Chapter 8
"Arraignment"
By Old Scout
Somehow, he didn't know quite how, Inspector Clayson became designated driver of one of the vans. There'd been a significant amount of discussion about who was going to drive since Willow and Dawn had both driven out. Agent Meyers had suggested Miss Summers drive which everybody else immediately voted against. It seemed the thought of Miss Summers driving scared these people more then those guys in white masks.
"Wait." Inspector Clayson had asked as he headed for the van he was to drive. "If Dawn Summers and Miss Rosenberg had the keys how are we going to…" before he could finish his sentence several people where holding up sets of keys.
"Here ya' go Inspector." Mr. Gunn tossed a set of keys.
"We often misplace people." Buffy Summers said as she climbed in the driver's side of the van he'd been designated to drive.
There'd also been discussion of who would ride with whom, in the end Miss Summers made the decision. Mrs. Peach, Miss Summers, the strange woman with blue hair, the two FBI agents, the young woman he'd heard called Kennedy and a young woman whose name he hadn't caught took one of the vans. The woman the called Tonks didn't get in a van. She seemed to know the men in black robes.
"So, Miss Summers, what in the bloody hell is going on?" Clayson asked as they got on the road.
"Buffy."
"What?"
"Please, I get so tired of everyone calling me Miss Summers, it makes me feel old, and I'm not, old that it is."
"Okay, Buffy, what is going on here?"
"The short of it is, those were all wizards, the ones with the masks are called Death Eaters and the ones who came late and missed the all fun are called Aurors. They are supposed to keep the bad Death Eaters under control." She grinned. "They're also called Death Eater Hunters. They've never seemed all that good at their job."
"Right, and that girl Tonks?"
"Oh, she's an Auror too."
"Okay, I'm glad we got that cleared up."
"I'm not so old I don't recognize sarcasm." Buffy said sweetly.
"Yea, she majored in it in high school." Agent Johnson said from the seat directly behind Clayson.
"Hey, no comments from the cheap seats." Buffy returned.
"I'm glad it wasn't lost then." Clayson frowned. "Now are you going to tell me what is really going on or do I just drive you all right on down to police headquarters, which I should do anyway."
"I told you."
"Suppose I believe you." Clayson glanced at the young woman. "Why were they attacking you?"
"To tell you the truth, I really don't know." Buffy frowned. "I think the magic messes with their minds or something." She thought for a second. "I guess it's the same reason they killed Sarah."
"Great, wizards and magic." Clayson thought. He knew these people were a bit odd but he hadn't thought they were nuts. Of course, how else would he explain what he'd seen?
Buffy had started rooting around in the bag she was carrying. After pulling out several lipsticks, a wooden stake, a large knife and a few other things she said "Here." Handing Clayson a small piece of cardboard from an OB box.
Clayson frowned. "What's this?"
"The other side."
On the other side of the piece of cardboard was an address written in flowery script with the "I"s dotted with little hearts. It wasn't an address for any of the places he'd associated with this group.
"That's where we're going." Buffy said. "If you don't mind."
"You said you'd be answering my questions. What's going on?"
"That's where all your questions will be answered, like it or not." She made a feral grin. "Besides, I have to find my best friend and that's where I start."
"What about your sister and that girl Dana?"
"My sister is fine. Tonks will get her home once she can get free of the Aurors." Buffy got a very serious look on her face. "We're pretty sure the Death Eaters took Dana. If they did, we don't dare go after them without Willow."
"Why not?" Clayson asked as he turned onto another downtown street.
"Dana is special." Buffy said. "Willow can help her control what she is. But we've got to do it quickly before Dana's medication wears off." She turned to one of the unnamed girls in back. "How much time do we have?"
"She took a full dose." One of the girls said. "She really wanted to be clear for Sarah." She checked her watch. "It'll wear off in about sixteen hours."
"So we have less than sixteen hours to find Willow and hunt down and deal with those bastards and hope they don't do anything to Dana in the mean time." Buffy turned to Clayson all flipness gone from her voice. "Can you drive any faster? You're a cop, you won't get a ticket, and we all know it."
"If this girl's in danger, we should call the department." Clayson stated. "This is no time for vigilantes."
"That's where we're going, just not the one you're thinking of."
They soon arrived in a dilapidated neighborhood. The kind of place people walked through briskly during the day and seldom at night. "Pull over here." Buffy pointed to a corner with a red phone box that had seen better days. Glass panels were broken, the paint was peeling and the door hung crooked in its hinges. The cord for the handset dangled toward the ground with no handset attached.
The gang poured out of the van and the women headed for the call box. "Is this some kind of joke?" Inspector Clayson asked as he, Agent Meyers and Mrs. Peach watched all the others enter the box that was barely big enough for one.
