Chapter 9: Nightmares

May 5, 1997 – Monday

Buffy's Dreamscape

Buffy quietly made her way into what she knew to be the Master's lair, stake in hand. She stopped and took a look around, everything looked dark and creepy. Slowly, she made her way past a rock wall down to the floor below. She raised the stake to be ready as she continued into the lair. She spied an oddly angled and lit candelabra and an upended pew.

She spun around and raised the stake when she sensed the Master behind her. He hissed loudly. She froze with fear and dropped the stake. He was grotesque: no hair, blood-red eyes, pasty wrinkled skin, pointed ears, and pointed fingernails.

Buffy slowly retreated as the Master advanced on her. When she couldn't retreat any further, she watched as the Master reached out with his hand and clasped it around her neck. She looked at him as he closed.

"No!" Buffy screamed.

Summers Home

Joyce rushed into Buffy's room the moment she heard her son screaming. "Rutherford," she said as she shook Buffy awake.

Buffy gasped as she sprung awake and sat up in bed. It took her a moment to realize it was morning and she was in her own bed. "Oh, Mom…" she sobbed as she turned into Joyce's arms.

"Are you all right?" Joyce asked clearly concerned for her son.

"No," Buffy mumbled answer came from Joyce's shoulder. "I mean, yeah."

"Well it's time for school," Joyce said as she opened the blinds.

"School…great," Buffy muttered as Joyce left the room, she saw her sister standing beside the door.

"Buffy," Dawn said as she closed the bedroom door. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern.

"No," Buffy answered as she dropped her head into her hands. "I think I had one of those prophetic dreams I told you about. I was in a cavern and I think I was facing the Master when he came up behind me. He was about to kill me when mom woke me up."

Dawn let out a sigh as she sat on Buffy's bed and wrapped an arm around her sister. "You're not dying, Buffy. You know how I know that?"

Buffy shook her head as she looked at her younger sister.

"Because I am not going to let you," Dawn said adamantly.

Sunnydale High School

"So, you don't see your dad at all?" Willow asked as she and Buffy headed for their first class of the day.

"No," Buffy answered sadly. "He's there for Dawn, but not me. And even then, mom takes her to L.A. For some reason he refuses to see me at all."

"How long ago did your parents get divorced?" asked Willow looking at her friend.

Buffy let out a sigh. "It was finalized about two months before the move. But they were separated before that," she explained.

"That must have been harsh. To first go through the divorce then to lose all contact with your dad," Willow said as Buffy nodded. "But he does still see your sister."

"Sometimes," Buffy said as they walked into the class room. They passed Cordelia, as the cheerleader returned to her seat, on their way to the back of the classroom and sat behind Xander and Wendell.

"Wendell was in Cordelia's light," Xander admitted to his friends when they had sat down behind them.

"I'm so ashamed," Wendell said sarcastically.

"Why is she so Evita-like?" Willow wondered looking at Cordelia.

"It's the hair," Buffy quipped with a slight smirk.

"Weighs heavy on the cerebral cortex," Willow laughed.

"Hey guys," Xander said as he looked at his friends. "Was there any homework?"

"We're doing active listening today," Willow explained looking at Xander as if to ask did you do the homework?"

"Cool," Xander said and then turned a confused look on them. "What's active listening?"

Willow sighed as she guessed it, Xander hadn't done his homework. "That would be the homework." Xander shrugged, drawing a blank as Willow held up her textbook. "Chapter five," she explained. "Active listening. Where you put on your big ears and really focus on the other person?"

Xander shrugged her still clearly had no idea what they were talking about. "Ms. Tishler demonstrated on Friday," Buffy added. She couldn't blame Xander for not really remembering, since the same hormones that flooded her body, causing her to develop the wrong attributes, flooded in his. "With you. She was wearing that tight sweater."

Xander nodded as he remembered the sweater and what was in it. "The midnight blue Angora. See, I was listening."

It was at that moment that bell rang and Ms. Tishler entered the classroom. "All right, take your seats," she told her students. "In a moment we'll choose partners and practice what we read in chapter five…" Xander looked up at her, mimed putting on his big ears, "…good, Xander, that's the spirit."

"Before we do, let's review," Ms. Tishler told them.

Buffy rested her hand on her chin. As boredom began to set in, she began to tap her pencil on her desk.

"Isaacson's research lead him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs, after food and shelter, is to be heard…" Ms. Tishler continued her lecture.

