Chapter 24: Souls & Survivors
Waking up in a cold sweat and with heat between her legs, Willow panted as she sat up and leaned back on her palms to look at her digital clock. It read 5:08 AM. She rolled out of bed on shaking legs before walking to the bathroom to splash water on her face. Her room was stuffy and her pajamas felt too warm and tight. She had no idea why she woke up. All was quiet in her house. Willow felt drawn to the balcony, walking to the doors and opening them to the chilly predawn air.
She would have thought she'd have nightmares when she was stuck in the mansion, not after she left. If she was honest with herself, some weren't clear cut nightmares, she enjoyed them until she woke up. Then they terrified her. Were they because of the Lingering Kiss? Giles was researching but he had been more concerned about how to cure it then its symptoms. Every Dracula movie she ever saw rolled through her mind and she could imagine herself as Lucy, drawn to death, without any control.
The cool breeze wafted over her as she tried to calm herself. Taking deep breaths, she gripped the rail with one hand as the other touched the bandage on her neck. Goosebumps rose up on her skin and she told herself it was from the cold. Leaning over the rail, she looked out into the sleepy street with a sigh. There was no sign that the hellmouth lurked beneath them. The sun would be up soon. She was watching an alley cat dart across the street when she saw him.
Head down and hands in his pockets, he stalked down the middle of the street.
She knew without seeing his face that it was Angel. She sucked in a deep breath.
He looked up and their eyes locked. Angel paused, startled before nodding, and continued quicker down the road.
She backed away and closed the balcony doors. Her heart raced and her breath shortened even as she tried to control herself. Looking around her alien room, all she could see was what had been there before and how Angelus must have looked as he destroyed her room. She could see the books being knocked off the shelves, the mobile ripped down, and the aquarium cracked and flooding out onto the floor. The fish flopped and suffocated slowly in her imagination. Willow felt like she couldn't breathe. The room felt too small and too barren. Everything that made the room hers was gone. She might as well not have even lived there at all. Willow couldn't stay a second longer. Her mind kept flashing back to her cell of a room in the mansion. Sweat rolled down her sides under her nightgown. It was like all the fear that had been suppressed by her blood craving came back magnified.
Leaving the room, she tried to be quiet as she walked down the stairs to the living room. She had to be far as she could from her room at the moment. Her mother had told her about the ruined things that they had kept in the garage. It was what was left of her old life and she had to see if any of it could be salvaged. She needed to hold tangible evidence that all wasn't lost.
Willow thought of poor dumb Lucy going outside to visit Dracula and she cringed as she stepped out into the cool air of the garage. She told herself that she wasn't under mind control, but she kept her back to the garage door and forced herself to focus on the trash bags that held the tatters of her life.
Her mother found her thirty minutes later holding onto the shreds of what used to be a floppy purple hat.
Willow wiped at her eyes and asked, "Why did he hate my hats so much?"
000
Willow had a mission when she walked into Ms. Calendar's classroom long before the bell rang. After the fear had subsided, the anger returned, slow and simmering, as she got ready for school. Even looking through her diminished closet made her scowl. Willow's wardrobe had been decimated and all the bare clothes hangers dangling on the pole only reminded her that her personal sanctum had been violated. It wasn't enough to torment her, Angelus had to torture her sweaters too. She wanted to smack herself when the tears popped out as she put on her only surviving polo shirt. Angel had only nodded and she almost had a panic attack. Then a tendril of suspicion wound around her psyche as she worried about what other effects the Lingering Kiss might have. Shame, fear, and frustration fueled her volatile emotions so she was stomping by the time she arrived at the classroom.
Ms. Calendar, sitting at her desk, leather jacket thrown on the back of the chair, looked up with a smile. "Oh, Willow," she faltered, seeing Willow's expression and continued in a more concerned voice, "what's up?"
"I need you to teach me." Willow didn't know what to do with her hands so she tugged on her backpack straps. She bit the inside of her cheek and looked away. "Magic." Taking a deep breath, she exhaled. "I need to know."
Ms. Calendar stood up and put a friendly hand on Willow's shoulder. Her dark eyes were filled with sympathy. "Are you sure that you don't want to talk?"
