Fear of Public Places

The next day at school, Buffy noticed that there was a lot of staring coming her way. She was used to everyone wrinkling their noses in disdain whenever she walked past,, but she was certainly not used to the gossip. 'Have they found out about last night?' she wondered, knowing that was virtually impossible. She had no faith in the police, and refused to get them involved. They would be no better at dealing with the problem than she was.

She and Willow waded through the dense crowd of the student body, enduring sneaky glances and stage whispers. Finally, she reached her locker, and slumped against the cold metal door.

'Don't worry', Willow soothed sympathetically. 'Its probably nothing about last night.'

Buffy looked at her friend and raised an eyebrow.

''Hey Buff!', said Xander, arriving alongside her. ''Hey Will'. I see you're the latest victim of the gossip parade.'

''See?', Buffy said pointedly to Willow. 'Everyone's probably discussing why I didn't die.'

'What?', said Xander, confused. ''You almost died last night? Was it a, an apocalypsey type of scenario, or…we are talking about mortality dying. Right?'

When Buffy just stared into space, Willow spoke for her. 'Cordelia's killer went after her last night with a freaky big knife, failed to slaughter her and then escaped. She thought it was Angel, and so she-'

'Angel!', fumed Xander, 'I should have known.. He's still evil. I told you not to trust him. He killed Cordy. He's trying to finish all of us, in his big Hollywood revenge.'

'Well, we're not sure', Willow said. 'We locked him in the library last night. But Buffy still had this phone call, threatening her. It couldn't have been Angel.'

Buffy bit her lip, and said nothing.

Oz came over, looking remarkably relaxed. He greeted them with a nod.

'People say Buffy's the killer', he said simply.

'Oh my god', Buffy breathed, shutting her eyes. 'Snyder'.

'I heard that one!', said Xander enthusiastically. 'Of course, I didn't believe any of it. Not a word', he added quickly seeing Buffy's reaction.

'That's so unfair!', cried Willow. 'Oz, I hope you put them right!'

'I told them I could be the killer', Oz shrugged.

Everyone stared at Oz in disbelief.

''I could be', said Oz coolly.

'Anyway', rushed Willow, changing the subject before things got out of hand. 'I vote at lunch, we see Giles and Angel,. We can decide what to do then.'

Buffy nodded mutely. But for once, she wished that she was dealing with another apocalypse.

At lunch, the four met up and went straight to the library. Giles greeted them as if it were any other day, and he didn't have Buffy's shackled boyfriend a cage. Faith emerged from the other end of the room.

'Good afternoon', Giles greeted.

Buffy watched Angel uneasily, who brooded in the corner of his confinement. He looked bored and upset.

'Let us assemble in my office', he said at last, motioning to the other side of the library.

They followed dutifully, and when they were all together, he shut the door behind him.

'He refuses to admit to his involvement,' Giles confided. 'He's rather stubborn, and has not cooperated at all with my questioning'.

'Its not him', Buffy said suddenly

Giles took off his glasses, cleaned them, and replaced them on his nose. 'Oh yes, the phone call', he nodded. 'That is insubstantial proof', but important nonetheless.'

'Lover boy's guilty if you ask me', Xander snapped. 'Everybody knows it.'

'Shut up Xander', Faith drawled. 'The important thing is that Buffy is being stalked right?'

'You think we should let Angel go?', asked Willow.

'We can't keep him here for something he didn't do', Buffy muttered. 'Its unfair on him.'

'But the wound…' said Willow.

'Angel insists he obtained the wound from climbing your house', Giles offered. 'A metal spike on the wall, I believe'

'I should have known that! We need to release him. Oh god, how could I have put him through this', Buffy bemoaned.

'I believe its you decision,' Giles answered.

'So B, wanna hunt us some psycho?', Faith said, as if the matter was closed. 'Could be fun'

'They could be human', Buffy said, shaking her head. 'We can't kill a person.. Its against our ethics. But we could turn them in'.

'Suit yourself', Faith shrugged. 'But hey, if someone wants a piece of me, I can't be held responsible for the consequences.'

'Giles', said Buffy tentatively, 'I don't want to be around when you release Angel. I can't face him after…', she trailed off, looking at her feet.

'Well, yes, of course', answered Giles, flustered, 'if that's what you want. Willow, could you accompany her?'

'Was going to suggest it myself', smiled Willow. 'C'mon, Buffy'

The two girls left the library, still avoiding the cage . But this time, Angel remained silent.

'Thanks Will', mumbled Buffy.

'Don't mention it', her friend replied. 'Wanna grab a soda?'

'I need to slip into the bathroom first, should we meet in the cafeteria?'

'Sure.', said Willow, and with a wave, she was gone. Buffy headed for the restrooms, and once inside, breathed a sigh of relief once she discovered that it was completely empty. She turned on the taps so that water gushed out in a strong stream, and she splashed the cool soothing water over her flushed face. Slowly, she rose to look in the mirror. Her face was soaked with water and now tears. Everything seemed so confusing. Buffy was used to being in control, and it was disconcerting to have her confidence yanked suddenly away from her.

'Yeah that was totally awesome!', giggled a voice from outside the room. Buffy widened her eyes. Someone was about to come in,, and all she knew was that she was in no state to face anyone. Quickly, she locked herself in the nearest cubicle, just as the door swung open with a loud creak.

