Yes! All the rumors are true! I'm back, and better than ever! Isn't that dandy?

Okay, disregard her, she's my preppy twin.

Am not! You're the preppy one!

Alright, alright already! Geez, the people are here for a story! Anyways, I hope everyone's having a GREAT vacation. Well, here it is! Brand spankin' new, Chapter 6!!!

Disclaimer I don't own Buffy. But I own my story, so that's not too shabby, huh?

"Tara, stop!"

By this time, Tara was already half-way down the street, and there was just no way to catch up to her. Falling to the street in exhaustion, Willow burst into a flood of sobbing. The nearby street lights had flickered out, one by one, as the red-headed wicka cried. Buffy, having noticed the scandal, ran after Willow.

All the girls were now in the street. All looked after the fleeing girl, who practically tripped over her feet, trying to get away as fast as possible.

"Now what?" Dawn questioned, looking incredibly sad and incredibly hopeless.

Buffy answered, staring into the unknown. "I don't know, Dawn."

Willow, having gotten up from the ground, went over to Dawn and tried to put her head onto Dawn's, looking for some comfort. Pulling away, Dawn looked angrily at her. "This is all your fault! Tara's never coming back!" Never looking so angry, Dawn fled to the car.

Looking helplessly in Buffy's direction, Buffy wrapped her arms around Willow as she cried on her shoulder (literally). "It's not your fault, Will. Dawn's just jealous no one's fallen in love with her yet. Everyone else has, it seems."

Sniffling, Willow lifted her head and looked at Buffy suspiciously. "What do you mean, 'everyone else has?'"

Thinking she gave herself away, she stared blankly. "I-I uh..."

"You think everyone else has fallen over each other? Huh? Well-well you're wrong, miss missy, and I'm going to prove it." Being boldly confident for only a moment, she once again broke into a scene of tears. Leaning on Buffy's shoulder, the both of them walked back to the car, and drove home.

The Next Morning

After a restless night, all of the girls, with the exception of Tara, marched downstairs and sat at the breakfast bar, stirring their beverages thoughtfully.

Willow's POV:

I can't believe I blew it. Tara has always been there, and just when Oz shows up, for two minutes, that stupid love spell works. I have to...really help Buffy kick it's ass.

Buffy's POV:

I can't believe I did it. Kiss Spike. AGAIN. I really hope we figure out how to beat this demon soon or else I think we're going to have to big problems.

Dawn's POV:

I can't believe I'm not part of this. This really makes me mad.

While they were pondering on their separate feelings, Anya and Xander came through the door, their smiling faces brightening the room like a beam of sunshine. Catching the expressions of the zombie-like gang, Anya said, "Hello? Xander is now out of the terribly white hospital and you have nothing to say to him? He has a broken hip bone, people!"

"Aun hunny, It's fractured."

"I know that. I just wanted to add thrill to a story that is already lessening in suspence."

Grinning ear to ear, Xander shook his head. "Hey guys, or gals, big Xan Man's here and in a wheel chair."

By this time, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn were already giving hugs to both Anya and Xander. "Are you okay?" Buffy questioned, looking slightly desperately at the wounded leg.

"Yeah." Xander said, his voice sounding soft and assuring. "Well, tell us, what's been going on lately? Find anything on Mr. Handsome himself?"

"More than we'd like to know." Explaining the whole situation, Buffy and Willow got all the way to last night, Dawn looking scornful the whole time.

"Oh man, that can't be good." Xander said, looking up at Anya who was quiet the whole time, rubbing his shoulders.

"No, it's not good! None of you are making a big enough deal out of this! Tara's gone. Does no one get that?" Dawn said stormily.

"Dawn, for once in your life, shut up." Buffy said angrily, reaching the point Dawn had got to. Turning on her heel, Dawn darted upstairs like a whirlwind of fury. "So....what's her problem?" Xander said, as soon as Dawn was out of earshot.

"She's a teenager. There's always a problem. And when's there's no problem, another problem's coming." Thinking to herself, Buffy realized she was always going to be a teenager, in that sense.

Soon after, all the scoobies got to work investigating the demon even further. It was at the point where it was personal, and Willow would stop at nothing to find a lead on how to stop it. As the day lengthened, they all stayed at home researching, Willow on the computer (and using magic, although none of the others realized or even paid attention), Buffy, Xander and Anya on the books.

Willow was getting sleepy very fast, due to a night of hard thinking and insomnia, and was starting to slump in her chair languidly.

"Will, why don't you just go to bed and we'll-." Buffy started.

"No." Willow said firmly, and slunk herself up in her chair. "I'm trying to do a locator spell, to see where the demon is and maybe how we can set a plan from there."

Looking doubtful, the rest of the scoobies turned theirs heads away, shaking them, and continued searching through the books. Dawn, on the other hand, had been upstairs all day, and no one had heard a peep from her.

