Los Angeles, California, 2300 hours.
Cordelia was at a cast party when the phone in her small bag started to ring. Frowning since she was talking to one of the producers, who was telling her that she would have a bigger role in the show, she left the call go to voicemail. When the ringing stopped, she simply told the man that the call wasn't that important. She continued to talk to the man when the phone rang again, and she frowned once again. Sighing, Cordelia discretely opened the bag she was holding, and then checked her caller I.D while still nodding her head at the man who was talking. Her eyes widened at the 'unknown' listing that showed up on the screen before she lifted her hand at the man, and said that she had an urgent call.
The man nodded his head as Cordelia picked up the phone, and brought it to her ear.
"Yea," she said.
"Cordy," rasped Xander. Cordelia could tell that her ex's voice was about to break, and she started to wonder what happened, and if he was alright. Even though she would never have asked him that question directly, and so… Cordelia was about to ask him a question in her trademarked brusque way when Xander coughed and said two words. Two words that had Cordelia nearly drop her phone in shock, while she opened her eyes wide in surprise.
"Willow's back," whispered Xander.
"Miss Chase?" asked the producer when he noticed her hand shaking, and her eyes getting wet.
"When… when… when did….?" Asked Cordelia as she raised her hand at the man and then turned away, her voice about to break, "Xander… when.. when…"
"An hour ago," whispered Xander as he leaned against a wall next to a payphone in the hospital. He took a few steps, and looked out into the waiting room where Giles was seated with Ira, and Sheila while Faith and Buffy were standing together… the blonde Slayer occasionally pacing. All of them were waiting to hear about Willow, who the doctors had taken in to be examined after she was brought into the hospital via ambulance. Xander then stepped back and leaned against the wall before wiping his eyes, and spoke to Cordelia, "she… Cordy, she's back but.. but she…"
"How is she?" asked Cordelia as she rushed past her date, after telling the producer that she'll be right back. The young woman walked out to the backyard and rushed to the pool area. There, she took a right, and quickly sat down on a chair so that she could steady herself and wipe her eyes, "Xander, how.. how is she?"
"The doctors have taken her in," whispered Xander, "but.. but she didn't recognize us. Cordy, she… they had to sedate her and… and.. and Anya said that she was down there for a thousand years and… oh God, Cordy."
"I don't have a shoot tomorrow," said Cordelia as she watched her date walk out of the house in his black suit, and red tie. Under the moonlight, she could have sworn that the man she met only three months ago at another party had red glowing eyes. She closed her eyes, shook her head before opening them again as he grabbed a seat and pulled it next to the young woman who told Xander that she would be heading out tomorrow morning. He saw her nod her head, before saying goodbye and then putting the phone down. With hands that were shaking, Cordelia put the phone into her small bag, and looked up at her date. He then sat down and held her hand, asking her what was wrong.
Cordelia looked into his brown eyes and believed that the shock of hearing that Willow was back, played tricks with her mind. She looked at his hands, and then back up to his face, before telling him that she needed to travel to Sunnydale tomorrow.
"Sunnydale?" he asked confused at why she needed to go back to her hometown, "why? I mean, why now?"
"A.. a friend of mine returned," said Cordelia as she wiped her eyes, and then looked into his eyes, "Brian, this friend of mine? She.. she was kidnapped a year and a half ago. These monsters took her and…"
"And what happened?" asked Brian as he looked at Cordelia in concern; however, hidden away from the young woman in front of him, his thoughts were much darker. He was enraged. He listened as Cordelia, who was still seated, held his hand and told him about her friend, Willow Rosenberg, being kidnapped and missing for one and a half years. Until now.
"She returned yesterday," she said shaking her head, "I.. I need to go back and.. and just see her and…"
"We'll go," whispered Brian as he leaned forward and caressed Cordelia's cheek, "I mean… I'll go with you, if you don't mind that is. I can see how upset you are, and I don't want you to be alone."
"That's going to be great," said Cordelia as she gave a small smile before he leaned in to kiss her. Brian then moved back before telling the young woman that the trip would do him good too.
"Maybe I can find new talent and make their dreams come true," smirked Brian as he ran his fingers through Cordelia's hair. He ran his hand down to the back of her neck and gently massaged it while she closed her eyes, "like what I tried to do with you."
"It would have been too easy," mumbled Cordelia as Brian got up and then pulled her up to her feet, "besides, you already have a lot of new talent who's signed on to your talent agency. You don't need me."
Brian smiled as the both of them walked back into the house, and then said their goodbyes to the hosts before heading off for Cordelia's apartment. Walking into her elevator, Brian grabbed the young woman, turned her around and held her against the elevator wall. They continued kissing from the elevator, to Cordelia's room.. and then towards the bed while the took off each other's clothes, and let them fall onto the floor. Brian grinned, while rage simmered just underneath, as Cordelia's bed squeaked, while the young woman started to moan. He leaned forward and whispered that if she had been with his agency, then she would have seen amazing things.
