Chapter 2

The next day, a tired Xander walked down the hall to his locker. On the way he passed a familiar face. "Hey Martin." he said, smiling. "Haven't seen you around lately. What have you been up to?"

"About here," he placed his hand just under his nose. "With the horror club."

"Why what happened?"

"Well, there isn't one for one thing." Martin replied, and yawned. "Principal Snyder vetoed it at the last minute."

"Wow that's tough." Xander yawned. A couple feet away, another student yawned. Xander smiled. "Oh yeah, I forgot, those things are contagious." He and Martin counted the number of people they got to yawn.

Martin yawned again.

"Stop it man." Xander said. "You wanna start an epidemic?"

"Sorry man I can't help it." Martin apologized. "I didn't get much sleep last night. Bad dreams."

"You too?" Xander asked. "What was it? Ugly blind date or physics test?"

"Hell if I remember. Hey I'll see ya." He began to walk down the hall.

"Hey don't be a stranger!" Xander called after him. "Buffy and Willow miss you!"

"Sure thing!" As he walked away, Martin began to sing under his breath; "One...two...Freddy's coming for you..."

Willow sat with Buffy and Xander at their usual table. Xander noticed something right away. "Hey you two look like you had a great time last night without me."

Willow smiled. "Well, I don't know about Buffy, but I didn't go anywhere. Just didn't sleep well last night."

"Now that's familiar." Xander said. "I saw Martin today, he wasn't sleeping great either."

"Really?" Buffy asked. "Other than that how is he?"

"Yeah, how's the horror club going?" Willow wanted to know.

"It isn't. Principal Snyder vetoed it."

"Oh, that's too bad." Cordelia said sarcastically behind him. "The Freak Club has been canceled."

"Yeah," Xander retorted. "And just when they were about to elect you the scariest thing on two left feet." Xander said.

"So what's up for tonight?" Buffy asked. "Anyone want to go to the Bronze?"

"Can't tonight." Willow said. "I'm baby sitting for my next door neighbor."

"Well I'm free tonight." Xander said. "Actually, I'm free every night, since I have no life."

"Why don't you call Martin?" Willow said. "I bet he could really use some friends now that his club went bust."

"Great idea." Buffy agreed enthusiastically.

"Yeah." Xander said a little less enthusiastically. So much for a night alone with Buffy.

Willow sat in the living room of her next door neighbor's house reading their son and daughter a bed time story.

"`Somebody's been sleeping in my bed.' The daddy bear growled." Willow read, with the appropriate voice. "`Somebody's been sleeping in _my_ bed!' Mamma bear said. `Somebody's been sleeping in _my_ bed!' Baby bear said. `And look! She's still there!' And at that moment, Goldilocks woke up, saw the three bears and ran all the way home. The End." Willow finished. "And now, it's time for bed."

"Aww," John, the older brother whined. "But I'm not tired." He stifled a yawn that did not fool Willow.

"Well your sister is." she said, indicating his two and a half year old sister Michell, who was practically asleep already. "Now come on." She picked up Michelle, and led the five year old John to the room they shared. There, she tucked them in.

"When's mommy coming home?" Michelle said, almost too quietly for Willow to hear.

"Soon Michelle." she told her. "She'll be here when you wake up."

"Goodnight Willow." John said, as she left the room.

"Goodnight John Boy." she smiled. She closed the door as quietly as she could and went down stairs to do her homework.

As she worked, her head began to nod, and she kept having to shake it to stay awake. Suddenly, she snapped her head up, to see...Michelle skipping rope in the living room. She had changed out of her p.j.'s and into a frilly dress.

"Michelle?" Willow said. "What are you doing out of bed?"

Michelle didn't answer. Instead, she began to chant a rhyme, that struck Willow as familiar. "One...two...Freddy's coming for you."

"Michelle?" Willow said again. "Go back to bed honey."

"Three...four...better lock your door."

Willow began to feel uneasy. Why wasn't Michelle even acknowledging her? And why was she chanting such a gruesome rhyme?

"Five...six...grab your crucifix."

"Michelle," Willow said firmly, striding forward. "Go back to bed."

"Seven...eight...better stay up late." Willow had had enough. She reached out to take Michell's arm, but her hand passed right through it.

"Nine...ten...never sleep again." Willow could swear that somewhere in the house she heard a low guttural laugh, and the sound of metal scraping along metal.

Willow's eyes snapped open at the sound of terror filled screams drifting down the stairs. Willow jumped up from the couch, and charged up the stairs, the fading memory of her dream filling her with tremendous fear for the safety of the children. She threw open the door, and ran to Michelle's side. John had woken from his sleep, and was looking irritated, but otherwise okay. Michelle was thrashing about in her bed, as if struggling against something. Willow grabbed her, hugging her tight.

