Willow's Room, 0930 hours.
"Will?" asked Buffy as she sat down next to the white haired young woman. Willow looked at her, and then at Xander who gingerly sat in front of her on the bed. She moved back slightly, whimpering while bringing her knees to her chest, and wrapping her arms around the front… holding them up to her chest.
"I'm not going to harm you, Will," explained Xander as he gave her a small smile while Sheila and Ira were outside talking to Joyce and the others, giving them an update while Buffy and Xander kept Willow company.
"I missed you, Will," said Buffy as she gingerly brushed Willow's hair back behind her ear, "do you…. do you remember me? I mean… do you know me?"
Willow turned to face Buffy, and looked into her eyes before darting her head away. She then looked at the white bedsheet and shook her head. She then looked out the window, and pointed at the sky while back towards Buffy and whimpered.
"Your mom and dad will take you outside once you're ready," whispered Buffy gently as Willow brought her arm down and rested them on her knees. She then looked at Xander, who was wiping some tears, while tilting her head. Looking away as she tried to remember who these people were, Willow shifted her body and lay down on the bed. Her head was hurting as she tried to remember, as she forced herself to remember who these people were to her.
She knew that she should be afraid, but there was something that was calming her down. Something that was telling her that these people wouldn't harm her. Willow looked up as Buffy reached into her pocket, and took out an object. She held it in the palm of her hand before she showed it to the white haired young woman sitting on the bed. It was something that Anya had given to Buffy so that she could show it to Willow after the Rosenberg's were called away by the doctor to his office on the next floor up. They asked her and Xander to stay with Willow, while the others agreed that they could see her later when Ira and Sheila returned. They didn't want to crowd her too much.
Back on Willow's bed, she looked at the object in Buffy's palm. It was the shape of a five pointed star with a ring that went to its edges. She then saw some words on the object, and then another circle within the ring. Willow reached out for the object, it's golden colour attracting her to it, with trembling hands. Buffy and Xander looked at each other, and then at Willow who brushed her finger along the words on the badge. They saw Willow tilt her head to the side while having a faraway look in her eyes while one hand went to the side of her head.
"Will?" asked Buffy when she noticed Willow's body trembling as she jerked her hand away from the object. They looked on helplessly as Willow whimpered and shimmied up the bed, and cowered against the wall. Nervous, Buffy immediately handed the badge to Xander, who then absent-mindedly placed it on a side table while he stood up, as did Buffy and stared at Willow in concern. Taking a step closer, Buffy put her hands up and asked Willow to hear her voice. She saw tears falling down Willow's cheeks before the white haired girl's eyes closed.
Unknown to the blonde Slayer, Willow was having a memory flash of walking into a large room that contained four pedestals. She saw herself walking towards one of the pedestals before looking over her shoulder at three other men behind her; they were all laughing at something the blonde man had said. Willow heard herself laughing, but the voices were so far away as she turned back to her front and looked down. She was wearing a white uniform, with a large shotgun on her hip and a golden badge, which looked similar to the object that was in Buffy's hand. Willow saw herself turn around at the three men before hearing herself say that she was ready.
As were they.
Willow stepped onto the pedestal and then turned to face the other three who were already on their own pedestals.
"Initiate Alpha Radiation charge," said a disembodied voice as rays of light shot up from all around the edges of the pedestal she was standing on, and hit a plate on the ceiling right above her head. And then there was a bright flash of light, and suddenly Willow found herself being held.
Panting as her body was wracked with sobs, Willow opened her eyes to find herself whimpering in Buffy's arms who was hugging her gently. Willow could feel her mind burning as she closed her eyes once again and rested her forehead on Buffy's shoulder while she sobbed at her own helplessness. She had no idea who she was, and why she was having these memories… all she was going on was instinct.
"We're here, Will," whispered Xander as he gently placed a hand on Willow's shoulder, "we're right here."
Doctor's Office, 0940 hours.
Ira and Sheila walked into the doctor's office, with his nurse closing the door after leaving the room. The doctor motioned towards the two chairs on the other side of his desk, and asked Sheila and Ira to take a seat. Nodding their heads, the Rosenberg's sat down and then asked Dr. Evans what he had found out from Willow's blood tests and physical examinations.
"There's a lot of things we need to talk about," said the doctor as he put his hands on the table and leaned forward, "Willow.. Willow's been through a lot, both physically and mentally. Wherever she was being held was.. was bad."
"How bad?" asked Ira as Sheila held onto his hand tight.
"Before I continue," said the Doctor, "do you have anyone you could talk to, or…"
"Doctor, please," begged Ira, "I'm a mental health professional, and my wife is one of the foremost oexperts on child development s0 we know people who can help Willow mentally. What.. what we'd like to know is.. is how is she? Physically?"
The doctor looked at the couple with sadness in his eyes. A part of him didn't want to show them the pictures in the file, and another part of him really didn't want to show them the strange things he had found during their X-Ray and examination of her body. But it was something that they needed to know, despite all his senses saying that it was better it the Rosenberg's didn't know the truth.
