DISCLAIMER: I do not own anything to do with Buffy the Vampire Slayer - it
all belongs to Joss Whedon.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't posted in a long time - I've had this other project. But here is the next chapter. It's kinda short, but I will post again very soon. Hope you all enjoy, thanks for the reviews so far, keep doing that please!
Chapter 3
'Witch hunters?' Buffy looked at him insanely. Suddenly, Dawn's facial expression changed.
'Oh my G-d, he's right!' They all turned to look at her. She began to explain.
'I was just reading up on some stuff, and I came upon this witch hunter thing.' Everyone looked fairly impressed. 'Yeah, they pathologically hate witches for some reason and want to hurt them as much as possible. I read on and there's this thing they do called 'stunning', where they turn witches blue like this.' Dawn had a triumphant look on her face.
Xander seemed annoyed. 'And you couldn't have told us this while we were all worried sick about Willow and waiting for Spike to come?'
Dawn looked offended. 'Sorry.' She said defensively. 'I just didn't remember.'
Spike continued. 'Well, as I was saying, she'll stay like this for 24 hours, and if a spell isn't done in that time. . .well. . .she'll die.'
At the last word, everyone gasped, and Kennedy almost collapsed to the floor. Buffy however, remained calm. 'Well, what's this spell? Can you tell it to us so we can get Willow back to her normal skin colour?'
'Well, you know I would,' Spike sighed. 'But unfortunately I don't know it. You're gonna have to look it up.'
There was a sound of protest. 'Oh come on, Spike, are you telling me that Willow's life hangs on us researching and finding a spell in less than a day?!' Buffy argued.
He smiled darkly. 'At least you're all experts at it.' He walked past her towards the dining room, and glanced at all the closed books on the table. 'OK, everyone, put some coffee on, grab a book and let's get going.'
**********
Two hours later, in the wee hours of the night, they were all looking at the books frantically for any spell that sounded remotely like what Spike had said. Dawn was the one who was most annoyed, considering she was sure she'd seen it briefly when she'd read about witch hunters, but couldn't remember which book it was, since they all looked pretty much the same. Kennedy however, was the most distressed out of all of them at the prospect of losing Willow. She was researching least.
'Every time I think about Willow potentially dying in about 21 hrs, my stomach just flips!' She started sobbing harder. 'You guys, what if she dies?'
Buffy however seemed irritated. 'Look, Kennedy, she's not gonna die. This spell exists, and it's in one of these books, it's just a question of time until we find it.'
'But what if time runs out?!' She sounded panicked.
'Alright, that's it!' Buffy had reached the end of her tether. She slammed the book she was checking on the table so hard everyone jumped. 'I have faced a lot of crap in my lifetime as a slayer. Willow - and everyone else for that matter - has been in worse situations.' She looked around at everyone who seemed to be silently agreeing.
'Look, that's not the point! The point is, we've all gotten through it. And we will this time.' She looked back at Kennedy. 'You have to be confident. You're a slayer - where is the slayer attitude? Just don't give up, and believe me, everything will be fine.'
Everyone was silent for a while looking through the books. 'You know what I'm curious about though,' Anya suddenly said. Despite her being drunk a few hours ago, she had sobered up. 'How did this witch hunter guy find Willow?'
Spike seemed informed on the subject. 'These guys don't go around wearing big 'I'm a witch hunter' signs. They blend into the crowd, just like one of us. They work in jobs where people tend to tell them a lot about their private lives, after which they follow you, or track the witch down themselves. They put the witches under this curse, which doesn't kill them straight away, because this spell to reverse it is apparently meant to be some kind of test on whether the witch deserves to live.'
Anya scoffed at him slightly. 'Yeah, but what idiot would be stupid enough to blab all over the place that they live with a witch. . .' She stopped, feeling as if she didn't need the coffee to keep her wide awake anymore. 'Spike, you know you said witch hunters take jobs where people tell them a lot about their private lives?'
He looked at her surprised. 'Yeah. . .'
She swallowed, which seemed to be very difficult at that moment. She was fidgeting with her hands under the table nervously. 'What kinda job would that be?'
Spike thought for a moment, or what seemed like a lifetime to Anya. 'I dunno, hair dressers, therapists, bartenders. . .'
Anya felt as if she was being swallowed up, perhaps in her own guilt. Bartenders, he'd just said, bartenders. She had been pouring her soul out to a bartender just a few hours ago. . .what had she said. . ."then there's Willow. She's this majorly powerful witch". . .how could she have been so stupid?. . .now that she thought about it, he hadn't seemed that surprised when she kept mentioning supernatural things. . .and it slowly dawned on her, like an evil raising its head.