Buffy sighed as she dropped her pencil. And as she bent down to get it she noticed a twelve-year-old boy standing at the door at the back of the class. He looked at her with a kind of remorse calm. Buffy was clearly puzzled on why a twelve-year-old boy would even be there.

"Wendell would you read us the first two paragraphs on page seventy-eight…" Ms. Tishler said looking at Wendell who nodded, reaching for his textbook, "…where Isaacson describes the rapid movement active listening brought to some special needs clients—"

Wendell opened his textbook and let out a horrible scream. He dropped the book on his desk as a bunch of tarantulas poured out of the book. As everyone began to freak out, scrambling to get away from him and the spiders, Buffy whipped her head away from the boy to stare at Wendell in total shock as the tarantulas crawled all over him.

The boy, still at the door, looked at Wendell and whispered mostly to himself, "Sorry about that."

May 6, 1997 – Tuesday

Sunnydale High School

"You're awfully quiet this morning." Joyce said as she pulled her car up outside the school.

Buffy sighed. "I didn't sleep so good," she admitted.

"I'll say. I came in to check on you twice," Joyce admitted as she turned to look at Buffy. "You were yelling in your sleep. You remember what you were dreaming?"

Buffy glanced at the backseat where her sister sat. "Not really…" she lied.

'Are you okay, Buffy?' Dawn mouthed.

Buffy shook her head. 'No,' she mouthed. 'Same dream.'

"Have a good day," Joyce told Buffy as her son got out of the car.

"You, too," Buffy returned. "See you later, Dawnie."

"Bye, Rutherford." Dawn waved.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy was heading down the hall toward her next class as Xander and Willow came up to her.

"Rutherford," Willow said as she smiled at her friend. "We've been looking for you."

"We have?" Xander asked confused as he and Willow fell into step with Buffy.

Willow glanced at Xander and nodded. "About the spiders," she reminded him. She turned her attention to Buffy. "Have you talked to Giles about—"

Xander rolled his eyes. "Oh. The spiders," he said. "Willow have been kind of…what's the word I'm looking for…insane about what happened yesterday."

Willow let out a resigned sigh. "I don't like spiders, okay?" she admitted. "Their furry bodies, their sticky webs—what do they need all those legs for anyway? I'll tell you: for crawling across your face in the middle of the night." She shuddered. "Ew. How do spiders not ruffle you?"

"I'm sorry, I'm unruffled on spiders," Xander admitted. "Now if a bunch of Nazis crawled across my face…"

"It was pretty intense," Buffy admitted as she looked at her friends.

Willow smiled in appreciation at Buffy. "Thank you."

"Hellmouth, center of mystical convergence, supernatural monster," Xander said as he looked between his friends. "Been there."

"A little blasé here, aren't you?" Buffy interjected.

Xander shrugged. "I'm not worried," he explained as they walked into the library. "If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party."

"Thanks for having confidence in me," Buffy said sarcastically.

"Well, you da man, Rutherford," Xander admitted as he smiled at her.

"Okay, but we're still caring about the spiders here," Willow said. "Let's not forget the spiders."

"Well, Giles said he was going to look up—" Buffy said as she looked around. "Giles?" she called out.

"Maybe he's in the faculty room," Willow suggested looking around for the missing librarian.

Giles emerged from the stacks, coming through the door with a vaguely unsettled expression. He looked behind him.

"Hey. Giles," Buffy said as she looked at him, letting him know they were there. "Wakey, wakey."

Giles turned and looked at the four teenagers. "I was in the stacks," he said. "I got lost."

"Well, did you find any theories on spiders coming out of books? Big crawly hairy…" Xander said as he ran his hand up Willow's back, causing her to jump. She turned and glared at him. "It was funny if you're me."

Giles shook his head. "I didn't find anything particularly illuminating," he admitted. "I think perhaps you'd best have a talk with Wendell himself."

"Okay. If he can still talk," Buffy admitted.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Wendell stared straight ahead lost in thought as Buffy, Willow and Xander approached him. He was sitting on a bench seemingly lost in thought. "Hey Wendell, how're you doing?" Buffy asked.

Wendell looked at Buffy for a moment completely confused on why she was there. "Huh?"

"You okay?" Buffy asked concern filtering into her voice.

Wendell shrugged. "Hard to tell," he admitted.

"Good talkin' to ya', man," Xander said as he moved to leave.

"Did you guys want something…?" Wendell asked looking at the three of them.

"We just thought you might want to talk about what happened," Buffy said as she sat next to him.

"You know yesterday with the spiders," Willow added.