"One thing I've learned in the past couple of years." Meyers said as he headed for the box. "There are things in this world that are beyond explanation."
A few seconds after Meyers entered the box Buffy stuck her head out. "Are you coming or not?"
Clayson shrugged and looked at Mrs. Peach as they stepped forward. "This feels like one of those university stunts from the sixties."
"I have a strange feeling about this." The woman replied.
When the two stepped forward Buffy looked at them very seriously. "This is your last chance to back out. Everything up to now you could deny and pretend it never happened. Or Take the blue pill and your world will change forever."
"I thinks it's the red pill." A female voice said from in the box.
"What?"
"If you take the blue pill you wake up in your bed the next morning and pretend it never happened." The girl said.
"Whatever." Buffy replied she turned back to Clayson. "So you comin' or not?"
Inspector Clayson shrugged and stepped into the box expecting it to be packed solid with bodies. Instead he found just enough room for himself and Mrs.Peach. Buffy had pushed her way back to the other side as she dug through her bag again. Finally pulling out a piece of brown paper that looked like is was turn from a shopping sack.
"Here we go." Buffy said holding up the paper.
"What's that, B." Faith asked looking over her shoulder.
"The key to the new override Willow put on the box. She said this one won't set off all the alarms like the first one did. Only she said to make sure to say it right or it could go wonky."
"What does wonky mean?" Agent Meyers ask.
"You don't want to know." Faith replied, putting her hand on his shoulder and leaning on him.
"Here goes." Buffy said and read the spell. "Elixer of herbs, Slow gin fizz, Whisk me to where the Ministry is."
"That's the stupidest spell I've ever heard." Faith said.
"She's been watching too much TV Land." Kennedy replied as she looked around waiting for something to happen. The floor started to shake.
"Watch your hands and elbows." Faith warned as the floor dropped away carrying the group with it.
"—"
Dawn sat at the kitchen table playing wizarding snarkle berry cards with Alastor, whom she learned was also known as "Mad Eye" Moody. She watched the eye start to swing forward. "Hey stop that, you promised."
"I was not cheating." The leather faced man growled.
"Yea, then why is it after they told me what that eye can do, you stopped winning every single hand?"
"Constantly looking at the back of my eye socket can be quite distracting."
"Then just turn the thing off." Dawn smiled. "I know I damned well would want to be able to turn it off if I had an eye that acted like that."
Alastor grumbled but stopped complaining.
The door to the house opened, they could hear somebody coming in brief words being exchanged between professor Snape and the newcomer. Moody had already stood and drawn his wand when a tall black man in a Wizard's robes came into the kitchen followed by Professor Snape. Dawn remembered him from the Ministry. It was Auror Shackelbolt.
"There's been an attack on muggles…" the man was saying as he walked into the kitchen. He stopped and looked at Dawn. "What is she doing here?"
"You know her?" Moody growled. "How is it that everybody seems to know this girl except me?"
"I am not a girl." Dawn interjected. "I thought we got that cleared up."
Moody turned and glared at Dawn. "It's just a figure of speech."
"How's the nose?"
Moody turned back to the new comer. "Forgive me, how is it that everybody knows about this young woman except me?" He used his magical eye to look back at the girl to see her smiling in triumph. This was just not his day.
"She's the sister of the Slayer."
"What?" Two voices said in unison Alastor Moody and Molly Weasley. Molly Weasley had come into the kitchen just as Shackelbolt spoke.
"Snape," Alsastor turned to Professor Snape who was now standing next to Shackelbolt. "Did you know this?" From the look on his face, it was obvious he had. "And why didn't you tell the Order?" He turned back to Shackelbolt. "Or you for that matter?"
"We were sworn to secrecy." Shackelbolt said. "The Ministry is trying to do the right thing, though ever so ineptly, by negotiating with The Chosen One to help in the fight against You Know Who." He looked at Dawn. "One of the Slayer's conditions was that we tell only those who were directly involved. I'm sorry Alastor, but up until now, you and the rest of the Order have not been directly involved."
"What about the attack?" Mrs. Weasley tried to change the subject.
"Was it at a cemetery?" Snaped asked.
"Yes it was. I wasn't on stand by as a first responder so I haven't been there yet." He looked at Moody. "I thought you might like to drop by and check it out."
"I'm retired, and if it's a hot spot, I'm sure the Minister would not be pleased to see me just happen to wonder by." He looked back at Dawn. "Besides, unless I miss my guess, I'd bet it's just a clean up effort now."
"You were there?" Shackelbolt asked Dawn. "What happened, how'd you get here?"
