Chapter Eight

Reid stood outside of door #321. It was just like every other college dorm room hallway, with students wondering around in pyjamas and looking stressed. He could even hear a young couple arguing in a room a few doors down. Ah, college. He didn't miss it one bit.

He couldn't help but stare at door #311 when they had walked by it. It had been the room where the boy was murdered when the town had gone silent. He and Morgan had debated going inside, before they figured that all the evidence would of been hidden by the police by now. Instead, they had walked by to room #321, where Buffy Summers was supposed to be living.

Morgan knocked on the door.

"One second!" A voice came from inside. A young, redheaded woman opened the door. Reid peaked into the room. It looked normal enough, two small beds, various clothing strewn around. Everything was normal, except for the strange circle of candles in the middle. She looked confused at the two of them and said, "Can I help you with anything?"

Morgan stepped in, "Good afternoon Miss. We're Agent Morgan and Dr. Reid, does a Buffy Summers live here?"

The woman narrowed her eyes, "What do you want with Buffy?"

"We just need a few questions answered," Morgan continued.

"Oh, well that's good then. I think she's at the Magic Box right now," She said.

"The Magic Box?" Reid asked.

"Un huh, the one with all the witchcraft stuff," She said, as if there was nothing weird about it. Morgan and Reid shared a look of honestly? A magic shop?

At their look, she blushed and continued, "You aren't from around here, I guess."

Morgan shook his head, "No Miss. If you have any directions, it would be useful."

"Sure, it's just down on Main Street, across from the movie theatre. We only have one, so it's easy enough to find. But, what does the FBI want with Buffy? She hasn't done anything."

Morgan gave her a friendly smile, "Just a few questions about the night time attacks."

As soon he said the words, she straightened up, "The animal attacks, right? What would Buffy have to do with that." She let out a nervous laugh.

Reid could hear the lie as soon as she said it. Her voice had changed pitched and the laugh made it obvious. More than that, it meant she knew the attacks didn't have anything to do with animals. Another person who knew something strange was up with Sunnydale, "Your name, Miss?"

She swallowed hard, "Willow Rosenberg."

"Thank you for the help, Ms. Rosenberg," Reid said, "I'd recommend that you shouldn't leave candles in the open like that. They're easy to step on."

She squeaked and closed the door a little tighter, "Oh! Thanks, it's just part of a science experiment, you know, chemistry. Oxygen and Nitrogen and all those other molecules."

Another lie. Reid didn't comment on it this time though.

"Thank you again, Ms. Rosenberg. We'll be leaving now," Morgan said. The pair of them left.

They got into the car.

"So, the Magic Box, huh," Morgan said, "Think it's a joke?"

Reid shook his head, "She wasn't joking."

Morgan just shook his head, "This town," He let out a small chuckle, "It's like they're in an episode of Twilight Zone or something. I mean, vampires? Strange murders? A witchcraft shop? What's next, a werewolf?"

"At this point, I wouldn't be surprised," Reid muttered.

"Surprised?" Morgan exclaimed, "You were never surprised, not by vampires, not by our creepy dopplegangar vampire mayor. You've been treating this entire case like a trip to the super market! Ooh, let's thrown in some vampires into the cart, how about a zombie or two?"

Reid shrugged, "Just following the evidence, like we do on every case."

"Well yeah, but this isn't every case. This is vampires, stuff that's only supposed to exist in movies, not real life. I mean, how many murders in how many town were caused by vampires? How many people were killed by them, but the blame was put on someone else? How many innocent people did we arrest?" Morgan asked, "And how many more people were killed because we never caught the real killer?"

Reid looked down, "I don't know."

Morgan scowled, "The first time I want an incredibly long explanation and you don't know."

They drove in silence.

By the time they made it back to town, it was past sunset. The store was a small, dingy building with a bright lettering reading: Magic Box. The blinds were closed and the lighting outside the shop was dim. Reid hopped out of the car and headed towards the door. He opened it and almost fell over in surprise. The old, decrepit building was a large, clean one that had customers milling around. Huh, Reid thought, he hadn't been expecting that.

He spotted Morgan heading off to talk to the cashier, a chirpy looking girl with short brown hair.

"Good afternoon Ms," Morgan said, standing beside a customer.

The girl glared at him, "Go to the back."

He sighed and held up his badge, "FBI, Ms, this is important."

The girl fixed him with an annoyed look, "More important than my customer? More important than my money?"
The customer looked at her, warily.

The cashier smiled brightly, "I value your wallet."

The customer gave her a glare, before grabbing her purchases off the counter and leaving the store quickly.

The cashier waved, "Please come back!"

Morgan coughed, "Is there a Buffy Summers here?"