Wendell looked at them for a moment trying to think of what to say. "I don't know what to say about that…" he admitted.

"There's nothing to say," Xander said. "You saw two hundred insects, you Gonzoed. Anybody would have—"

"They're not insects," Wendell objected with a frown. "They're arachnids."

Xander looked at Wendell clearly confused; in fact, he had no clue as to what the word meant. "They're from the Middle East?" he asked.

Wendell let out a resigned sigh. "Spiders are arachnids, they have eight legs, insects have six," he explained. "Why does everyone make that mistake?"

Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. Has anything like that ever happened before?" she said as Wendell looked at her for a moment before nodding. "When?"

"Lots of times..." Wendell admitted.

"Eeeee," Willow shrieked. "You must hate spiders more than I do."

Wendell laughed a, slightly deranged laugh. "I don't hate spiders, I love them," he admitted. "They hate me."

Buffy, Willow and Xander all exchanged a glance as if to say what the heck is going on?

As the bell rang Cordelia came up to the quartet. "Hope you studied for the history test!" she told Buffy.

Buffy looked at Cordelia confused. She didn't remember there being a history test today. "What history test?" she asked.

"The one we're having right now in fourth period," Cordelia reminded Buffy as if it was obvious.

Buffy looked at Willow and Xander as if to ask do you know what she's talking about. "There's a test?" she asked as Willow and Xander shrugged. "Nobody told me about a…I better, I got to…we'll catch up during lunch."

Willow turned back to Wendell. "What do you mean you love spiders?"

"It is platonic, right?" Xander added.

"I had the best collection in the tri-county area. Browns, tarantulas, black widows…then my folks ship me off to Wilderness Camp," Wendell explained. "All my brother had to do was maintain the habitats. Instead he left the heat lamps on for a week! When I came home they were all dead—that's when the nightmares started."

"The nightmares?" Willow asked.

Wendell nodded as he looked at her. "It's always the same. I'm sitting in class, the teacher asks me to read something, I open the book and…there they are, coming after me. God…can you blame them, after what I did?"

"That's how it happens," Xander said serious. "Every time?"

"Yesterday in class I thought I had just nodded off again," Wendell admitted. "But then everyone else started screaming too."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy hurried down the hall looking for the history classroom. For some reason she was having trouble finding it. That was till she spotted Cordelia waiting by a door further down the hall.

"You don't know where the class is, do you?" Cordelia asked as Buffy came up to her.

"I, uh—" Buffy started.

"Hardly a shocker," Cordelia nodded in understanding. "You've cut history just about every time we've had it."

"I was there the first day…I think," Buffy admitted trying to think about to the last time she had actually attended history class.

"It's in here," Cordelia said as she opened the door for Buffy.

"I haven't been to class, I haven't read any of the assignments…" Buffy muttered mostly to herself, even though Cordelia was clearly listening, "…how am I going to pass the test?"

Cordelia shrugged. "Blind luck?"

Buffy made her way to a seat and sat down just as the teacher came past with the tests. She looked desperately for any help, but most of the other students, including Cordelia, had already started working on their exams. As the teacher past Buffy, she gave Buffy an obvious dirty look and then dropped the test in front of her.

Buffy stared down at the test clearly unable to answer any of the questions. She looked up at the clock which said already twenty minutes had passed since she sat down. She turned her attention back to the test. "I know my name," she said.

As Buffy started to write Rutherford her pencil broke. She let out a sigh of frustration as she reached into her bag and dug out her pencil sharpener. She started to sharpen the pencil as she glanced up at the clock again and saw she only had about two minutes before the bell rang. "Huh?" she whispered. How could the entire class have gone by already? She looked over at Cordelia who was completing the third page of her test.

As the bell rang, students stood up. As they filed out of the classroom, they dropped their tests on the teacher's desk. Buffy looked at her own incomplete test wondering what had just happened. With a resigned sigh she got up and walked on past the desk without even bothering to turn in the test. As she walked out the door, she noticed the boy from yesterday standing there. Before she could question him on who he was he moved slowly on down the hall out of sight.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

In the school's basement a girl leaned against a wall. She pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her purse. She tapped a cigarette on her fingernail, then dug through her purse for her matches. When she found them she struck one just as she looked up and that was when she spotted him.

Saying he was ugly was an understatement. He was hideously deformed and had a club for one of his arms. As he approached her she just stared at him like a doe caught in the headlights of a car. "Lucky nineteen…" he said as he swung his club arm and hit her brutally in the head. As she staggered back, he hit her again knocking her to the floor.