"Let's see, how about the Reader's Digest version." Dawn said. "Death Eaters attack, Dawn gets handed port key," she held up the wooden stake that had been sitting on the table. "Dawn ends up in a house with one of her Professors, a friend's mother and some old leather face dude with a wacky eye, who cheats at cards." She looked around the room. "Did I miss anything?"
The three wizards and the witch glared at Dawn.
"Guess not."
"I must get going before they miss me." Auror Shackelbolt said.
"Take me with you." Dawn said. "I'm tired of sitting around this sticky old house waiting for somebody to come fetch me home."
"Sorry I can't." Shackelbolt said. "If I showed up with you, there'd be a lot of questions I couldn't answer."
"Fine, I guess I'll just call a cab." Dawn looked around the room. "Let me guess; wizarding house, no phone."
"No what?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Never mind." Dawn sat back down at the kitchen table. She could insist on leaving. She could walk until she found a payphone. She looked at her dead cell phone. Perhaps if she got away from the magical house it would start working. But who would she call? A taxi? One of the offices? It would all be more of a pain in the arse than just waiting for somebody, Tonks, to come get her. She smiled. Maybe they'd forget about her, that would be fun she needed something righteous to be mad at Buffy over. She could use the bribery money for new clothes. Looking back at Moody she said. "I think it was your deal."
"—"
Willow had no concept of how long she'd been wherever she was. Some mountain top she assumed. The girl had stopped crying but still huddled shivering in Willow's arms. Her lips were turning blue and her skin was getting pale. The temperature had gone up inside the shield, it was now above freezing but that wasn't enough. They would still freeze to death soon enough if she couldn't get them off the mountain.
Moving ever so slowly so as not to disturb the girl, Willow looked around her as she felt the wind buffeting the shield. Ice and snow had already built up at least a quarter of the way up the outside of the shield and she could tell the snow was drifting even higher on one side.
"Concentrate." Willow closed her eyes and thought. "I have to do this now. Look out over the cliff. What's below? Clouds. What's below the clouds? More snow, more ice. Not good enough. Once she released this energy, she wouldn't be able to maintain the shield, she might not even be conscious. Look further down the slope further to where the ice and snow end. It seemed to take forever for her mind to travel down the unending slopes and glaciers of the mountain, only to find rocks and cliffs and dirt. Keep going she couldn't give up now it was taking too much power just to get this far. Past the jagged rocky cliffs some vegetation began to appear scattered shrubs and short trees forced their way out from cracks in the stone. Finally her mind's eye looked over a cliff into a valley below. Long green grass clung to the edge of a small stream while old trees marched up the floor of the valley and stood sentinel against the valley walls.
That was it, she could go no further it was now or never. If she didn't release the power now she was afraid this journey would have taken with it even what she needed to maintain her shield. Willow's eyes glowed white and white rippled through her hair.
The shield flickered blue for a second and the mound of snow on the mountain top disappeared. As the shield flickered out of existence on the mountain top, it flickered into existence in the valley far below then disappeared completely; its energy spent. A young woman with red hair highlighted by a bright streak of white lay in the middle of the soft grass. Next to her lay a young girl with dirty blond hair pulled back in a tail. The red head lay unconscious while the girl lay shivering and clinging to her side.
"—"
"Crucio!"
The curse flared around and engulfed the young woman dangling from shackles in the dungeon cell. Her body tensed from obvious pain but quickly relaxed. She made no noise, never cried for help or mercy. She just stared at the wizards in front of her.
"She may not have the strength of a slayer." One of the wizards said. "But she can resist the curses like no other."
"Perhaps when the spell that activated the slayers was cast they got different aspects of the Chosen One." One of the wizards suggested.
"That is not how I heard it." Another wizard said. "However, I admit there is something wrong with this one. Perhaps her training is not complete or she did not receive full benefits of the spell."
"Let's ask her." The first wizard said pointing his wand back at the girl. "Imperio." The curse struck the girl but didn't seem to have an effect.
"Tell me, muggle, why are you different from the other slayers?"
She continued to stare.
"Answer me bitch."
She moved; her eyes shifted to the wizard questioning her. She whispered something.
"Louder! I command it." The wizard pointed his wand at the girl. "How are you different?"
"A…" she whispered.
"What?" He stepped forward. "Tell me."
The girl twisted; moving for the first time since they'd chained her up. She kicked out connecting her foot to the wizard's mouth. The man fell back then lurched forward spitting out blood and a front tooth.
"Curcio!" One of the other wizards yelled. Causing the girl to shiver and clutch at her chains.
"Forget that, it has no effect." Another wizard said as he pointed his wand at the Slayer. He said a word and a thin blue flame jumped at the girl leaving a long red burn up the side of her face and head. The smell of scorched hair filled the cell.
She finally gave them their second word. "Amateurs."
To be continued……