Cordelia gasped as he leaned back, and entered her. He listened to Cordelia's screams which brought him back to memories of watching Willow's torture down in Hell. Brian pounded Cordelia harder, her screams reminding him of the humans that Willow tortured; people that he had made deals with; that they would gain fame, in return for serving Acathla. As he flipped the panting Cordelia over, he grabbed her hips and continued the motions; all the while imagining her as Willow's ultimate punishment. He wanted to sign her up for his agency, he wanted her to sign the deal which he knew that human's would never complete reading, and then he would have killed her. He would have brought her to Acathla's hell, and made her Willow's latest victim before she attempted her escape.
'I read her mind,' thought Brian as he grunted while grabbing a tight hold of Cordelia's hips, 'I saw you, I saw the Slayer, the idiot, and the old man. You were the easiest, at least that's what I thought. But you said 'no' every time, after I sought you out after that second episode of 'All of Us'. I promised you better roles, but you said any deal was too good to be true. You even joked that you didn't want to sell your soul.
"Don't stop!" cried Cordelia as she looked back at Brian, and then put her forehead on the bed as she let out a scream.
'That's the scream I wanted to hear while Willow tortured you,' thought Brian as Cordelia collapsed panting, and he collapsed on top of her, 'I have your trust now, I would have had you sign a deal, and then killed you like I killed the others. Then I would have taken your soul to hell, and given you to the traitor…. Given you to 'It'. Put you under a spell where you would have been a demon, and she would have no choice but to kill you. You.. a friend of hers. Once she killed you, then she would have a moment of clarity. She would have seen that she killed her friend… she would have gone insane, she would have lost her humanity. But.. but that could still happen. I have to check the cage… I don't know how, but if 'it' is gone? Then I'll bring 'It' back, how dare she escape.. she's my plaything... 'It' is my plaything.'
Brian rolled the sweaty, and panting Cordelia over. She was facing him before they kissed again. He grinned before saying that he wasn't done with her. Cordelia giggled before saying that she was done, but the rest of her voice was muffled by another kiss from Brian. She cried out as she scratched his lean back while Brian was shaking the bed once again. Cordelia drew blood from the scratches, which almost immediately healed.
It was an hour later, long after Cordelia had gone to sleep, that Brian put on his suit and tie, and then silently walked out of the apartment. He ambled towards the stairwell and walked up to the roof. Walking out the roof access door, Brian reached into his pocket, and took out a crystal that was oval shaped and red in colour. Smiling, he whispered a spell that opened a red coloured doorway out of nowhere.
The man then walked through the doorway and found himself in a dark and dank hallway where a green-skinned masked demon was kneeling, his head looking down on the ground. Brian looked at the demon as his eyes turned red before he looked at the other closed doors along the hallway, and then back down at the demon.
"Lord Borzan," growled the demon while it was still looking down at the blood spattered floor, "welcome back, I.."
"Where is 'it'?" demanded Borzan as the masked demon looked up at him, "where is 'it'?"
"I was about to carve her for food when she vanished days ago," growled the demon, "a light took her away, she…"
"Prepare her cell," snarled Borzan as he grabbed the demon by the neck and then lifted it up with one hand, "I'll be bringing her back personally."
"Ye.. yes, my Lord." The demon struggled to speak as Borzan tightened his grip on its neck, "the cell… will… will be prepared."
"Good," roared Borzan as he threw the demon to one side, slamming it against the wall. He then turned around, opened another portal and then walked through it while thinking to himself, 'she's the first to escape… too bad. I'll force her back, she is mine… my powers may be limited on Earth, but I can take the Slayer. 'It' belongs to me now… and she will be mine again. Perhaps, I will eat her when I return… ummm.'
A smile appeared on his face as he stepped out of the portal and back onto the roof, Borzan opened the roof access door and then walked through into a well lit hallway that led to the top of a flight of stairs. He walked down a few flights of stairs before entering a hallway that led to Cordelia's apartment. He opened the door, and then quietly walked inside... gently closing the door behind him before walking over to Cordelia's room as he took off his clothes again. He slipped under the sheets behind the young woman, and then wrapped his hand on her abdomen before kissing her shoulder blade.
He then closed his eyes and went to sleep; his dreams full of what he would do to Willow once he had her back in Hell. Borzan smiled before licking his lips as he imagined tasting Willow's soul enhanced flesh. This time, he would prolong her pain… he missed her screams.
He wanted his 'It' back.
Angel Investigations, Los Angeles, that same time.