Sunnydale Memorial Hospital

Buffy led Giles down the hallway of the hospital. They had heard about the girl that had been attacked but upon inquiries they could find nobody had seen who had attacked her. "I think they said room 316," Buffy said looking at the room numbers as they passed.

"Do you know this girl?" Giles asked keeping pace.

Buffy sighed as she shook her head. "Laura?" she questioned. "To say hi to. She's nice enough. Nobody saw who attacked her?"

"I'm rather hoping Laura did," Giles admitted as they finally found Laura's room.

As they entered the room, they passed a nurse on her way out. The first thing they noticed was that not only was Laura awake, but her head was bruised and bandaged and her eyes were wide with fear.

"Hey, Laura." Buffy greeted her fellow student.

Laura smiled, happy to have visitors. "Hi…" she said.

"Sorry to intrude on you like this," Giles said.

"That's okay," Laura told them thankful for the company. "I don't want to be left alone."

"You understand, we're anxious to make sure this never happens again," Giles explained.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Buffy added.

Laura let out a sigh as she nodded. She figured she would have to talk about it eventually. "I was in the basement…I went down for a smoke…there was someone…there."

"Someone you knew?" Buffy asked thinking it could be another student or a teacher.

Laura shook her head. "I never…saw anything like it."

"Can you describe it?" Giles asked when he noticed Buffy's hesitation on the word it.

They could tell from the look on Laura's face she was clearly not up for talking about her attacker.

"That's okay. Don't worry about it." Buffy said as she patted Laura's arm in comfort.

"Yes, you rest. You're safe now," Giles said as the nurse returned.

"But if you remember anything, you can tell us," Buffy said as she glanced at the nurse. "Even if it seems…weird." She turned and was about to follow Giles out the door when Laura spoke up.

"Lucky nineteen."

Giles and Buffy glanced at each other before turning back to Laura. "I'm sorry?" Giles said.

Laura sighed. "It's what he said," she admitted. "Right before…he said lucky nineteen. That's weird, right?"

Giles nodded. "Yes. Yes, it is," he said as he and Buffy went to leave they passed Laura's doctor who was making his rounds. "Doctor, is she going to be all right?"

"You family?" The doctor questioned.

"Friends," Buffy admitted. "We know you can't give out much since we're not family, but we're concerned for Laura."

The doctor nodded as they fell in step with him. "She'll recover. She's got a couple of shattered bones and a little internal bleeding. She got off pretty easy," he told them.

"Easy?" Buffy said confused on how Laura had managed to get off easy.

"Have you looked the word up lately?" Giles asked also confused.

"Well, the first one's still in a coma," the doctor admitted.

Buffy looked at Giles than back at the doctor. "The first what?" she asked.

"The first victim," the doctor said as he stopped in front of a window looking into a room. He motioned for them to take a look. "He was found a week ago. Exact MO as the girl. Only he's in worse shape. If he doesn't wake up soon…Somebody's got to stop this guy."

Buffy glanced at Giles who nodded. "Somebody will," she told the doctor.

As they made their way out of the hospital, Giles said, "We've got to get you back before your next class."

"Hit the newspapers," Buffy said thinking of the boy. "See what you can find out about this first attack."

"Yes," Giles said as they approached the entrance to the building. He looked at Buffy and noticed she looked a tad pale. "Are you all right? You look a bit peaked."

Buffy smiled. "Hospital lighting. It does nothing for my fabulous complexion," she lied. In reality she had always hated hospitals ever since her cousin Celia died right in front of her.

"Are you…sleeping all right?" Giles asked.

Buffy knew her lie hadn't eased his concern as she looked toward her Watcher. "I'll sleep better when we find this guy. Nothing like kicking the crap out of a bad guy to perk up my day."

Sunnydale High School

Giles stood looking at a huge array of newspapers arranged on the big table in front of him. "This can't be happening. Can't be…" he muttered to himself.

"What's the word?" Buffy asked as she walked into the library.

"I've got back issues of the newspapers…trying to do some research…" Giles admitted. He didn't know how to tell his Slayer that he had forgotten it seemed how to read.

"Uh-huh…Did you find anything?" Buffy asked not picking up on his hesitation.

"I don't know."

Buffy moved over beside him and looked down at the newspapers. "You don't know if you didn't find anything?" she asked confused.

Giles sighed. "I'm having a problem," he told her. "I…I can't read."

Buffy blinked in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked. "You can read, like, three languages."

