Alex sat, her head in her hands and her legs pulled up beneath her, on the couch in the living room. Spike, Willow, Buffy, and Dawn turned the house inside out and inside in again, without finding that picture. Willow walked out and sat down beside Alex.
"That was the only picture of her you had?"
"Yeah…my dad had left, and I never thought she'd be taken from me…" she said, nodding. Willow reached out, patting Alex's knee.
"Well, don't worry, Alex. I'm sure we'll find it. How many places could a picture have gone without one of us taking it?" she asked, flashing her a reassuring smile. Alex looked over, and smiled back.
"I guess your right…It's just…Without that picture, all I have are my memories, and of all the memories I have of my mother, they've all started to become lies, and turn into these fake, fake things that never really happened…" Willow put her arms around Alex, and Alex hugged her back.
"It'll be okay, Alex, we'll find it…" She smiled.
"Thanks, Willow…" Willow pulled back.
"Anytime, Alex. You're my friend, remember?"
"Yeah…yeah, I do…and you're my friend too…" Alex lifted her eyes as Spike walked into the room, Buffy and Dawn behind him.
"Well, I couldn't find the picture, but I found the frame it was in…" Alex gave him an odd look, and he handed her the intricately designed wood frame the picture had been in.
"But…well, now I'm even more confused. Not finding any of it I'd understand, but just the frame? Whoever took it really wanted that picture…" she stated, dropping the frame onto the table and walking into the kitchen. She leaned over the sink, staring down at the drain, with nothing but a blank look on her face. She heard the door open, and Willow poked her head into the room.
"Alex? Buffy and Dawn and I are going to run to the video store, to try and find a good comedy to watch…Anything in particular you want?"
"No…Thanks, though, Willow…Hey…" She looked up.
"Yeah?"
"When you guys get back, you wanna do some circle work?" she asked, smiling. Willow smiled.
"Sure! If you really want to, I mean…"
"Of course I do."
"Then, yeah, I do. We can do it in the basement." Alex nodded.
"Okay, then. See you when you get back." Willow nodded, and waved, heading out the door. Alex rested her elbows against the sink, and closed her eyes for a second, trying to figure out where her mother's photo would have gone. She faintly heard Spike's shoes on the kitchen floor, but was still surprised when he slid his arms around her waist, and stood her up straight. "What?" she asked.
"You aren't okay, Alex…You're acting depressed…In a very bad way. You sleep all the time, unless your eating or choosing to go for a walk to the cemetery and back, and you hardly spend time with any of the friends you came back to see…" She turned around to face him, but he didn't let her go.
"I'm fine, Spike. All that's wrong with me, aside from someone taking that picture of my mother, is that this place won't let me be forgiven for killing her when I had no choice, or for being the Slayer that I was born, and raised, to be…Okay?" Spike pushed her back against the counter, and she groaned as the edge of it jabbed her in the back. He lifted his hands, and pushed her hair off her face.
"Prove it to me, Alex…Spend one whole day with your friends, and not sleeping." She sighed.
"Fine, fine, I will…I'll do it today…" He smiled, and nodded.
"Good…Now…" He trailed, and bowed his head, kissing her. She smirked, and slid her arms around his neck. He pulled back, and flashed her a smirk. She began to laugh, and pulled away, walking into the hallway, her hands in her pockets. "Where do you think your going?" he asked, following her.
"Outside, in the backyard…Objections?" she asked, glancing back at him as she pushed open the back door.
"No…Suppose not…"
They sat in the grass in the backyard, facing each other, and Spike reached over, pushing her hair behind her ear.
"Alex, what, exactly, did you dream that woke up the entire house that one night?"
"Uh…You mean…"
"The dream with the tomb…What happened?" She sighed, and dropped her hands into her lap.
"I was walking thru the cemetery, and thinking about how different it seemed from when I was there when I was, like, five or six, with my mother. When I was little, it seemed so nice there. The sun always shining, a breeze blowing, the birds chirping. And until I was, like, fifteen, I loved going thru the cemetery with her. After that, it just lost its appeal. But for some reason, in my dream, I was going back thru, and seeing that it was so dark, so dreary, so…empty, you know?" He nodded. "At some point I came upon a tomb, and went in, though I don't know why…There were unlit candles and a closed casket…But I turned around once, and the casket was open and the candles were lit. As I turned back around, I saw, only for a second, the bright white teeth of a creature, and the skin around in, but it wasn't much. I saw teeth, and noticed that it's skin was peeling and falling off…But that was it…That's when I screamed, I guess…Cuz then I was awake, and seeing Buffy in front of me…"
"Why did it lose its appeal for you?" Spike asked, running his thumb over her cheek. She closed her eyes, and lowered her head, feeling the tear run over her eye and down her cheek.