'But they could find out, eventually,' thought the doctor as he opened a folder to his left. He then took out some of the polaroid pictures, the back of which were facing the couple sitting across from him. He frowned at them, before sighing and then extending his hand that held the pictures towards Ira.
"When Willow came in," said the doctor as Ira and Sheila looked at the pictures in shock, "one of the first things we did was take pictures of everything. I.. I know you've only seen some of the scars on her body and… and under the lighting when you found her… well, it wasn't clear then. At least not until she was brought here… not until we cleaned off the blood that she was covered in. And ost of the scars are covered thanks to what she's wearing now, and like I said… those you've only cought a glimpse of."
"When the nurses were bathing her," whispered Sheila as Ira grabbed the pictures, "I saw some of the scars, and the brand on her chest. I told Ira about it, and then we told Willow's friends."
"Oh dear God," said Ira as he and Sheila, who then leaned sideways and her eyes widened as she looked at the scars on their daughter's entire back, abdomen, shoulders, neck, chest, and her legs. Sheila and Ira looked up at the doctor who said that the vast majority of the scars could be covered up if Willow wore long sleeved shorts and trousers. Similar to what she was wearing now.
"Or we could try plastic surgery to get rid of some of the scars," said the doctor as Sheila's hands were trembling as she looked at the pictures, "but that can be dealt with later. What concerns me is that some of those cuts are located in areas where the body's major arteries are located."
"There's a scar over the femoral artery," said Ira as he looked at a picture of Willow's leg, before looking at the picture of her neck, "the jugular vein and… oh God."
"So… so this means that whoever took her had a doctor with them?" asked an outraged Sheila, "they.. they cut my daughter and… and what? They took her blood and… and Oh God.. Ira?"
"They cut her and then sewed her back up?" asked Ira as he tried to hide his anger.
"It would appear so," said the doctor, "and whoever these… monsters had with them must be really good. Honestly, Willow shouldn't be alive right now… just the fact that she is.. is a miracle."
"She is a miracle," cried Sheila as she held on tight to Willow's pictures while tears fell down her face, "she is a miracle.. she.. she…"
"We couldn't have kids," said Ira as the doctor looked at him while the man put an arm around his wife and pulled her closer, "that's what we thought. And then Willow was conceived and… and… and she's our miracle."
"I'll be giving all of this information to the police since they've already re-opened her case," said the doctor as Ira held on tight to Sheila who was calming herself down by panting hard, "the blood we collected on her body was hers… there's some blood that we haven't been able to identify yet, but we will."
Ira and Sheila just closed their eyes while nodding their heads. Ira comforted Sheila while the doctor just covered his mouth while his elbows were on the table. He was waiting for the couple to calm down, which took a few more minutes, before he got up, reached to the side of his table and then took out a large brown envelope that had the hospital's logo on the top. He then asked the couple to join him on the other side of the room. After he got up off his chair, Ira and Sheila followed the middle-aged man as he walked towards a table, where he sat down the envelope. He then reached in front of him and turned on a bright white light behind a screen, before turning off the lights in the entire room.
Ira knew what was going to happen, and he was right as the doctor reached into the envelope and took out Willow's X-ray film. He then attached it to the white screen while Ira and Sheila walked closer towards the light source.
And what they saw stunned them to no end.
Ira and Sheila looked at the picture taken of the brand on Willow's chest against the white light, and then looked at the X-Ray film. They saw that parts of the same brand, including symbols, had been etched on her bones; if they looked closely, they could see that the individual marks on her ribcage and sternum made up part of the symbol that was branded onto her skin. The doctor then went on to say that without a medical procedure, they couldn't be sure if this was done on her organs as well. He then took out another X-Ray film and placed it in the screen.
"We found this on her shoulder blade," said the doctor as Ira and Sheila looked on stunned. Sheila looked at the pictures in her hand, and found the picture of the brand that was on Willow's shoulder blade.
And then she looked at the screen with her husband, the both of them stunned with what they were looking at. Willow's shoulder blade was etched with a circular brand, completed with the various symbols that made up the brand, was on her flesh.
"How.. how is that possible?" asked Ira while Sheila could only shake her head.
"I'd say that whoever took Willow, did surgery on her to etch those symbols onto her bone… but,"
"There's no incision, or…" Ira couldn't finish what he wanted to say as he stared at the X-Ray film while holding his hand over his mouth in shock.
"All I know is that these symbol look like something out of the occult," said the doctor as Sheila and Ira stood transfixed at the X-Ray film, "I mean… it's what I'd expect from a horror movie so… I'm not a police detective but its possible whoever took Willow wanted to use her as some form of…"
"Sacrifice?" asked Sheila.
"These symbols, the cuts, the whip marks, and the fact that your daughter by all rights should be dead?" asked the doctor as he turned on the lights to his room, "you are aware of the rumours about this city."