"Five," Giles corrected her, "actually, on a normal day—but the words here aren't making sense." He held up a paper as if to show her what he saw. "It's gibberish."

Buffy looked at the paper he held up and saw a picture of the boy that she had seen around school. "That's him," she said pointing at the picture.

"Who?" Giles asked as he looked at the picture.

"That's the boy I've been seeing around school," Buffy explained as she took the paper from Giles. "Twelve-year-old Billy Palmer was found beaten and unconscious after his Kiddie League game Saturday," she read. "Doctors describe his condition as critical…When was this published? Last week. He's in a coma, in intensive care…this is the boy from the hospital."

Giles eyes went wide with realization. "The first victim," he said. "You've been seeing him around school?"

Buffy nodded. "Yes, when the spiders got Wendell, when I didn't know a thing on the history test…" she explained. "It seemed weird, him being around, but with all the trouble I forgot about it."

"The boy's been in a coma for a week," Giles said as he frowned. "How is this possible?"

"What about astral projection?" Buffy offered. "I remember reading about it in one of Merrick's books."

"That is definitely possible," Giles agreed. "It is the theory that while one sleeps one has another body, an astral body, that can travel through time and space…"

"He's in a coma," Buffy said as she smiled. "That's like sleep, right?"

"In a manner of speaking," Giles agreed. "Though one doesn't always wake from a coma..."

"Could I have been seeing Billy's astral body?" Buffy wondered.

Giles shrugged; he didn't know. "I don't know," he admitted. "We don't have much information to work with, as usual."

Buffy looked back at the picture in the paper and noticed the number on Billy's team jersey. "Lucky Nineteen…" she said as the library doors open and Joyce walked through them.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere," Joyce said. "Why aren't you in class?"

Buffy looked at her mother in confusion, why was she there? "Mom, what are you…is something wrong? Is it Dawn?"

"No, it's not Dawn," Joyce answered. "But I do need to talk to you, in private?" She motioned toward the doors.

"Sure. Oh, this is Mr. Giles, the librarian," Buffy said as she introduced her mother to Giles. "This is my mother, Joyce Summers."

Giles smiled as he held out his hand. "Pleasure," he said as Joyce quickly shook it.

"Likewise." Joyce said before moving to the door and holding it open. She waited for Buffy to walk out first before following her down the hall.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

"I have something I need to tell you," Joyce said as she and Buffy walked across the quad. She led Buffy to a bench where they both sat down.

"What?" Buffy said obviously worried.

"I want you to leave my home and never come back," Joyce said as Buffy recoiled from the anger. "Can you imagine what it's like to have a son who thinks he's a girl…a gay girly freak. Do you have any idea what that is like?"

Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. "What?"

"You don't even see what's right in your face, do you," Joyce told her with obvious disgust. "I hate you, Rutherford, your father hates you. I had hoped this was just a phase and that you would grow out of it. I wanted my little boy to remain my little boy."

"Why are you saying these things?" Buffy said as tears were prickling the backs of her eyes, threatening to fall.

"Because they're true. I think that's the least we owe one another," Joyce said as Buffy continued to fight the tears. "I never want to see you again. I don't want you coming near Dawn either, I don't need you polluting her with your freak behavior. As far as I am concerned you are dead to me." She stood and walked off leaving Buffy alone.

Buffy sat there utterly hurt and in complete shock.

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy walked along, reeling from the blow Joyce gave her. She was debating what to do, suicide in that moment sounded like an out, but she was sure she wouldn't be able go through with it. It was just not who she was. It was at that moment she noticed a figure walk through a nearby doorway. After a moment's hesitation she followed the figure into the school kitchen. As she entered, she looked around, the room was empty except for Billy who stood quietly at the other end of the room.

"Are you Billy Palmer?" she asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Billy questioned defensively.

"Because I want to help you." Buffy admitted as she smiled at the boy.

"I'm Billy."

"Did something bad happen to you last week, after your Kiddie League Game?" Buffy asked trying to find out why he was here.

"Something bad…" Billy admitted. "I don't remember."

"Do you remember playing baseball?" Buffy pushed trying to get at the root of the problem.

"Uh-huh, I think so, yeah, I play second base," Billy admitted as he looked at Buffy.

Buffy nodded as she remembered what Laura had said and what she had seen in the newspaper picture. "Are you lucky nineteen?" she asked.

"That's what he calls me…" Billy said clearly frightened as his eyes dart around looking for something.

"Who?" Buffy wondered.

