"Harmony's missing." Cordelia informed the group a few days later. "No one has seen her in days. Her parents, like mine, travel a lot and aren't home right now. Their housekeeper hasn't seen her since the day school resumed after the holidays."
"Harmony has no idea about the night life." Xander said. "I'm sorry, Cor, I know she was your friend. We can keep an eye out, see if she turns up."
"If she turns up now, it probably means she's a vampire, Xander." Cordelia bit out. "Which means we will have to dust her. I don't know if I can. I know you didn't like her, any more than I like Willow and I was mostly friends with her because she's one of those I'm expected to be friends with, but I've known her since the third grade. I don't know if I can do it."
"You don't have to. I promise you, if Harmony is a vampire and we don't know that she is, I will dust her." Xander promised. "We just have to bear in mind, it's not her anymore, it's the thing that killed her."
"You're right." Cordelia snapped her spine straight. "It's not Harm, not my friend, it's the thing that killed my friend. Just like with Jesse, just because its wearing her face as a mask won't make it Harmony."
"We'll all keep an eye out, Cordelia." Buffy assured her. "You won't have to deal with a Harmony vamp on your own."
"If she is a vampire, she might go after Xander."
"Why me?" Xander asked, dreading the answer.
"Jesse went after me because he was interested in me. According to my Cordettes, Harmony believed the rumors about you having money and she'd decided she wanted you for herself. Harmony's criteria for a guy she's interested in is looks and money. Your looks are finally shining thanks to a change in wardrobe. So that and the rumors put you on her radar."
Xander went invisible without even thinking about it.
"Come back, Doofus." Cordelia laughed.
"You're sure? Because I've said it before, it is not flattering to have Harmony interested in me. You, yes. Her, no."
"On another topic." Giles steered the conversation away from Harmony's unknown fate. "Principal Snyder informed the facility that a student was attacked and mauled to death last night. That's not how he normally informs us a student has died. He usually uses terms like gang on PCP or wild animal attack. Stating that it was a mauling indicates that it may indeed be an animal attack or possibly a demon of some sort."
"An actual animal is unlikely." Xander said. "I doubt an animal would last long with the night life around here, we don't even have a need for a dog catcher. Wild animals, unless they're feral, avoid people and all animals, as far as we know, can sense vampires. And given how many this town has, would avoid coming into town."
"So that leaves a demon as our main suspect." Buffy decided. "But how do we determine what demon?"
"The body may still be at the morgue." Cordelia said. "I really don't like the idea of spending time there, but if we can get a look at the body, maybe there will be clues that can help us figure it out."
"After class we can go over."
"We should probably bring Willow." Xander suggested. "She can keep watch while we check things out and alert Cordy or me of any trouble."
"She's at my place watching over Lupe." Cordelia said. "I can go pick her up after class and meet you there."
The others agreed and headed to their classes, with Xander walking Cordelia to hers.
"I'm sorry about Harmony." He told her. "She's still your friend, regardless of anything else and I know she matters to you. We may never find answers and I know that's what bugs Jesse parents, that they'll never know what happened to him."
"Knowing what happened might be better than the uncertainty." Cordelia agreed. "Because the uncertainty feeds my imagination. Knowing what happened might confirm a terrible nightmare though. Neither one is a good option."
Neither of them noticed someone heard them talking.
'I guess I didn't think about others missing her.' Amy thought. 'I just thought about how angry she made me reminding me of my mother. I should find her and make sure she's alright.' Tuning her Magic to find the trace of her own Magic that was still lingering on Harmony, Amy went looking for her.
Cordelia met Xander and Buffy at the morgue and the Willow cat jumped out of the car after her.
'Don't worry, Xander.' Willow projected. 'I've got the hang of this overwatch thing now. I'll be on the roof and I'll let you know if I see anything.'
'Just be careful. We know from Willy that there are demons that prefer cats on their menu to humans. A shish-ka-bobbed Willow is not something I ever want to see.' Xander projected back.
'And if they tried to shish-ka-bob me, they'll quickly find out that my teeth and claws are probably sharper than theirs, at least in my other form. I'll be fine.'
Leaving Willow outside to keep watch, the three teens entered the morgue and began pulling out the drawers.
"Found it!" Buffy called out. "At least I'm pretty sure this guy qualifies as mauled."
"I'd have agree." Xander said, looking at the body. "He was just killed, it looks like. Nothing seems to have been eaten and I'm not seeing vampire bites. So maybe it was an animal, a large, possibly feral animal. Where was he found?"
"According to Giles, near the bluff overlooking town." Buffy answered.
"Make out hill, near the woods." Xander said. "Lends credence to the theory that it's an animal. Although the biggest thing in those woods is normally rabbits. But something might have intended a rabbit to be its meal and got interrupted and didn't take kindly to that. I suggest searching the woods and see if we can find anything of interest."
"Agreed." Buffy nodded. "If it is an animal, maybe we should try catching it. We don't actually know it's feral."
"You're right, we don't." Xander followed her and Cordelia out of the morgue, closing the doors behind him. "We should have Giles get a tranq gun, while we check the woods. He can meet us out there."
"I'll give him a call." Buffy said, as a tentative plan started to come together.