Willow raised an eyebrow. If she wanted to talk, she'd talk to Dr. Stevenson or Buffy. What she needed from the teacher was much more important than any talk about her feelings. "Yeah, I do." She crossed her arms. "About magic. Someone needs to teach me control. How to use my power." She frowned and sighed. "And, not my sacred, female fertility, feminism, moon-based whatever power. I already hear enough about that from my mom."
"What brings this up?" Ms. Calendar sat on the edge of her desk.
"The wacky notion that I live on the hellmouth." Willow shot her a disbelieving look before she turned her graze to a mug near the desktop PC. It was filled with pencils, pens, and a pair of scissors. She had figured that she'd get the run around but today, Willow Rosenberg, she told herself, no one would put baby in the corner, quoting the last movie she had saw with Buffy and Xander.
Ms. Calendar searched her face before she shrugged. "Well, before we talk about channeling the mystical forces, I need to know your expectations."
Allowing the orange-handled scissors to take all her focus, Willow concentrated on one spell. "I don't need a Yoda. Just a nudge in the right direction."
The scissors rose up.
Ms. Calendar followed Willow's gaze to the scissors and gasped.
Willow sent the scissors rocketed into the wall where it bounced off and hit the floor with a clatter that echoed throughout the room. "I don't want to take a wrong turn at Albuquerque."
Mouth open, Ms. Calendar looked at Willow in shock before she put her hand to her forehead. "Okay. Meet me in the teacher's parking lot after school then."
"Hey, Ms. C., I had a question about Excel." Amy asked, sheepish grin on her face, from the open door.
Willow nodded to the teacher before she escaped the room with a quick greeting to Amy. Just knowing that soon she would being learning from a real witch made her chest seem less tight. The walls were scooting back. She could breath again. Willow didn't quite smile but she wasn't frowning.
000
Under the streets of Sunnydale, deep in the tunnels, Angel stalked in the shadows, avoiding the light patches that pierced through the gutters. His footsteps were silent and ponderous without even drawing the attention of the rats, beady eyes reflecting the dim light, that scurried in the gloom. All his senses were spread out despite his fatigue. The night had been long as he patrolled the streets and the morning longer still in his bed as his brain fought sleep with the memory of fear on Willow's face as she stood on her balcony. Her rapid heartbeat still echoed in his ears. It only made him hit the demon underbelly of Sunnydale harder.
Keeping himself out all night, Angel dropped in on nest after nest in the many tombs and warehouses scattered across the town. He took great pains to ensure that there were no survivors. Loose lips could sink ships and vampires were a chatty bunch. Angel wanted the demons to think he was Angelus still. Most demons looked down on vampires but they did eavesdrop on them. He didn't need any two-bit hell spawn thinking about moving in on his territory after hearing that he was souled again. Buffy was too emotional drained to handle another big threat. He was barely holding it together. All in all, the white hats needed a break even if he wasn't going to allow himself the same luxury.
Voices echoed through the tunnel. Classic southern California tones of surfer apathy hit his ear.
"Those lizard dicks were totally bogus," said a vampire up ahead.
"Seriously. That was our haunt. Prime cemetery locale and all the hot and cold running blood we could want only steps away. Didn't even need a car. Totally green living and those douche canoes ruined it," A caucasian vampire with a backwards hat replied.
"Bogus, man, with a capital B."
Angel rushed to a stop right behind the two. "Hey, fellas." He clamped them on the shoulder and squeezed. "What's the problem?"
"Angelus!" One gasped.
Angel's mouth curved into something more deadly than a smile as he slammed the two vampires into each other. Their heads thumped together. "Maybe I can help."
"Demons kicked us out of Restfield," The other stuttered.
Angel let go long enough to whip out his stake and kill the one with the baseball hat on.
The other one turned to flee but tripped as Angel leaped on his back.
"We're not done talking." Angel took a hold of the vampire's arms and put a knee into the small of its back as he pinned the other vampire down. "Take it from the top."