"We know about the rumours," said Ira and Sheila, referring to stories they had heard of the supernatural and the occult occurring in Sunnydale. But it was something they didn't believe was true, although their opinions were starting to change from what they were looking at.
Ira and Sheila could only watch as the doctor packed the X-Ray film into the envelope, and then handed it to them. As he did, he looked straight into Ira and Sheila's eyes and said that he recommended they take Willow out of Sunnydale. Ira and Sheila looked at each other before thanking the doctor for his recommendation. It was a few minutes later that they left his office. The two of them then walked silently down the hallway, each thinking about what they had just learned while holding onto each other's hands, to the elevator which would then take them to Willow's floor.
Willow's Room, 1005 hours.
Buffy had been hugging Willow, with Xander gently holding onto her shoulder while the young white haired woman sobbed. That lasted for a few more minutes before Willow whimpered, making Buffy and Xander move back slightly. Willow wiped her eyes before looking at the both of them, and then at the bedsheet.
"Cray… on," whispered Willow as she drew a pattern on the bedsheet with her finger.
"You remembered?" asked Xander as he sat in front of her. Willow looked up with eyes that were red from crying, and tilted her head before looking back down. Xander smiled before gently reaching for Willow's hand. He brushed his finger on her skin, and the young woman quickly jerked it back and whimpered. Xander pulled his arm back immediately and apologized, "I'm not going to hurt you, I swear."
Willow didn't know why, but the voices of Xander and Buffy calmed her down, as did Sheila and Ira who now made their way into the room. Willow looked up from the bedsheet and gave Sheila a small smile while Ira placed the envelope containing the X-Ray film and the pictures of Willow's scars on one of the cots. While Buffy moved to one side so that Sheila could sit next to Willow.
In the meantime, just as the door to Willow's room closed behind Sheila and Ira, Anya had just headed out of the washroom and was heading for the waiting room a short distance away. She frowned when she walked in on a young woman hugging Joyce, who then saw the vengeance demon. She then introduced her to the young woman she had been hugging, Cordelia.
"Oh, so you are…" Anya didn't even get to finish what she wanted to say when she noticed the man next to her, the man who was talking to Faith and Jenny. Her hands stated to shake as her vengeance demon senses started to blare, and she saw the man for what he really was… a demon.
"J.. Joyce," Anya gulped as the man turned to look at her, followed by a grin on his face, "Joyce… go.. go… get… get out and.. and call…"
"Anya?" asked Joyce, who was about to move towards the shaking young woman.. but stopped when she heard a guttural voice from the man that Cordelia had introduced as Brian Orzan.
"A Vengeance demon," said Brian as he licked his lips.
"Brian?" asked a confused Cordelia. She then gasped and stepped back when he looked at her, and his eyes turned red, "no…"
"Oh yes," grinned Brian before he looked at Faith who was ready to fight when Anya hissed that he was a hell spawn, a high level demon.
"Call Giles!" yelled Anya as she ran into Brian, using her strength to push his back while watching Cordelia grabbing a hold of Joyce and then running down the hallway. Soon, Anya felt a pain on the side of her head before he hit a hall. She fell onto the floor as Faith leapt onto Brian, who simple swiped her to the other side of the waiting room as other people got up off their seats, and ran away from the fight.
Faith hit a wall and then fell onto the floor while Brian ambled towards Anya, and then grabbed her hair… and pulled her up. Anya gave off a scream before whispering that he loved the taste of vengeance demons, and that he'll be bringing her with him when he take Willow back to hell.
"I'm here for my 'It'," hissed Brian as Anya's eyes opened wide in horror as Brian whispered some of the things that were done to Willow, and what would be done to her, and the Slayers.
Back in Willow's room, Ira was standing at the foot of her bed with his hands in his pockets and whispering, "another friend of yours dropped by. Do you remember Cordelia?"
Willow simply shook her head when suddenly there was the sound of screams, followed by the sounds of glass breaking, thuds, more screams, and more thuds coming from outside the room. Xander and Buffy looked at each other when they heard Faith shout "Leave!", followed by the sound of glass breaking again. Just as Buffy was about to make a move after telling Xander to stay with a worried Sheila, Ira, and Willow, there was a thunderous sound from right outside the room just before the door was smashed right into the room.
Sheila and Ira screamed just as Buffy and Xander got up off the bed. They saw the heavy wooden door smash into the wall before fall down onto the two cots where Sheila an Ira had been sleeping. And then they heard a gasp as a body flew into the room, and was smashed against the wall.
"Anya!" yelled Xander as he saw the young woman hitting the wall with a crack before she fell unmoving onto the door. Xander knew it wasn't possible that Anya was dead, he knew that she was still a Vengeance demon as he ran to the young woman who was lying still. He reached down for a pulse and sighed in relief at finding it, and at Anya groaning in pain. It was then that Xander noticed a man walking calmly into the room with a black suit and red tie. He looked up at the man's red eyes, and the smirk on his lips. Xander saw him turn his head towards Willow, and give out a wide grin.
"Hello, my It."
TBC.