"Wake up, Michelle." she said into her ear. "It's all right, wake up."

She knew as soon as Michelle had stopped thrashing that she had woken. The young girl immediately began to sob. "Don't let the bad man get me Wiwow!" she begged. "Don't let the bad man get me!"

"Shhh, it's okay," Willow said. "You were just having a bad dream that's all."

Michelle's sobs began to recede, and soon, she was asleep once more. Willow set her down in her bed and left again. But this time she left the door open.

Across town, Jacob and his mother slept peacefully, their dreams intertwined. Jacob sat on a log, resting across a small stream. In his hands he held a fishing rod, beside him sat his mother.

"How come?" Jacob asked. He didn't whine, he simply wanted to know. It was one of the things that set him apart from other children, he'd never whined in his life.

"Well it's rude for one thing." Alice said. "People's dreams are private, it's like reading someone else's diary."

"Oh," Jacob said, "But you didn't mind in Springwood."

"Well that was different." she said hesitatingly.

"Because of the burnt man." Jacob said. It was not a question.

"So you do remember." Alice said sadly. "Yes Jacob, that's why. But the burnt man can't leave Springwood, besides he's dead."

"He's always been dead mom." Jacob replied.

"You know what I mean." Alice said. "He can't hurt anybody anymore. Bad dreams here are harmless."

Martin and Buffy sat in the Bronze, talking about the horror club fiasco.

"Just wanted to help." Martin said. "Besides, it would be nice to be on the inside of something for once. I've spent the majority of my life as an outsider."

"Well," Buffy said, "You are on the inside of something Martin."

"Oh yeah." Martin smiled tiredly. "Check that, something that wouldn't possibly get me killed."

"Were there really all that many people who wanted to join?"

"Yeah actually there were." Martin said. "Amy wanted to for starters."

"Amy?" Buffy laughed incredulously. "I'd think that after that whole thing with her mom she'd have nothing to do with something like that."

"So," Xander said, approaching the table, "I go to answer the call of nature and you two start talking about me behind my back."

"You changed your name to Amy?" Martin said.

"So who else wanted to join?" Buffy asked.

"You mean there are more weirdos in our school?" Xander asked, getting himself involved. "Buffy maybe we could have as many followers as that Master guy."

"Well let's see," Martin said thoughtfully. "Um, Mark, Sylvia, Joan, Micky, uh, and Derk."

"Derk?" Xander said in amazement. "You mean computer freak, trekkie Derk?"

"That's him." Martin said.

"I don't know any of those people." Buffy said.

"Oh yeah," Martin said. "I forgot, you're very much the Newbie. Okay Mark's the water boy for the basketball team,"

"Okay I've seen him. He's into horror?"

"Well, he writes horror stories with the guys on the team as the victims."

"Oooo, well adjusted guy. All right who are the others?"

"Sylvia and Joan are best friends." he said. "They're into spiritualism, crystals, Ouiji Boards, stuff like that. Micky's the vice president of the drama club. Joe, the president, I was going to ask as soon as he got back from the Thespian Festival."

"What happened?" Buffy asked.

"By the time he got back Snyder flushed the club."

"Oh."

"I had no idea that Sylvia and Joan were into that stuff." Xander said. "Of course, I had no idea we had a Drama Club either."

"Yeah well," Martin's last comment was cut off by a huge yawn, "Oh jeez." he said. "I'd better get some sleep."

"Yeah," Xander said gravely. "That's probably a great idea." Secretly, he was rejoicing for this newfound opportunity to spend some time alone with Buffy.

"See ya guys." Martin strode casually from the Bronze.

Sylvia and Joan sat in Joan's darkened living room, lit only by a single candle on the coffee table. Between them sat the Ouiji board, their fingers resting lightly on the piece.

Softly, taking a deep breath, Joan asked; "Are there spirits in attendance tonight?" Slowly, the piece moved to the word "YES"

"Who are you?" Joan asked. "What is your name?"

A-M-A-N-D-A

"Do you have a message for us Amanda?" Sylvia asked excitedly.

YES

"Tell us."

B-E-W-A-R-E

"Beware?" Joan's voice shook with uneasiness. "Beware what?"

F-R-E-D

"Beware Fred?"

Before either girl could guess what this could mean, the piece began to move again. W-A-R-N

"Warn who?" Sylvia asked urgently. "Who must we warn Amanda?"

The piece began to spell once more. A-

At that moment the light turned on. Sylvia and Joan screammed. Standing in the doorway was...Joan's father.

"If you girls are going to get that worked up over that silly thing," he said, "I think you should give it a rest."

"Dad," Joan said, "We were right in the middle of a really important conversation." Inwardly, she was trembling. Whoever they were supposed to warn, they would probably never know the name now. But who was Fred?

to be continued...