000
Willow stepped down the concrete stairs to the basement level magic store behind Ms. Calendar with a smile on her face. She had been waiting for this all day. In chemistry, she imagined she had a cauldron instead of a Bunsen burner while in math, she doodled runes in the margins of her paper. At lunch, she had called her dad from the school office to tell him she would be staying late after school.
Now she was like a witch in a magic store.
Ms. Calendar had asked her gentle but prodding questions about her magic and when her powers developed. She had answered truthfully even if she had to stutter out the honest answer instead of the lies that crowded to the front of her mind. When she mentioned lifting the pencils into the library ceiling, they shared a look that made her stomach churn because she knew that Ms. Calendar was thinking about. Blood; rich, centuries old vampire blood; Willow had drank Angel's blood down like it was Ovaltine. The words weren't said but they lingered, silent, in the air.
It was only with the scent of sage and patchouli in her nose that Willow shrugged off the awkwardness. Ms. Calendar might as well have led her into a whole new world. Willow's eyes darted around as she took in the sight of the herbs, jars, and magic objects that lined the walls and covered the small table in the cramped store. There were books too. Her fingers itched to touch the leather covers while her nose wanted to breathe in that old book smell.
Ms. Calendar nodded at the storekeeper before she smiled at Willow. "Calm down. Its not Disneyworld." She led Willow to a rack of drying herbs. "Before you learn anything about magic, you gotta know the right tools for the job. This is sage and this is sweet grass." Pointing a lime green fingernail at each leafy bundle, Ms. Calendar recited their name and urged Willow to sniff it. "The wrong herb can ruin an otherwise flawless ritual or do even worse damage. I don't expect you to know every herb but try to learn a new one everyday and make sure you know the old standbys in the dark."
Willow brought a bundle to her face. "Lavender."
"Yup. And, it does more than smell good." Ms. Calendar turned to look at a table cluttered with statuettes and mystical do-dads. "Herbs aren't the only components to your ritual. Much like the Rolling Stones, magic requires four elements to be represented and channeled. Instead of Mick, you have..." Her voice slowed as her eyes swept over the display. "Huh." She looked over to the store owner. "What happened to that big jar filled with essence of monkshood and the statue of Gurija the Avenger? You didn't sell it together, did you?"
"Yeah, to that Willy guy, who owns the bar on Main. Don't worry, the guy has about as much magical ability as my broomstick." The chubby store owner flapped his hand dismissively.
Ms. Calendar snorted. "Another thing to know Willow is that certain spells require certain specific things." She turned around to look at Willow. "Let me pick you out a book and then lets go back to the school so your dad can pick you up. Oh, and another thing, don't buy any book written by Silver Ravenwolf. You want to be a witch not a fluffy bunny Wiccan."
000
Buffy jazzercised in the middle of the library with her head phones on. Pumping her legs and arms, she bounced to the beat until she noticed Willow and Ms. Undercover (Calendar was so not her real name) walk into the library. She tore off her headphones and waved. "Hey, Will." She said shortly to Ms. Calendar, "hi."
"Hi, Buffy." Ms. Calendar smiled before she walked into Giles' office.
"What's the sitch, Buff? What'cha doing?" Willow looked over at the CD case on the long library table.
"Getting the old heart rate up." Buffy smiled before a thought crossed her face. "Oh, I forgot to tell you that Oz invited you to see him play at the Bronze tonight."
"Did you let him go alone?" Willow tilted her head. Thinking about the the soul sucking demons that she saw in the parking lot, she couldn't help but worry about the way the demons honed in on Oz first. Ms. Calendar had filled her in on her suspicions about the magical ingredients sold at the magic shop. Apparently monkshood and Gurija the Avenger were the cornerstone of soul suckage.
"Last time I checked I didn't give birth to him so yeah." Buffy shrugged. "He's with Devon. Not like in that way, but," she paused with an intrigued smile, "you never know with those two."
"And now you're jazzercising? Why?" Willow didn't mean to get shrill with Buffy, but she'd hate to see Oz get his soul sucked out. Ms. Calendar was darkly vague about the process and it didn't sound like a cakewalk.
"Love handles?" Buffy replied as she set the portable CD player down and returned to stepping on her block. "Why the why?"
"Oh, dear." Giles popped his head out of his office. "Buffy, where is Oz?"