"The Ugly Man," Billy explained. "He wants to kill me. He hurt that girl."

"Laura," Buffy supplied with a nod. She knelt down in front of him. "Why does he want to kill you?" she asked.

"He's…" Billy said looking for a way to get away from Buffy.

Buffy smiled. "It's okay, you can tell me. He's what?" she said.

"He's here!" Billy shouted pointing behind Buffy.

Buffy turned around in time to see the Ugly Man rising up behind her and swinging his massive club arm down hitting her in the head, hard. He swung again and she rolled out of the way, barely avoiding being hit a second time. "Run, Billy!" she called out as she got to her feet.

Billy backed slowly away as the Ugly Man closed on Buffy again. He smashed her in the leg, knocking her to ground. He swung again as she blocked with her arm. She let out a scream of pain, that was obviously not a good idea.

Buffy staggered to her feet and tried to run, but the blow to her leg had reduced her to hobbling. The Ugly Man walked slowly behind her, gaining with horrible calm. she got to a door and threw it open limping outside. She put her back to the door, looking around frantically. She slid down to the ground in exhaustion and pain as the Ugly Man began pounding on the door from the other side.

When the pounding finally stopped Buffy stumbled forward, constantly looking behind her. "Billy—" Buffy cried in surprise as she nearly collided with the boy.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it—" Billy told Buffy as she grabbed him.

"Billy, who is he?" Buffy asked.

"He's the Ugly Man." Billy replied.

"I can't fight him," Buffy said shaking her head. "I can fight anything but I can't fight him. He's too strong. We've got to find my friends. They can help."

"We have to hide." Billy said desperately.

"He'll find us," Buffy said.

Billy nodded. "Yes, but first we have to hide," he explained. "That's how it happens. We hide, and then he comes."

0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0

Buffy frowned as she led Billy along the path, she was sure had led to the library. "I was sure this led to the library," she told the boy as they passed a baseball diamond where some kids were playing. Billy stopped and she followed his gaze to the field. "They're just playing…what is it, what's scaring you?"

Billy glanced at Buffy with a sigh. "Baseball…" he said, "…when you lose, it's bad."

"Did you lose your Kiddie League game last week?" Buffy asked.

"It was my fault," Billy admitted.

"Why was it your fault?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"I should have caught the ball, I missed it," Billy explained to her.

Buffy couldn't believe for a second it was his fault. "You missed a ball and the whole game's your fault?" she said. "What, you were the only one playing, there weren't eight other kids on your team?"

Billy looked up at Buffy. "He said it was my fault," he told her.

"Who said?" Buffy wondered. "Did he…hurt you after the game?"

Billy started backing away from the field. "Can't we go another way?"

Buffy smiled. "Sure, we can. We can go around behind the cafeteria…" She led him in another direction, away from the field. It was then she saw the Ugly Man about thirty feet in front of them. "…bad idea. Come on!"

They took off running as the Ugly Man lumbered after them. They ran toward a hedge at the edge of school. Buffy looked back to see the Ugly Man coming after them. Billy grabbed her hand and pulled her through the hedge into a cemetery.

"What just happened?" Buffy wondered as she looked around at the cemetery.

"Is this where your friends are?" Billy wondered.

"No. It's not," Buffy said confused why it was so dark. As Billy poked around the graves Buffy peered back through the hedge a little spooked. "Well, I don't see the Ugly Guy…I also don't see where the sun and the rest of the world went..."

"Hey, look at this…" Billy called. Buffy moved to stand beside him. He showed her a freshly dug grave with an open and empty coffin. "Guess they're going to bury somebody." He could tell that Buffy was clearly not liking any of what she saw. "I wonder who died…"

"Nobody died..."

Buffy and Billy turned as the Master stepped out of the shadows. Billy instinctively started to back away from the vampire. Buffy moved between Billy and the Master as true dread crept onto her face.

"What's the fun in burying someone who's already dead?" the Master asked with a smirk.

"You…" Buffy said as her voice quivered in fear.

The Master smiled. "So, this is the Slayer," he said. "I wish I could say that you were prettier than the last one. But being born male, just makes you a freak."

"This isn't real…you can't be free," Buffy said trying to rationalize what she was seeing.

The Master laughed as he looked at Buffy. "You still don't understand, do you?" he asked. "I am free because you fear it. Because you fear it, the world is crumbling. Your nightmares are made flesh. You have Billy to thank for that."