"My mother was bitten in that cemetery," she said, and looked away from him. Spike lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"You feel bad about having to kill her, don't you?" he asked. Alex looked into his eyes, and nodded.
"Of course I do. She was my mother…I loved her more than anything in the world…" Spike faintly smiled.
"I know what that's like…" Alex knitted her eyebrows together.
"What?"
"To love your mother…I mean, not your mother, but a mother, in particular…" She nodded, and then widened her eyes, nodding more, like she understood.
"You mean…Your…mother…"
"Yeah…" Alex looked at him for a second: he was wearing his usual black jeans, with a sleeveless black shirt. He had his legs crossed, so he was sitting Indian style, like her. She faintly smiled, and moved to her knees, hugging him. He hugged her back, and when she sat back, he smiled. "What was that for?" She shrugged.
"You look like you needed a hug," she said in a kid-like voice that made him laugh.
"Alex! Spike! You two here?" Dawn called. They looked back at the house, and he stood, pulling her with.
"Guess we get movie hour, don't we?"
"Not yet…I promised Willow we'd do circle work. This is where I start spending the day with my friends…well…actually…it started spending the time they were gone with you," she said, kissing his cheek, and jogged inside. He smiled, and followed.
Alex and Willow sat in a protective circle in the basement, eyes closed, chanting. They were down there for about a half hour before Willow started laughing. Alex opened her eyes.
"What?"
"It tickled!"
"What?" Willow took a breath, to try and explain.
"We messed up some of the words, and turned it into a ticklish spell, and it tickled!" she cried, laughing. Alex began to laugh, too, and stood, pulling Willow with. Laughing, they climbed up the steps, and found Buffy and Dawn in the living room, munching on pizza. Alex looked around as Willow dropped down beside them, grabbing a plate of pizza.
"Where's Spike?" she asked.
"Oh, he said he was going for a walk…He'll be back later, though…" Alex nodded, and dropped down on Willow's other side, grabbing a plate of pizza, too.
"Let's start the movie," she said, smiling brightly. They began to giggle, and Buffy hit PLAY, watching the movie pop up on the TV.
Alex ran her hands over her face, laughing hysterically. The others couldn't help but laugh as she tried to stop.
"I know it wasn't very funny, but I can't help it!" she managed to exclaim while laughing. They heard the door open, and she looked up, red in the face, as Spike came into the room. He paused, seeing Alex hardly able to control herself.
"Alright, not sure I want to know…Any pizza left?" he asked. Buffy motioned to the box on the table, mumbling, "Help yourself," thru a mouthful of pizza. He smirked, and came into the room.
Alex sat in the basement, eyes closed, legs crossed Indian style. The others were in bed, seeing as it was nearly three A.M. She took a deep breath, and began to clear her mind, to try and see a decent memory of her mother that, hopefully, wouldn't turn evil. After a while, she finally found one.
She was six. Her mother took her to the fair, and led her around until they found the ponies. Emilia lifted her over the fence, and sat her on the pony.
"There you go, honey…everything's going to be fine, I'm right here…" Alex faintly smiled. Emilia beamed as Alex's pony followed in the line of the others.
"Mommy!" she whined, frightened.
"Honey, it's okay! I'm right here, you'll be just fine," she said.
"I want you to be over here with me! What if I fall?" Emilia glanced at the man running the pony ride, and he nodded. Emilia slipped between the ponies, and stood beside the one Alex was on.
"How's this, honey?"
"Thank you mommy!" Alex was beaming, now, too. Alex sighed sadly, but kept the faint smile on her lips. She felt a chilling breeze on her back, and slightly turned her head, keeping her eyes closed.
"Someone there?" No answer. Shrugging, she turned her head back, and watched the memory more. Her mother walked around the circle beside Alex and her pony. After going around a few times, the ponies stopped, and Emilia helped Alex down. She leaned against the fence, lowering her daughter over it, and smiled. After just a second, the smile faded, and Emilia looked over to the place where Alex felt she was standing at to watch. Emilia's eyes were cat-like again.
"I'm right here…" The breath was warm and yet chilling on Alex's neck as the words were whispered in her ear. She opened her eyes wide, and spun around. Behind her was her mother, covered in dirt and blood, looking much like she had in the dream of her at the cemetery, or the vision of her Alex had had in the kitchen a few days earlier. She cried out, scrambling backwards, and pushed her back against the wall.
"What do you want from me!" she cried.
"I want you to pay for what you've done to me!" she screamed. Alex cried out as the cold fingers enclosed around her neck.