Running a hand through his blond locks, Spike finally pushed himself upright and kicked away the remains of his dinner; a young, slim woman with long red hair. He looked down at her for a moment.
It was always redheads these days. There was something about them, he didn't know what. At this thought, Spike scoffed to himself. He knew what it was that drew him to them. *Reminds me of my Red, that's why. God, I'm so pathetic. I'll have her, then she'll be out of my system. For good.*
Somewhat placated by this thought, Spike strode back to his ancient DeSoto and climbed in. Then, with a newly lit cigarette dangling from his bottom lip, Spike stepped on the gas and sped down the freeway towards his ultimate destination.
Sunnydale.
~@~
Willow didn't know how much more of this she could take. She had been trying to listen to Mr. Draper explain that day's lesson, but his voice just blended in with the cacophony of voices clamoring around in her brain. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shut it out.
*Oh my god. She's so hot. I just want to push her up against that wall and - .* Willow didn't hear the rest of the particularly demented boy's train of thought as he was interupted by a half dozen students trying to calculate the rate of motion of Train A in the problem that was presently written on the board.
Then Xander's voice intruded into the noise. *Okay. So Train B goes - no wait - that's not right. Train C...C...ummmm..Cordy. God. She looks so beautiful..No! Must not focus on Cordy's extreme lusciousness...oh, my. Now she's - yes! Dear god, please. Pencil..pick it up..Lean just a little farther.* Willow looked over to see Xander arching over in an extremely obvious attempt to see down Cordelia's blouse. She rolled her eyes and smiled slightly at his antics, but the smile faded quickly as the rest of the class joined back in, adding their noise to the din in her head.
Willow pulled off her sweater and crammed it over her ears in an attempt to block out some of the noise, but to no avail. The whole school was in her head.
More and more voices kept joining the others. "Too many voices," Willow mumbled. Buffy gave Willow a worried look and put her hand on the redhead's shoulder. "Too many voices. Too many voices. Too many voices." Willow repeated the phrase over and over again and began to rock back and forth in her chair.
~@~
By the time Buffy and Xander had managed to get Willow back to the library, their friend was too far gone to recognize anybody.
Giles looked up as the trio entered and headed over to them. "I have been researching that spell of Willow's and I think I may have found a way to reverse it's affects."
"Thank God," Xander said as he cradled his broken friend. "She's fading Giles. We have to do something. Now."
"Don't worry. I've got the ingredients. It's a simple enough counter-spell. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes." Giles disappeared into his office and returned a few minutes later with a book and a few bowls containing various herbs.
Buffy aided her watcher in setting up the candles and herbs while Xander held Willow and stroked her hair while she continued to rock and mutter to herself. "Too many voices. Gotta stop. Too many. So much pain. Please. Too many. Too many. Too many."
Giles stood in the middle of the candles and recited a short incantation. A flash of white light filled the room, extinguishing the candles. Willow let out a blood curdling scream as the energy entered her and mixed with the energy already in her, but when the smoke cleared, Willow was no better.
Giles shook his head. "I don't understand. It should have worked. Unless it's not that spell, but I don't see any other -"
Giles was promptly cut off as Willow jerked herself out of Xander's arms. Flailing wildly she knocked away Xander's arms as he attempted to gather her back to him, punching him solidly in the eye in the process. As Xander cradled his broken face Willow turned and ran out into the hallway.