Title: Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Author: mispel

E-mail: mispel@email.com

Rating: PG

Summary: Lessons revisited. The truth about how the 'zombies' came to haunt the school and Spike and Wood's involvement in their appearance. Spike has a visit from a juvenile delinquent. Xander tries to piece together some clues. Principal Flutie and Dr. Gregory join the fun.

Spoilers: season 7

Disclaimer: I own none of it. Joss, ME and Fox own all

Feedback: Any comments would be welcome.

A/N: I filled in the blanks to try and explain a few things. Scenes that are not in the fic happened as they did on the show. The timeline is a tiny bit different.

Principal Wood And The Manifest Spirits Of Sunnydale High

Chapter 4

All Wood had with him was the talisman he had made and his flashlight. The smelly charm that would have kept him safe from the spirits was left behind and he didn't dare go back into that room to get it. There was more he had to do before the manifest spirits were under his control, but right then he couldn't remember what.

Once out the door of the big room, he found himself in a new corridor branching out in too many directions. He picked a way that his vague sense of direction told him led out. He took only one step and principal Snyder appeared in front of him.

"Where do you think you're going, young man?"

"I have a pass," Wood joked.

Wood was starting to feel a little clearer as the oppressive air of the big room was behind him and the slimy, half digested head of principal Snyder stood out in the dark in front of him. He remembered the rest of the ritual. He held up the talisman ready to break it. He started the chant that would dispel the ghouls as soon as the talisman was broken. But a hand grabbed his arm from behind, squeezing as if trying to dig into his bones. Snyder's grotesque face smiled at his pain. Somehow Wood held onto the talisman and even got an elbow into rotting flesh behind him and set himself loose.

Wood's flashlight had dropped out of his hand. It lay on the floor, out of reach, giving what little light there was. He pressed against a wall and saw that his attacker was a new, familiar face, but not much of it. Flesh had been chewed off, gaping holes in his cheeks stood open to reveal his side teeth. One eye socket stood empty. Ribs and ripped up entrails hung out of his middle. His legs and arms were just gnawed bones.

"Principal Flutie. Why not? The more the merrier," Wood said feeling like he should have been expecting him.

"Glad you feel that way. Because here at Sunnydale High, we try to be inclusive and accepting of differences, we encourage diversity and..." Flutie droned.

"Stuff it, Flutie!" Snyder snapped at his predecessor.

Wood tried to take advantage of the apparent disagreement but as soon as he started to chant again, they were both on him. He kicked away one then the other and started to get away.

A sweetly smiling Ms. Calendar blocked his path briefly but he pushed past her.

As he stumbled down the corridor, he left behind him the small pool of light cast by his flashlight.

The door was gone again. Spike had only stepped inside to hide. Now he was being punished again.

"No supper. No supper," he mumbled as he walked a tight circle in the middle of the room.

She was in vamp face, leaning casually against one of the walls.

"Can I bum a smoke?"

Spike kept walking.

"Hey, man! I'm talking to you!"

She moved over and stood nearly in Spike's path. Spike passed very close to her. She stuck out her foot and, to Spike's surprise, she tripped him and he fell.

"It's the least you owe me. I thought you were cool and you served me up to your crazy, doll playing girlfriend!" Sheila shouted leaning down over him.

"Do you even remember my name? It used to be all over the school walls. I carved it into desks. With a knife. And teachers were too afraid to say anything," she sounded proud as she spoke.

Then she kicked Spike casually.

"I used to sneak down here. And I knew my way around," she boasted, sneering at Spike as he was hunched over with his forehead to the floor.

She walked around him, and kicked his other side.

"I went away for a while. Who would want to stay here if they could go to LA? But I got back for the big ascension. Got myself speared by this kid I cheated off in math."

She looked down at him again.

"Any of this ring any bells?"

She kicked him a few more times and disappeared.

Spike hadn't looked up at her. There were too many. It was no use trying to place them. But they didn't usually kick.

Once Xander got the stolen plans home and started to look them over, he realized he didn't know what he expected to find. An inscription reading "here there be monsters", pentagrams, secret passageways marked on plans anyone could get their hands on. Maybe the Hellmouth marked with a big, red X. He sighed. Feeling very unqualified, he wished for Willow or Giles, or both.

