Evil Behind the Door

She patiently waited for a response or a scurry of footsteps behind the door but neither came. She turned her gaze back to the others who were tightly cross-armed with shoulders hugging their necks. The guy, who hadn't said a word to his best friend for the past hour, wrapped his large arms around Anya and rubbed her body to keep her from chattering like a teeth toy.

"God, why is it so fricken cold out here?" Anya wailed. She turned to the man holding her. "Xander give me your sweater."

He released her and started stroking his chest as if he was expecting hands to tear his warm sweater from it. "Wha—but I . . . only have a t-shirt undern—"

"Do you want me to freeze to death? You're a man. A man's supposed to sacrifice his things for his woman." She paused. "Soon to be, of course, your lawfully weh—"

"Anya!" Xander scolded.

Willow was staring at them, but her mind was elsewhere. The grave in the forest she came to before coming here had a giant whole in it, which could only mean one thing. Buffy was alive. Her heart thumped in exhilaration. Buffy was probably scared and disoriented. She had to find her.

She had absorbed the power of a demon for nothing it seemed and the silent treatment coming from Xander along with Tara's stares of worry and disapproval were making her regret what she had done. Fortunately, the sheer power coursing through her was strong enough to burry that pathetic emotion. It felt like her abilities had increased twentyfold, a level where she no longer needed incantation. The thing that worried her the most was not knowing how long this magic would last. She needed a way to make it permanent. In order to do that, she had to let loose the demon inside.

Tara shrugged. "Maybe they're back at the house."

"No, I can sense them. Dawn's in there with Spike." She saw Tara's lips shift and her gaze dart.

Willow felt another presence inside, but its soul was so conflicted. Its soul was so fragmented, that she couldn't identify it with anything. Although, she was pretty certain it wasn't human.

The door creaked open catching everyone's gaze. Dawn's head poked through the opening and a large smile lit up her face. "Guys! . . ."

. . . .

She let out a gloomy sigh as Dawn stepped outside and shut the door. Buffy turned and frowned at Spike who was standing beside her with his arms folded.

"Will you quite worryin? Dawn believes you, they will."

It sounded like Dawn was telling the others a grand story complete with exclamations and wild hand gestures she could only imagine. The shouts of the words "Buffy" and "WAM" put her at ease slightly, knowing her little sister wasn't going to miss out a single detail.

Buffy was staring at the cryptic door with her mind buzzing with questions: "What will they think?" "What will they say?" "Why did I come back?" "What do I do now?" Everything was so overwhelming that she didn't have time to figure anything out by the time the door opened. Buffy breathed deeply.

Dawn held the door open as Willow was the first to step through. Her red hair was short and curly, a look Buffy adored. Her eyes were wide, her pupils were oddly large and her mouth was a thin line, an edgy expression that made Buffy even more nervous.

Buffy timidly smiled to bring levity to the moment as her eyes locked with Willow's. There was an awkward silence as everyone gathered inside the crypt exchanging glances that were joyful and confused at the same time. The uneasy feelings inside Buffy immediately vanished as Willow leapt towards her and hugged her in a tight embrace.

Her voice came in a quiet ecstasy. "You're alive!"

The affection radiating from her friend was so immense that Buffy could only feel happiness. Her friend accepted who she was, what she came back as. Willow. It was really Willow. Buffy looked over her shoulder and saw Tara and Anya looking on sublimely. Xander was beaming as he walked over and removed his hands from his pockets to wrap his arms around her and Willow.

"Okay," Buffy said, "feeling a little squished now."

"Sorry," Xander said drawing back with a broad smile and eyes on the verge of watering.

"You're sure it's Buffy right? Not Drusilla pretending to be her so she can slit our throats at night?"

Willow spun around at Anya and gave her an appalled look. "Anya."

"What? I had to ask."

"It's Buffy," she looked back at her, "and I can prove it."

She closed her eyes while holding the tips of Buffy's fingers. Her red hair suddenly began to glow scarlet along with the rest of her body. Buffy saw the aura pass from her arms and envelop her own. It was a warm and fuzzy feeling. She suddenly felt like she was in two places at once, yet she was seeing the same thing in both bodies.

Her fragmented soul was revealing itself by Willow's will. Buffy was splitting into two ghostly images. One was Drusilla in the black gown with her dark hair flowing, the other was Buffy Summers in a white gown and her blonde hair shimmering. In a vibrant flash the images merged back into one and the glowing aura faded until only the essence of Drusilla was left.

Buffy let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

"So why Drusilla?" Xander asked.

"I think . . . I've seen this before," Tara said but her voice went unheard to everyone except Willow.

"How come she came back wrong?" Anya jumped in. "You told us," she looked at Willow, "you promised us she'd be normal."

Buffy saw Willow jerk her head. Everyone looked at Anya and then at Willow. There was another awkward silence.

Spike who was standing quietly in a corner viewing the situation, unfolded his arms and leered at Willow. His voice was cold. "What, did you do." Willow opened her mouth to respond but it seemed she was lost for words.

"You did a spell didn't you?" Dawn said from behind everyone. "You guys kept it a secret, hiding it thinking we wouldn't understand." Her arms were crossed, her tone becoming very sour. "I can't believe you would do something like this. Any of you." She stared at the four of them who could only pass their guilty gazes to each other and the floor.

"Look," Xander said. "We did what we had to, to bring Buffy back—"

Spike gave a harsh laugh. "Oh! Listen to the marching drummer boy! Always doing whatever the witch tells him. You people don't care about anything except yourselves. Screw the consequences eh? As long as you don't have to feel so miserable anymore. And miss almighty over here. What forces did you tamper with? Have to sacrifice anything? Anyone? You have no clue do you? What you've done to Buffy."

"I— I can fix it," Willow said in a panic. "I have more power now, I can make things right." She looked at Buffy whose eyes were lowered, her face wore a blank expression.

"No, you're not making things worse." Spike moved to intervene, standing in between Buffy and Willow.

"Back off." Buffy heard Willow's voice suddenly turn deep, almost demonic. Her pupils turned pitch black and she raised a hand and wrapped it around Spike's neck.

"Willow!" Tara shouted. She ran over and grasped Willow's outstretched arm. "Come back Willow. Come back to me," she begged.

Her eyes reverted back to normal and a soft gaze fell on Tara as she let go of Spike. Everyone was staring at Willow in shock, but it seemed none of her friends would dare speak out against her.

Spike went to move against Willow, but Buffy grabbed his wrist. It seemed he understood Buffy's intent. She couldn't handle the situation anymore, and he withdrew while rubbing his throat.

"Buffy." Dawn walked through the silent crowd and grabbed Buffy's hands. "Let's go home."

The both of them walked outside, leaving the others inside the crypt.

"Buffy." Her long brown hair glowed in the moonlight, and she hugged her big sister's arm as they walked through the grass. "Don't leave. I know it's going to be hard, but I'll be with you the whole way. So . . . just stay with me okay?"

Buffy pulled back Dawn's drooping bangs and curled them around her ear. She wanted to give comfort and simply say "okay", but she couldn't. Things could never go back to the way they were, if she remained in the body of a vampire. The friendships she had as the slayer would never be the same. Slowly they would all distance themselves from Buffy, and eventually she would fall on a dark path. A path where the only available guide was a man wearing a trench coat with a cigarette in his mouth.