Willow and Buffy locked eyes.
"We have a problem." Angel said softly as he appeared out of the top stacks.
Willow inhaled and backed away at the sound of Angel's voice. Without looking away from the large vampire, she angled to have Buffy between them. Her heart sped up. She forced herself to breath evenly and kept telling herself that it was just Angel, Buffy's angsty star-crossed boyfriend, and he had a soul. A part of her told her to flee while a quiet voice whispered about the dark virtues of his blood, Willow tried to hold it together.
"Okay, I guess I'm bronzing it tonight." Buffy looked down on her exercise clothes. "At least I'm dressed for slaying."
"You'll have to get to him immediately. Magick of the darkest order could put us all at risk." Giles raised a stained spellbook. "The entire population of Utah may depend on you."
Buffy sighed as she went to the book cage where there were weapons stashed in the back. "Way to put the pressure on. I'll head to the Bronze now."
"I'll drive you," Ms. Calendar volunteered.
"I come bearing diet-breaking donuts and Ulgar's Demon Compendium," Xander called out as he walked backwards in the library, his arms full, to open the doors before turning around. "What in the jelly-filled hell is going on?
"Quite." Giles nodded as he looked around the suddenly crowded library. "Angel, what is it?"
"The soul suckers have taken over a tomb in Restfield cemetery and it looks like they have Willy running errands for them. They're up to something." Angel put his hands in his pockets and nodded towards the Scoobies. "I came only when I was certain."
Giles looked to Ms. Calendar. "Its as we suspected. Buffy will collect Oz from the Bronze and we will then proceed with more research on this ritual. It requires a mystical creature drawn to the moon and Oz, unfortunately fits the bill."
"Thanks for that, Angel," Xander said with exaggerated and mocking politeness. "I guess its time you go hit the bloody trails then. Maybe make like a leaf and get out of here."
Buffy coughed, glanced at Willow and mouthed, 'I'm sorry' before she stepped from the book cage with an axe. "I don't think that is a good idea. Angel, would you lurk around school just in case the demons come back? I don't want to be lured away for a trap and have the whole gang take the fall." She whirled around and pointed the axe at Xander. "No complaining either."
Angel nodded after he saw Giles' silently agree.
"Good." Buffy gestured to Ms. Calendar and the two left the room.
Angel finally made eye contact with Willow.
She bit her lip and wished she could look away but she felt frozen. There was nothing threatening in his gaze and he looked like the somber vampire she knew before. It didn't stop her moods from swinging around.
Xander's eyes darted between Angel and Willow. He set the book and donut box on the table with a thump.
It woke Willow from her stupor and she jumped. She felt transparent under Xander's gaze and looked down at the linoleum. Thinking back on all the herbs she learned about today, she tried to control herself.
Waving his hand, Xander scowled at Angel. "Could you lurk somewhere else?"
Angel nodded before he turned and disappeared into the book stacks.
Willow found her knees trembling as she sat at the long library table and accepted half a bear claw from Xander. She smiled up at him between bites. "Let me see what Ulgar says about soul suckers." She pulled the musty tome towards her before she impulsively took Xander's hand and squeezed. "Thanks for the bear claw." They both knew she meant something else.
000
Buffy heard the sounds of a struggle before they pulled into the parking lot behind the Bronze. She hopped out of the car before it came to a stop.
The doors to Oz's zebra-striped van were thrown open. Two demons fought Oz and the Dingo's drummer as Devon lay on the ground near the stairs leading to the Bronze's back door. Night had fell and the street lamp flickered. An unfamilar van puttered in park.
Buffy ran through the parking lot, breathing evenly through her nose, with the axe in hand.
A demon knocked the drummer down and then with its partner, pulled Oz into the waiting dark van, before jumping in.
Cursing, Buffy ran faster to the other band members.
The drummer looked out cold while Devon kept mumbling about the Lizard King and what a mistake dropping three tabs of acid was.
Buffy yelled at him to get help before returning to Ms. Calendar's VW bug. "Follow them!" She bit at her polished nails as she mentally flogged herself. She just didn't want to lose a friend tonight.