Angel was in his apartment underneath the Angel Investigations offices as he sat in front of a television, while drinking a cup of warm pigs blood. He took a sip while he watch a show from the seventies when the phone in the far corner of his bed started to ring. Angel put the mug on a side table next to his couch, and then headed for the phone.
He knew that if he was alive then his heart would be beating wildly. Angel had sent the scroll to Giles, and the Watcher did call him later that night to tell him that they had tried the spell, with Buffy and Faith already out searching for Willow all over the city.
'They found no sign of her,' thought Angel to himself after that call, 'she wasn't at the mansion, they scouted Willow's house with no luck, they checked the school… but nothing. Giles and the others even went out, but came back with nothing. I… I know this spell will work, it has to work.'
Back in the present day, Angel's hand hovered over the ringing phone for a moment before he picked it up, and placed it to his ear.
"Angel?"
"Giles," said the ensouled vampire as he took a seat on his bed while leaning forward and putting his elbow on his knee, with his forehead in the palm of his hand, "is.. did…"
"Willow has returned," said Giles, his voice threatening to break as he leaned back against the wall, next to the same payphone that Xander had used more than an hour earlier. He sighed, turned and then peeked into the hallway that had the waiting room at the end and watched Buffy, Faith and Joyce all sleeping on a couch, while Xander and Anya were asleep on another two. It was a few minutes later that Althanea and Jenny walked over to the waiting room with cups of coffee in their hands for themselves and Giles. Giles noticed the silence on the phone before he leaned back next to the phone again, away from the others so that they couldn't see him, "she… she's been gone for a long time."
"I know," whispered Angel shaking his head as he looked up, and then down again while trying to keep his voice from breaking. All the while, he was trying to imagine what Willow must have been through. Giles told Angel in hushed tones about how Willow had been acting around her parents, and then Buffy. Angel listened wordlessly as Giles described the state she was based on Buffy's and the Rosenberg's descriptions. Giles told him that the doctors had already talked to Sheila and Ira, who were in the unconscious Willow's room, keeping her company so that she wouldn't be alone… even though it seemed to them as if she didn't recognize them.
"Angel," whispered Giles, "her hair has turned white… I mean other than the blood that the Rosenberg's had found her covered in.. Willow's hair is completely white."
"I.. I heard rumours about fear and… oh God, fear and distress… I mean, extreme fear and distress can turn hair white," said Angel as he looked down at his floor in shame, "she was tortured who knows how many times, Giles. She... Giles, do you think that.. that she still has her mind? Her humanity?"
"I'm not sure about her mind," whispered Giles, "I… I believe a vestige of her humanity remains; she could have killed her parents… but she knew them enough to stay calm and collected… at least until the police arrived. They told me that she was… unlike herself when the police came, or even when Sheila called out for Ira when Willow first arrived home."
"Then there's a chance for her to be just like how she used to be?" asked Angel.
"You didn't see her," whispered Giles, shaking his head as he recalled what Angelus had done to Willow in front of him. All Giles could do to control his anger was remind himself that he was talking to Angel, not Angelus… but sometimes, he could help but think of them as one and the same, "from what Buffy and her parents have said… I… I don't believe that the Willow we once knew would ever return. Althanea will be contacting the Devon Coven for a way to mystically heal Willow. I… I believe that her torture and torment in Hell broke her psyche… it'll break anyone, and the fact that she hasn't gotten fully feral is a positive sign."
"Meaning Willow's in there… somewhere," said Angel nodding his head.
"This is all conjecture at this point," said Giles, "Ira has told me that there are numerous cuts, slash marks, claw marks… all healed of course… on her body. He told me about this circular brand… a brand that Buffy has seen as well, on her chest. And the doctors told him that there was another brand on her shoulder blade. They've already collected the blood and dirt that was on her body, and they will be submitting it for a test tomorrow."
"I… I don't know if I should…"
"It would be best if you keep away, Angel," whispered Giles as he took off his glasses, "you have been a great help with helping us find a way to bring Willow back… but…"
"I… I understand," said Angel, his voice breaking again. He didn't say a word until he steadied himself before continuing to speak, "I.. I'm glad she's back, Giles.. Look.. look after her."
"We're all hoping for the best," whispered Giles before he said goodbye, as did Angel. They then put down their respective phones; Giles walked back to the waiting room where he sat next to Jenny, and drank some coffee, while Angel wiped his eyes and then stood up, and walked out of his apartment.
Leaving the TV on, and the mug of pig's blood on the table next to the couch.
He needed some fresh air.
One part of Angel was ecstatic that Willow was finally back, but the other part was torturing him; he was wondering what Willow had to go through in hell, and the thought of Willow being in pain for hundreds of years tore him up inside. The man continued to walk aimlessly until he found himself outside Lily's apartment complex. He looked up the stairs at the glass doors to the lobby before he turned around, and started to head back to his apartment. Stopping after a few steps, the ensouled vampire turned around again, and remembered that even after telling Lily the truth about what he had done to Willow, she never judged him.