She nodded, "In the back, training." She gestured to a curtain doorway.

"Training?" Reid asked.

She nodded, "Buffy!"

No one came out.

"It's fine," Reid said, "We'll let ourselves in."

She nodded absentmindedly, counting the bills.

Reid lifted the curtain to the side and stepped into the other side. The back area was covered with mats and the walls were filled with knives, bows and arrows, even ninja stars.

Reid pointed to a set of pointy wooden stakes, "Looks like we came to the right place."

At Morgan's blank look, Reid mimed stabbing him in the heart. Morgan's expression didn't change. Instead, he approached the girl in the back.

She was facing her back to them, upside down in a handstand on top of a gymnastic horse.

"Good afternoon, Ms," Morgan said.

"Huh?" Then, she collapsed onto her stomach, "Ugh."

"Sorry," Morgan apologized, offering a hand to help her up. She took it and faced them. Buffy looked different from the time they saw her in the dark, with a ripped up sweater and tiredness evident. Here, she looks calm and collected.

Buffy frowned at them, "This is a staff only section. The stuff here isn't for sale."

Morgan shook his head, "We aren't customers. FBI, SSA Morgan and that's Dr. Reid."

Realization dawned in her eyes, "I've met you before, haven't I? It was dark."

Morgan nodded, "That was us. Your sweater was ripped from running into a branch." He made it clear that he knew the last part was a lie.

Nervousness flashed through her eyes, "I'm just a bit clumsy."

"That handstand certainly didn't look clumsy," He told her.

"I've been taking gymnastics since I was young. Look, why are you here? I told you that I hadn't been attacked that night, if that's what this is about," Buffy said.

Reid shook his head, "Actually, this is about a statement that was taken from you on the parent teacher night of 1998."

"Oh, that thing. A gang on PCP, wasn't it? I don't remember too well," Buffy lied. Reid had to admit, she was good at it. She didn't use any of the usual mannerism they were trained to spot. The only thing that gave her away was the way she'd play with her hair, taking it out of her ponytail, fiddling around with it. But other than that, it was barely noticeable.

"Well the official report stated that you managed to crawl through the vent and that you tried to help the one parent who died. We just wanted to ask if you had seen anything suspicious through the vents. Such as pale people with pointy teeth?" Reid hinted.

Buffy's eyes narrowed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm warning you, Ms, holding information is considered a crime," Morgan warned.

Suddenly, a voice from the other side of the curtain screamed, "Buffy!"

Buffy sprinted to the curtain and threw it open. Morgan and Reid followed as soon as they heard screams.

Reid walked into chaos. Customers were screaming and huddling against the walls. The cashier had ducked behind the counter and Buffy was standing barely even two feet away from a disfigured man in a defensive position. If they fight, Reid realized, Buffy's going to loose. The man was at least two feet taller than her, with muscled arms and legs. His face was horrifying. Ridged and yellow eyes, a victim of plastic surgery gone wrong and a raging alcoholic. But Reid remembered the face of Samantha Wong on the security tape when she killed Officer Warden. She had barely faced the camera for a second, but Reid could still remember her face. Ridged, just like this man.

He scowled at her, "Slayer! I'm here to kill you!"

"During business hours? Really?" Buffy retorted, "Anya! Stake!" She yelled, dodging a quick punch from the man.

The cashier fumbled around the desk for a second, before she pulled out a long, wooden stake. She threw it to Buffy, "Don't let him hurt the merchandise!"

"Not my highest priority right now!" Buffy said, strained as the man kicked her down.

Morgan reached for his gun, "Sir! Step away form the girl!" He yelled.
The man just looked at him and laughed. It had, however, distracted him from crushing Buffy. The two continued to fight. The cashier grabbed the register off the counter when they got too close.

Finally, Morgan got a clear shot. He fired two bullets into the man's head. Reid looked away when he fell on the floor, limp.

"Everyone, calm down. It's alright," Morgan said.

"He's not dead!" Buffy insisted.

"Ms, not the time!" Morgan responded, "Now someone call 9-1-1, get an ambulance and the police."

Morgan went quiet as the body of the man, the man who had just been shot by two bullets, rose. The holes in his head knitted them selves back together. He looked right at Morgan with his unnatural, yellow eyes.

"You'll pay for that!" He lunged. Morgan would of gotten his throat ripped out, if it wasn't for the stake that landed in his chest. Reid watched in fascination as an expression of agony took over his face, before he disintegrated into gold dust.

Holding onto the stake, was Buffy herself, "I guess we have a lot to talk about."

Woah two chapters in the same month? Are pigs flying? Haha. This is actually the fastest update, as well as one (if not the) longest chapters of this story. So, thanks again to everyone for reading. I hope you enjoyed.