Suddenly, as if on cue, Xander suddenly sprung back into his 'I love Buffy' mode. He laid his head on her shoulder, looking dreamy and peaceful.

"Xander, get off, we have work to do." Buffy said sternly.

"Anything you say, my love." Xander returned, looking dreadfully sappy.

All head turned towards his as the words barely escaped his lips. "Buffy, I- ."

"Xander." Buffy put her finger over his lips. "Don't say or do something you'll regret. Please." Her eyes were almost pleading, and with that, Xander's head fell upon the table in total exhaustion. "Maybe we should just go to bed. It's getting late anyways."

The others obeyed, and as soon as all of them were in bed, Buffy snuck out into the night, heading towards the graveyard. The moon shone full and high over the earth, it's milky reflection illumining the eerie and darkened grounds. All was not peaceful, however, for Buffy slayed many demons and vampires before she actually found the one she was looking for, the Rysterca.

It walked stealthily out of the shadows, behind an old abandoned crypt. A trail of glowing red trailed behind the scarlet, hideous figure of a hellish beast. Even from where Buffy stood, crouched behind a gravestone, she could see the bloodiness of it's two large eyes, and felt it's piercing stare upon her. Feeling balmy and foolish, she lifted herself from her hiding place.

"Buffy Anne Summers, I presume," It said dryly.

Looking slightly queasy, as to no one saying her full name before, Buffy nodded her head. "Rysterca, I presume."

It's intent look searched up and down her body, and she could feel how disgusting she felt, being checked out by such a revolting demon, but of course, that's how she felt everytime she was with Spike. "You want to fight, but you know you cannot win. There is no point in it. I do not intend to bring gloom upon you or your friends. I am just trying to help."

"Okay, and what exactly would you call 'help'? Because, I'm sorry, you suck," She said boldly, the two enemies circling each other.

"I may come from a place of evil, a dimension you cannot possibly conceive of, but I am not evil. And I intend to help you."

"And why would you want to do that?"

"Because the both of us can flourish from it." It completed slyly.

Buffy looked suspiciously at the Rysterca. "How?"

"That, dear Slayer, you will learn in time. For now, consider my offer."

"What offer?" She said, agitated.

Suddenly, it vanished into thin air, as though the moonbeams had soaked up it's dark, mysterious red glow and sent it back to where it belongs. But Buffy knew it would be back, and she knew that she would have to give in, because she knew she could never beat it. Feeling defeated, and very suspicious, Buffy hung her head low, returning to her home.

Next day

Buffy had slept all through the morning, having no idea what to do, or what the others were doing. When she finally awoke, Dawn was sitting at the end of her bed, staring fixedly at her.

"Well you sleep late. You know, when you sleep, you make a really priceless face." She showed Buffy pictures of herself, drooling and snoring on her pillow.

"Dawn, I had a really long night, so you think I wanna make small talk?" Buffy said groggily, pulling the sheets off herself.

"Well, just so you know, Willow's gone. She left early this morning with Oz."

"She did WHAT?" Buffy practically screamed. Running down the stairs, Buffy reached Anya and Xander, ordering some Chinese food for lunch. "Where's Willow?"

"Duh! I just told you!" Dawn said, coming down the stairs as they spoke.

"Why the hell would she leave?" Buffy asked confusedly, slunking down onto the couch near Xander.

"She said she needed to talk to Oz about something. She said she would be back tonight. But that's highly doubtful." Anya said reproachfully.

"I can't believe her. At a time like this and she goes off with him. Not that I can blame them..." She concluded quietly.

"Speaking of which, Buff, did you patrol last night? I could hear you coming upstairs around four," Xander asked.

"Yes, actually. The Rysterca was there. It was so freaky, it was like he looked right through me. Almost as if he could read my thou-," Buffy stopped short, looking quite pale. "Oh no."

"What?" Anya and Xander said conjoined. Then, realization dawning on them, they frowned.

After moments of silence, Buffy finally got up. "Look, I need to find Willow. Something could happen to her."

"What could happen, Buff?" Xander said disapprovingly.

"I don't know, but I still need to go."

Opening the front door, they all discovered it to be blocked by someone.

"Buffy....."
Ha! Cliffy! My first! This so totally rocks!

C'mon now, this is kind of mean....

No way! It's totally juicy. Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter...

Angie: Thanksies for the review. The vacation was great but I'm not leaving again til August 2nd.

Spuffyfan-1: Here's another cookie! tosses And no, when it comes to JM, I don't share. Lol sorry. Oz/Willow rock. Well, hope you enjoyed the chapter!

Brennan's Angel: Thanksies for the review!

Chapter 7 will be more interesting, I promise. I'm not sure how long this story is going to be, but I want it to be at least 10 chapters. Well, see ya next time!

3StakeMeSpike04