It was her fault Willow was dying.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry I haven't posted in a long time - I've had this other project. But here is the next chapter. It's kinda short, but I will post again very soon. Hope you all enjoy, thanks for the reviews so far, keep doing that please!
Chapter 3
'Witch hunters?' Buffy looked at him insanely. Suddenly, Dawn's facial expression changed.
'Oh my G-d, he's right!' They all turned to look at her. She began to explain.
'I was just reading up on some stuff, and I came upon this witch hunter thing.' Everyone looked fairly impressed. 'Yeah, they pathologically hate witches for some reason and want to hurt them as much as possible. I read on and there's this thing they do called 'stunning', where they turn witches blue like this.' Dawn had a triumphant look on her face.
Xander seemed annoyed. 'And you couldn't have told us this while we were all worried sick about Willow and waiting for Spike to come?'
Dawn looked offended. 'Sorry.' She said defensively. 'I just didn't remember.'
Spike continued. 'Well, as I was saying, she'll stay like this for 24 hours, and if a spell isn't done in that time. . .well. . .she'll die.'
At the last word, everyone gasped, and Kennedy almost collapsed to the floor. Buffy however, remained calm. 'Well, what's this spell? Can you tell it to us so we can get Willow back to her normal skin colour?'
'Well, you know I would,' Spike sighed. 'But unfortunately I don't know it. You're gonna have to look it up.'
There was a sound of protest. 'Oh come on, Spike, are you telling me that Willow's life hangs on us researching and finding a spell in less than a day?!' Buffy argued.
He smiled darkly. 'At least you're all experts at it.' He walked past her towards the dining room, and glanced at all the closed books on the table. 'OK, everyone, put some coffee on, grab a book and let's get going.'
**********
Two hours later, in the wee hours of the night, they were all looking at the books frantically for any spell that sounded remotely like what Spike had said. Dawn was the one who was most annoyed, considering she was sure she'd seen it briefly when she'd read about witch hunters, but couldn't remember which book it was, since they all looked pretty much the same. Kennedy however, was the most distressed out of all of them at the prospect of losing Willow. She was researching least.
'Every time I think about Willow potentially dying in about 21 hrs, my stomach just flips!' She started sobbing harder. 'You guys, what if she dies?'
Buffy however seemed irritated. 'Look, Kennedy, she's not gonna die. This spell exists, and it's in one of these books, it's just a question of time until we find it.'
'But what if time runs out?!' She sounded panicked.
'Alright, that's it!' Buffy had reached the end of her tether. She slammed the book she was checking on the table so hard everyone jumped. 'I have faced a lot of crap in my lifetime as a slayer. Willow - and everyone else for that matter - has been in worse situations.' She looked around at everyone who seemed to be silently agreeing.
'Look, that's not the point! The point is, we've all gotten through it. And we will this time.' She looked back at Kennedy. 'You have to be confident. You're a slayer - where is the slayer attitude? Just don't give up, and believe me, everything will be fine.'
Everyone was silent for a while looking through the books. 'You know what I'm curious about though,' Anya suddenly said. Despite her being drunk a few hours ago, she had sobered up. 'How did this witch hunter guy find Willow?'
Spike seemed informed on the subject. 'These guys don't go around wearing big 'I'm a witch hunter' signs. They blend into the crowd, just like one of us. They work in jobs where people tend to tell them a lot about their private lives, after which they follow you, or track the witch down themselves. They put the witches under this curse, which doesn't kill them straight away, because this spell to reverse it is apparently meant to be some kind of test on whether the witch deserves to live.'
Anya scoffed at him slightly. 'Yeah, but what idiot would be stupid enough to blab all over the place that they live with a witch. . .' She stopped, feeling as if she didn't need the coffee to keep her wide awake anymore. 'Spike, you know you said witch hunters take jobs where people tell them a lot about their private lives?'
He looked at her surprised. 'Yeah. . .'
She swallowed, which seemed to be very difficult at that moment. She was fidgeting with her hands under the table nervously. 'What kinda job would that be?'
Spike thought for a moment, or what seemed like a lifetime to Anya. 'I dunno, hair dressers, therapists, bartenders. . .'
Anya felt as if she was being swallowed up, perhaps in her own guilt. Bartenders, he'd just said, bartenders. She had been pouring her soul out to a bartender just a few hours ago. . .what had she said. . ."then there's Willow. She's this majorly powerful witch". . .how could she have been so stupid?. . .now that she thought about it, he hadn't seemed that surprised when she kept mentioning supernatural things. . .and it slowly dawned on her, like an evil raising its head.
It was her fault Willow was dying.