'I mean, it all makes sense. That freak was always totally off herself. Look at the way she treated Cordelia. Always getting her to drive her and her loser friends around in her car…. I mean, Cordelia was no pushover. She could totally stand her own.' Its really i weird /i '

'I totally agree', said another voice, echoing through the room. 'I mean, remember that time Cordelia phoned me-'

'She called me too'

'-and was like freaked because Buffy had tried to stab her that night at the Bronze? I mean,, that girl has some serious issues. She totally flamed her last school''

'D'you think Buffy has been threatening Cordelia all this time to obey her every command?'

'Yeah. Only this time, Cordelia refused to be pushed around. And that sent Buffy over the edge, and-'

'Oooh, now you're scaring me. Stop it!'

'-and now she's tasted revenge, she won't be able to stop. She may even kill again.'

'Omigod, what if she goes after the Cheerleaders?'

'Oh Sid, do you think of anything other than the squad?'

'But what if she blows up the school…like in that film Carrie…'

There were footsteps, muffled chatter, a slamming door, and then nothing. Buffy slumped against the cubicle wall, tears streaming uncontrollably down her face. The entire school hated her. For years, it seemed, they had deeply resented the new girl, aloof to her every movement and word. In a crazed moment, Buffy considered running away from Sunnydale again.

For what seemed like forever, she waited in the stall, trying to regain a feeling of calm. Eventually, she realized that she needed to see Angel, and explain to him. Then maybe they could figure out what was happening to her. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and stepped out.

'Buffy', whispered a voice. She looked around her, feeling uncertain. She had thought the room was empty.

'Hello?', she tested, listening hard in case her Slayer senses picked something up. She thought she could hear breathing, but she wasn't sure.

'Buffy….',

She decided to waste no time, and fell to the floor to look under the cubicle doors. She gasped when she saw two black shoes in the stall on the far end.. A black cloak skirted the floor.

'Buffy,' the voice whispered.

She took a step back, and kicked down the door, ready for action. But what she saw took her by complete surprise.

Sat on the toilet was Harmony Kendall, wearing a black cloak and black shoes. Her face was contorted in horror, and blood oozed freely from her throat and stomach. Buffy's hand flew to her mouth, and she retched, as Harmony's dead, wide open eyes stared accusingly at her.

Lost in her horror of the scene in front of her, Buffy screamed when someone attacked her from behind. She struggled as her attacker clamped a hand over her mouth, but managed to push him away. She was unsurprised to find the same masked killer,, eye sockets bleeding, brandishing the same sharp knife, this time stained with blood. She prepared to unleash an attack, but panic took over and she run from the room, afraid to look over her shoulder.

Snyder sat comfortably in his office, a smug smile playing on his lips. He really couldn't believe his luck. Two of his students, murdered in the same week! All in suspicious circumstances. The Mayor sounded so pleased with the events that had unfolded. Maybe he would even promote him…now that would be interesting.

When Buffy had run screaming that there had been another murder, in the girls' toilets of all places, he had realized that she had given him all the ammunition he needed to solve the Mayor's problem. The Summers brat had even had the audacity to suggest that the killer had tried to murder her too.

He stood up. The police were getting involved heavily in the case, and Snyder planned to warn them of the girl's unstable mental state. All the evidence pointed towards her. Buffy Summers got away with so much., but not this time. He'd make sure of it..

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door. 'Come in!', he bellowed impatiently. He had so many other important things to do, and he couldn't be bothered dealing with one of his pathetic twitchy students.

The door creaked, and Snyder jumped in alarm. His face furrowed in an angry frown when he realised it was just the janitor.

'Quark!', he shouted, what the hell do you want?'

'I, uh, I', weaselled the little man nervously. 'Never mind, I can see you're busy, I'll come back later-'

'Then go! Out of my office!', Snyder grunted, smoothing his bald head. For some reason, the man always gave him an uncanny feeling. When the janitor had gone, Snyder walked over to his desk, and opened a drawer. For some reason, his instincts told him that something was hiding inside of it. He chastised himself for being so unreasonable. The school was finally getting to him.

But one day, the Mayor would give him the reward he deserved. After all, he had told him to ready himself body and mind before graduation, where the Mayor had promised great things for Snyder. Snyder smirked. He didn't have to prepare himself at all

He made a futile kung-fu movement in proof, and knocked over several papers on his desk.

'Oh crap', he muttered, bending over to retrieve the important documents. As he gathered the papers together, he thought he could hear a slow creaking noise by the door. Someone had come in, without even knocking!

'Quark!', he shouted, 'is that you?'

He rose to his feet to get a better look at his intruder, but was met with a sharp pain to his abdomen. A vision of a white face of a screaming ghost in a black cloak glared at him,. Its eyes were deep and dark, and blood dripped from the sockets.

Snyder widened his eyes in alarm, and before he could push forward to escape, the stranger delivered another stab with his knife, cutting deeper into the stomach. Snyder spluttered, frothy blood spurting from his lips. But refusing to be defeated, he reached out for the mask and pulled it from the killer's head. He gasped when he saw the face, which both shocked and unsurprised him.

Principal Snyder opened his mouth wearily, but the blood-stained knife, aimed straight between the eyes, reached its target before he could utter a word.