She was the one, as well as Doyle, who told Angel that he wasn't the one responsible; even though he believed it was. She told him it was Angelus.
Angel walked back towards the apartment complex once again, and then up the stairs. His fingers hovered over the call button for Lily's apartment. The man hesitated for a few seconds, wondering if he was doing the right thing. Shaking his head while whispering that this was a stupid idea, Angel turned back around and walked down the stairs. He then wrapped his coat around himself, and headed for Angel Investigations once again.
As he was walking leisurely towards his office, the man had come across two vampires attacking a woman. Taking care of them in short order, the screaming woman ran off in one direction, while Angel continued his walk to his office… and to his apartment in the basement. Nearing his apartment thirty minutes later, Angel narrowed his eyes when he saw a figure in a hat stand up after he was sitting on the steps to the office.
He then ran towards Angel while calling his name.
It was Doyle; and from the way his voice was pitched, Angel could tell that the man was troubled about something.
"Angel," he said as he pulled the man towards the office, and then hurriedly up the stairs, "we have a problem."
"Easy, easy," said the vampire as he took out his keys and opened the door. He stepped in first, followed by Doyle. Closing the door behind him, Angel looked at the man who was pacing the floor while looking at him. Doyle put both his hands on the top of his head, and then stopped when Angel grabbed a hold of him and asked him what was the problem.
"The Powers sent me a vision," said Doyle as he looked into Angel's eyes, "they showed me… they showed me the death of the two Slayers, Angel. Buffy and Faith died, I saw an old guy die.. and… and a few others by a guy in a black suit and red eyes. He was holding onto this white haired chick by the throat and then.. then they walked through a red portal."
"A white haired girl?" asked Angel.
"Yeah," said Doyle shaking his head as he looked at the stunned expression on the vampire's face, "who…"
"The spell worked, Doyle," said Angel as the younger man opened his eyes wide in surprise, "Giles called me and… and she's back. Willow's back."
"Then she brought something back with her," said Doyle, "I'm glad she's back and… I really am. But this is something that wasn't in the scroll and.. and what if something else came through? For her?"
It was something that Angel didn't want to think about as he looked at Doyle; that something could have come through to this world from Acathla's Hell. Angel asked Doyle if he knew when this vision was supposed to take place, but all the young man could do was shake his head before saying that all he received was a feeling that it would be happening soon.
"Find out everything you can about Acathla's Hell," ordered Angel as he pointed at Doyle who was about to say something, "and yes, I know we've studied everything on that bastard and his home. Back then, we were searching for a way to bring Willow home, now we need to know what kind of a thing followed her here. You saw the demon in your vision, right?"
"Yeah," said Doyle while walking towards a table where Angel picked up the phone in the corner, and dialled a number, "I can check the books for a description and…"
Angel put up his hand, signalling the young man to hold on while he talked to Lily. The Vampire told the groggy girl that Willow had returned and, before she could get excited about the news, that Doyle had a vision which indicated that something had followed her as well. Angel told then surprised Lily that it was going to kill everyone; from the Slayers to, possibly, Willow.
"I need you to pack up your computer and your… internet.. thing. The thing you used when we were on the move searching for information on…. Yeah… that's the one. On the way to Sunnydale, you need to search for any type of circular branding associated with Acathla," said Angel as he glanced over at the look of confusion on Doyle's face, "I know you just got up and… and please. I need your help, Lily."
"Of course I'm going to help, Angel," yawned Lily as she stretched an arm over her head while arching her back. She then got off her bed, and headed for her closet and took out some clothes, before she went to her laptop. She put the device, and a dongle into a bag, while telling Angel that she was going to be ready in ten minutes.
"Doyle and I will be at your apartment in fifteen minutes," said Angel as Doyle rushed to another room, and Angel started to immediately hear thuds, "he's already getting the books we have on Acathla, and once those have been packed into the car, we'll come pick you up and head for Sunnydale. Giles and the others don't have cell phones, so we'll make a stop at the hospital before.. before heading to the mansion so that we can do our research."
"Got it," said Lily as she took off her pyjama bottoms, and then put on a pair of underwear and jeans, "see you in ten, Angel."
"Yeah," said the vampire before putting the phone down, and then heading to the other room to help Doyle with the books. They needed to find out what was going on, and then once they reached Sunnydale, they needed to warn Buffy and the others of the upcoming danger.
As Angel helped Doyle with the heavy books; only one thought was going through his mind.
He was going to protect Willow this time. He was going to ensure that she didn't get hurt again.
TBC.