Buffy turned to look at Billy, but she found that he was gone. She turned back to find the Master was inches from her. "This is a dream…" she muttered to herself.

"A dream is a wish your heart makes," the Master said and with lightning speed he grabbed her by the throat. "This is the real world." Buffy grabbed his arm but for some reason she was unable to budge it. He tightened his grip as she began to choke. "Come on, Slayer…What are you afraid of?" He hurled her into the open grave.

As Buffy landed in the coffin the lid slammed shut.

The Master smiled as he grabbed a shovel and began shoveling dirt into the grave. Laughing he said, "How about being buried alive? With a tombstone that identifies the name you were born with instead of the name you chose?"

Buffy screamed and pounded on the coffin as she heard the sound of dirt hitting the top of it burying her alive. "No!" she screamed.

Nightmare Cemetery

"Whose nightmare is this?" Xander queried as he looked around the darkened graveyard. It certainly didn't seem that bad; it was nothing compared to killer clowns or being naked, anyway. He brought his attention back to his companions, prepared to make a quip about how this was just another day in Sunnydale for the Scooby gang. With a start, he noticed the look of shocked resignation on Giles face. The Watcher paused statue-still, staring intently at a gravestone. Xander moved closer to look at what could possibly have caused the blood to drain so completely from Giles' faces.

"It's mine," Giles's voice echoed with the loss of hope as he knelt reverently next to the marker. His movement affording the others their first clear view of the inscription thereon:

Rutherford Summers

January 20, 1981 – May 6, 1997

Rest in Peace

"I failed in my duty to protect you…" Giles said quietly. "I should have been more cautious, taken more time with your training…but you were so gifted and the evil was so great." He laid a hand on the grave. "Forgive me," he pleaded.

Suddenly a hand shot out of the grave and grabbed ahold of Giles. As he wrenched his hand free he pulled Buffy upward from the grave. "Bu…er I mean…Rutherford?" he said surprised to see her.

"I thought I was dead..." Buffy said.

Willow got a look at Buffy's face and her eyes went wide in horror and realization that her friend was a vampire. "Rutherford, your face..." she said softly.

Buffy was mortified. She felt the ridges on her face, and explored her sharp new teeth with her tongue. She looked up Giles and her friends, who were gaping. Turning quickly, she yelled, "Don't look at me!"

Giles moved to Buffy's side and spoke gently. "You never told me you dreamed of becoming a vampire."

"This isn't a dream," Buffy replied shakily. She glanced at her friends before turning her attention back to Giles. "This is a nightmare, about as bad as the ones…"

Giles nodded in understanding at the unfinished statement. He pulled her into his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Uhm Giles. Can you step back," she said feeling the need to feed rising within her.

Giles looked at Buffy for a moment and then his eyes went wide with realization. Because of the nightmare Buffy was effectively a vampire right now which meant…He quickly backed away before Buffy got too hungry and sank her new fangs into his neck.

"There is a chance that we can make it go away," Giles explained. "If we can wake Billy, this will all go away, and reality will shift back to normal. Do you think you can hold together until we do that?"

Buffy took a breath and nodded. "Yeah." She lowered her hands and faced Giles, Xander and Willow. "But we better hurry, because I'm getting hungry." She turned on her heel and started off toward the hospital.

Willow and Xander looked toward Giles who started to follow her. They understood now why he had taken a step away from her.

Willow was looking terrified in her ridiculous costume and she turned to Giles. "Are you sure everything will go back? What if we can't wake him up?"

"Positive," Giles lied. It was better to hope that they could reverse everything than to let Buffy remain a vampire forever. He didn't want to have to stake her. He wanted for her to finally realize her lifelong dream of being seen as the woman she was.

Sunnydale Memorial Hospital

The hospital was in the middle of as much chaos as the rest of the town. Giles tried to attract the attention of a doctor; but his only response was, "My hands! My hands!"

They raced to Billy's room, and Buffy stood guard at the door. She seemed to have forgotten to be embarrassed about her condition.

GIles, who was at a loss as to what to do, leaned over Billy and yelled, "Billy! Billy!"

The child peeked around the curtains. "That won't work."

Giles did a double take between the boy standing next to the bed, and the boy in the bed. He looked back up at the astral form of Billy. "Billy, you must wake up!" he said.

"No, I have to hide." Astral Billy said sounding scared.

"Why? From what?" Giles pressed.

"From him!" Buffy said from the door as she watched the Ugly Man come down the corridor.

"What do we do?" asked Xander having looked out in the corridor.