Xander wanted more to go on then old plans, vague rumors, and the word of a drunk. The basement didn't used to be any worse than the rest of the school. It had to be something new. He heard a story about some strange guys making a midnight delivery to the basement, but he couldn't trace the story to the source. Some people said they were dressed like special ops, others said they wore dark robes, black suits or ninja outfits. He tired asking discreet questions but there was a lot of the Sunnydale kind of denial going around. There was still one guy he couldn't find. One of the electricians had told him about this Gil guy. He liked to go down into the basement and scavenge for stuff.

"Gil said it was spooky and you could get lost just like that. Then Gil flicked his damn lighter," the electrician told him. He hadn't liked Gil, suspected him of 'scavenging' some equipment out of his van. "God damn lighter. And the guy didn't even smoke. Ex smoker, gotta keep those hands busy."

The electrician had mumbled something about Gil being a thief and good riddance.

Xander remembered the annoying lighter flicking. But not much else about him.

One day Gil just didn't show up for work. That was months ago. Maybe that was nothing more than his informal way of giving a resignation.

Xander turned on some more lights and looked over the plans. He kept at it until his eyes crossed in protest and then he went to bed, hoping he had exhausted himself into dreamless sleep.

As Wood walked blindly down a basement corridor, he started to chant again. He was out of breath and he stumbled over the incantation and cursed.

"They can't touch the talisman," he reminded himself unable to see more than a foot ahead of him in the dark.

"But we can touch you," a man said as he appeared in front of Wood and hit him with his own flashlight.

From the floor, Wood looked up to see him holding the flashlight under his chin. It was really unnecessary since the man would have been just as frightening without it. His face was white, almost as white as his hair. There was something about his features, like they were out of place, as if his face was stretched.

"Looking for this?" The man asked about the flashlight.

"I can't quite place you. Help me out," Wood asked the new spirit and stood up.

"I thought the lab coat would be a dead giveaway. This might help," he spoke mildly.

He then stuck his hand into his neck and pushed his head to the side revealing where it was separated from his body.

"Sorry," Wood said, still not recognizing him.

"But you know all about us. You read all those files and reports," the man mocked.

Then he shone the flashlight at his name sewn on his white coat.

"Dr. Gregory. My apologies," Wood said as his breathing evened out.

"If you drop it you can leave," Dr. Gregory said as he motioned to the talisman. "I'll even show you the way out."

Wood only held tighter to the talisman. He tried to start the chant again, low, under his breath but he was hit in the neck from behind.

He bent over but managed not to fall. It was principal Flutie again.

"The principal always gets it. You're ahead of schedule," Dr. Gregory said looking at his watch.

"Dying on the first day of school. I can't beat that," Flutie said his gouged face managing to look almost sad.

"I was always an overachiever," Wood said positioning himself against the wall again.

Anticipating a fight, Wood put the talisman in the inside pocket of his jacket so he wouldn't lose it.

"This is my school," Snyder growled as he joined them.

"Our school," Flutie corrected him.

Snyder grabbed Wood and pulled, trying to drag him back where he came from. Wood wrenched himself out of his grip but then the science teacher shoved him back. Flutie joined the fun and held Wood by the collar. In his desperation, Wood started to chant and reached for the talisman again but Snyder slammed his arm into the wall. Wood got his other arm free and punched Snyder feeling the slick goo of his face coat his knuckles. He side kicked Flutie and then Gregory quickly and then he ran.

As Wood grabbed the flashlight off the floor, he nearly fell, but steadied himself and went on as fast as he could. He fumbled for the talisman, but he ran headlong into Flutie and was knocked backward into a door. He fought to recover his breath while trying to get the talisman out of his pocket. He started the chant only to stop when Flutie backhanded him and Snyder got him from the other side. Ms. Calendar's grotesque smile was in front of his face.

"The boys can't have all the fun," she said as she moved as if to bite him.

He ducked away from her and hit Flutie in his hollowed out gut and ran.

To be continued