Chapter 5

Alice cursed inwardly at her car. It had refused to start that morning and now she was late. Jacob had overslept and missed the bus, so once she finally got the car started she had to drive him to school.

She walked in and saw one of Giles' `regulars' in the hall. "Hi Martin." she said, and then saw the sorrowful, exhausted look on his face. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Well that seems to be the question of the day doesn't it." Martin said. "To be perfectly honest, no. I'm not okay and I probably won't be for quite a while. But it's nothing you can help me with."

Alice sighed as the boy walked past her. "Now that's one kid who looks like he could use some...sleep." She shook her head vigorously. "No, don't even think it. There's absolutely no way."

Martin continued to his locker and opened it. Looking furtively up and down the hall he took out a bottle half filled with pills. It had taken the money he'd been saving for his own TV to buy this much speed, but if he lived through this, it would be worth it. Now he just had to figure out how to live through this.

"Hey Martin!" Xander called from down the hall. Martin shoved the bottle back in his locker and slammed the door. It was going to be a long day.

"Good morning Ms. Walker." Principal Snyder said, stopping Alice in the hall. "Glad you could make it this morning."

"Sorry sir." Alice said. "I had to get my kid to school, and my car-"

"Skip it." Snyder said. "Just don't let it happen again. You're here to learn how to make kids learn. And they don't do that by being late."

"Yes sir." Alice replied. It was going to be a long day.

Joan looked around at her surroundings. She'd skipped her usual cup of coffee that morning, and the last thing she remembered was sitting in her first period class, Ancient History. They had been discussing Greek Myths.

Now how did I get in this maze? Joan thought. She shrugged and picked a direction. She vaguely remembered something about always turning left in a maze, so she did. It wasn't long before she became aware of being followed. Whoever it was, they were big. Suddenly she knew what was after her. Soon she could hear the sound of hooves on the stone in the darkness behind her, and heavy breathing.

The Minotaur! she thought with terror. "No!" She began to run, taking random turns whenever she came to forks. Behind her, she could still hear the monster behind her, getting closer. Her fear grew, and she turned another corner, and ran smack into a dead end.

The Minotaur stepped into the light. It was seven feet tall, and it wore a red and green striped sweater. It grinned, bovine lips pulling back to reveal blackened, yellowed teeth.

It uttered a low, rough laugh and approached her. "Moo." It smiled. "Where's your spirit guide now bitch?"

"No," Joan whispered horror. "No, please." She pressed herself against the wall, to frightened to even scream. The Minotaur reached down and grabbed her amulet, twisting it. Joan's begging choked off as the cord holding the amulet tightened around her neck.

"Joan?" Mrs. Smit said. "Joan can you answer the next question?" When Joan didn't answer, Mrs. Smit cursed under her breath. "Joan wake up!"

Suddenly Joan jerked, a strange noise emanating from her throat.

"Joan?" Mrs. Smit went to her, lifting up her head and gasped. Her necklace was so tight around her neck, blood was trickling from her throat. "Oh my God!" Mrs. Smit tried to loosen the necklace but it seemed to have tangled itself into a knot. Joan's eyes were opened wide and she struggled to breath, but soon, she gave up. And died.

"Died of natural causes?" Xander asked. "Is there any such thing here?"

"I am skeptical as well." Giles said. "But it's not unprecedented for someone to fall asleep and choke to death if they've forgotten to take off a necklace."

"Yeah," Buffy said. "But not to have it so tight that it breaks the skin."

"No." Giles said. "That sort of thing generally doesn't happen naturally."

"But then again, the laws of nature are sort of stretched here aren't they?"

"I know this is kind of unusual for me," Xander said, "But I have a theory."

"Now I know something strange is going on." Giles said.

"What's on your mind Xander?" Buffy encouraged him.

"Well, when's the last time someone was attacked by something we couldn't see?" Xander suggested. "Let's look at the facts shall we? Derk isn't seen at school for the first time in his life, and now someone dies of apparently natural causes. I think Derk became invisible-"

"And killed Joan?" Buffy said. "Sorry to have to shoot you down Xander but, A: Why would Derk want to kill Joan? And B: He had friends. He was never ignored enough to become invisible."

Xander's face fell. "Oh, well, when you put it that way, then yeah, my theory is about as plausible as...anything else that's ever happened here! When did logic suddenly become part of life at the hellmouth?"

"We cannot look to superstition in this, the devil is precise." Giles muttered.

"What?" Xander and Buffy asked, bewildered expressions on their faces.

"The point is this," Giles told them patiently. "Even though the conventional laws of nature don't usually apply to Mystical forces, they have their own laws that do apply. Derk is not our culprit, more likely he is another victim." Giles looked around for a moment, and frowned. "Incidentally, who's watching Martin?"

Alice sat in the faculty rest room, her head in her hands. She had just come from the scene of Joan's death, hoping against hope that her suspicion was wrong. But the aura in the room confirmed it. Somehow, HE had followed her.

But how? she thought desperately. How could he leave Springwood? It's just not possible!

Willow sat in the library, alone, reading one of Gile's books on sleep. And it was having a definite effect on her. Buffy and Xander had gone out to look for Martin, hopefully he would be able to provide some information on what was going on. Alice had yet to return from the bathroom, and Giles was off in the stacks somewhere, looking for anything that might help. Oh well, she thought, Research may not be the most exciting part of this job, but at least it's the safest.

But this time, she was having trouble concentrating. Or even staying awake. Shaking her head, she glanced at the computer screen.

Wait a minute, wasn't I just reading a book? she thought, confused. Then she shrugged of the thought. "Must have dozed off there for a minute." she said. In any case, the information on the screen wasn't what she needed. Instead there was some inane nursery rhyme:

"One, Two Freddy's coming for you,"

She reached for the keyboard to clear the screen and then stopped. "How do I clear the screen?" She racked her brain for the information she knew she must have, she was a computer nerd for god's sakes! Maybe not as big a nerd as some, but she had gotten into a dangerous online romance. That had to count for something right?

"Can I help you?" the woman at the desk asked. Willow looked up to see the old Librarian there, the one who had preceded Giles. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "I thought you moved?"

"Oh I did dear." the woman said, grinning, revealing bad teeth. "But I moved back. Now, can I help you with something?"

"Oh yeah," Willow said remembering her plight, "I can't remember how to clear the screen."

The woman made a disgusted sound. "The girl gets strait A's in school and she can't clear the screen." she muttered. "Dumb shit." She stalked over to the computer and smashed the screen. Willow jumped up out of her chair, shocked. That's when Willow noticed the woman's scars. And her hat. And her red and green striped sweater. And her bladed glove on her right hand. And her black overcoat. And that she was a he. And an ugly one at that.

"That's how you clear the screen bitch!" Freddy laughed.

Willow made a distressed sound in the back of her throat. "Who- who are you?"

"The name's Freddy." he bowed. "Pleased ta' meetcha!" he swiped at her with his claws.

And she woke up. Her head snapped up from it's resting place on the table where it had fallen. She uttered a gasp, and looked frantically around for her assailant. But he was gone. Willow sighed with relief. "It was only a dream."

To Be Continued…