"I think I know," said Buffy, shedding her jacket.

"Whatever it is, it better be soon," Willow stated looking out the window at the swarm of giant insects beginning to swarm over Sunnydale.

Buffy stepped into the hallway. The ugly man lumbered toward her as she strolled forward. "I'm glad you showed up. You see, I'm having a really bad day," she quipped.

"Lucky nineteen," the thing groaned.

Buffy shook her head. "Scary. I'll tell you something though. There's a lot of things out there scarier than you. And now, I'm one of them." With an animalistic snarl she launched herself at the Ugly Man. She fought with a ferocity that she'd never felt before. It was liberating. She punched harder and took blows easier than before. She broke the Ugly Man's club arm and sent him flying into the wall. He sank down to the floor and didn't move. She drug him into Billy's room before setting him down against the wall.

"Is he dead?" Billy asked fearfully.

"C'mere Billy," said Buffy, holding out her hand.

"But I…don't…" Billy started.

"No more hiding," Buffy told the boy.

"What's he doing?" Willow asked clearly confused.

Xander began to smiled as he realized what Buffy had. "I get it..." he said.

"You have to face your fear, Billy," Buffy informed him as she smiled at him. "Believe me I know how hard that can be," she said glancing at her friends. "But you've got to do the rest yourself."

Billy looked at Buffy and then moved forward. He reached for the Ugly Man's face and pulled.

All around everyone the world became blinding. When they could see again Buffy smiled as she touched her face. Everything was back to normal.

"Hey look, he's waking up!" said Willow. They all turned to look at Billy.

Billy was blinking in the bright light, and he looked around in confusion. "I had the strangest dream. And you were in it, and you…Who are you people?"

Everyone smiled happily and Giles turned to go get Billy's doctor. He stopped however, when a man appeared at the doorway to Billy's room.

"Oh, Billy has visitors," the man said. He was dressed in a blue coat and hat with a whistle around his neck. "I'm his kiddie league coach. I come here every day, just hoping against hope he'll wake up. He's my lucky nineteen."

Buffy's smile faded a little and she and Giles shared a glance.

"How is he?" the coach asked.

Buffy took a step aside to reveal the child. "He's awake," she said coldly.

"What?" the man paled when he saw Billy and tried to bolt. He didn't manage to get far as Xander and Giles grabbed him.

"You decided to catch up with Billy after the baseball game, didn't you?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about," the man tried to deny it.

Billy sat up angrily and pulled the tube from his nose. "You said it was my fault we lost the game. It wasn't my fault. There are eight other players on the team. You know that." He relaxed back into the pillows and smiled at Buffy, who was beaming at him.

"Nice going," Buffy remarked as she smiled at Billy. "If you guys will excuse me, I think I need to make a call." She moved past Xander, Giles and the coach and hurried to the nurse's station. "I need to use the phone. And you might want to get security." The nurse looked at her quizzically. "Billy, the boy that just woke from his coma, was beaten by his kiddie league coach, who just showed up at Billy's room."

The nurse nodded with wide eyes. She handed Buffy the phone as she paged for security. Buffy dialed 911 with a smirk on her face. It was nice helping someone in a non-slaying capacity.

"911, what's the nature of your emergency."

"I want to report a kiddie league coach that has been hitting the kids he's been coaching," Buffy answered.

Gateway High

Later after school let out Buffy, Willow and Xander were heading out the school doors. "Hard to believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that," Buffy remarked.

"You've obviously never played kiddie league," Xander jumped in. "I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents."

"Well he's behind bars now," said Willow happily. "Thanks to you, Rutherford."

"It felt nice to do something that didn't require me having to slay something," Buffy admitted. "No one deserved what happened to Billy and making the call ensured he would not do that to anyone else's kid." She then looked toward Xander and smiled. "And that was kind of heroic, Xander, grabbing him and all,"

Xander smiled at the compliment. "Hey, I just did what anybody would have…if people want to label it heroic—"

Buffy spotted Joyce standing beside her car in surprise. Was the discussion earlier in the day a nightmare brought to life by Billy? "I got to go, guys. I'll see you tomorrow." She walked over to her mom.

"Hey, sweetheart," Joyce said, "I thought I would give you and Dawn a treat."

"A treat?" Buffy questioned.

"I thought we might go out to dinner tonight," Joyce said.

Buffy smiled. "Great."

"How was your day?" Dawn asked as Joyce and Buffy got into the car.

"Oh, you know, the usual..." Buffy answered as she looked at her sister and smiled.