Chapter 33
When Xander arrived at school on Monday he saw a look in Willow's eyes. He knew this look well. It meant she had spent the weekend researching something and needed to tell someone about it.
Willow: I've been reading up on telekenesis, and spontaneous human combustion, which is apparently targeting the cheerleading squad.
Xander: So it's real? Like "Carrie" but hopefully with a happier ending.
Willow: Kind of. Telekenesis is usually born from repressed rage, most often from people suffering abuse as a child. I thought maybe one of the cheerleaders was under a lot of pressure from their parents, but it was hard to pinpoint who it could be. Then I researched spontaneous human combustion. That usually comes from the same depression/rage.
Xander: So one of them is targeting the others with two methods?
Willow: No, it attacks from within. What I mean is the fire hurts the person feeling the rage. I think Amy did it to herself accidentaly. There's also a link between this and alcohol abuse, either the alcohol helps cause it, or they both stem from the same emotional pain.
Xander: So Amy feels this pain, does that prove she hurt the others?
Willow: It doesn't prove that but it certain; makes her a suspect. I've also researched other paranormal incidents, like the Mary Celeste. That was a ship in 1872 where everyone just dissapeared. It was found in the middle of the Atlantic, noone onboard. Cargo was still there, but it was missing a lifeboat and navigation equipment, which it would need if they had to evacuate in a hurry. It probably wasn't pirates, they wouldn't butcher everyone only to not steal anything valuable. It was likely airpockets on the ocean floor. They would've caused the ship to lose it's buyancy. The captain wouldn't have understood what was happenning but would've evacuated. But the lifeboat would've sunk too. The sad irony is they probably died in full view of their ship regaining it's buyancy, and tried in vain to swim back to it.
Xander: You had a lot of free time this weekend didn't you.
Willow: I wanted to find a scientific explanation for what Buffy described. Telekenesis, spontaneous human combustion, even mind-reading are established scientific ideas, called "magic" in the old days.
Xander: Any scientific explanations for vampires?
Willow: The Bubonic plague. People were so afraid of it they buried the dead as soon as they died. Some were buried alive and tried to claw their way out. Thus the plague itself was blamed on vampires. Dom Camut's 1746 book "Treatise on vampires and revenants, the phantom world" first pointed out that things considered to be the signs of vampirism had scientific explanations. We now know that fresh blood on the lips is a natural part of decomposition. Also that decomposition is slower during winter months because the air is cold and the earth is hard. Anyway I find this all comforting. I mean, just because weird things happen that I don't fully understand, doesn't mean I'm going to leap to far flung magic theories.