The four teenagers made their way carefully through the house, passing people as they did.
"This is so freaking weird." Faith said, waving her hand in front of one guy's face. He didn't even blink. "It's like they can't see us or hear us."
"They look terrified." Cordelia observed, looking at a girl no older then them and the terror on her face. "Is this part of the Magic?" She asked Amy.
"No, this is something else. This is the equivalent of thrall or pheromone control. They're all caught up in a compulsion, one that has them experiencing something terrifying."
"Why didn't we experience it?" Xander asked.
"The Fuchsteufelwild isolated that room so it could terrorize Tika." She answered. "It wanted to terrorize her itself. It was too busy concentrating on her to terrorize us. The longer we're in here and not isolated, the more likely we are to be affected too. We need to get to the source of the Magic."
"The Magic isn't the source of this compulsion?" Xander said. "But I'd be really surprised if they weren't related in some way."
"That would be a very big coincidence." Faith agreed, edging around two students, while hanging on to Amy's hand.
"Why wasn't the Fuchsteufelwild caught up in it?" Cordelia asked.
"Because it enjoyed it." Xander answered, that he was sure of. "They enjoy inflicting pain, many of them are sadistic. You fight the reputation that Fuchsbau have, that black fox you guys ran into didn't fight the reputation they have, he embraced it, so did the Fuchsteufelwild. On the other hand, it might have been because he could focus on Tika. But he enjoyed that too, when this is over we need to figure out who he was. He should be listed with the college."
"How are you going to do that?" Faith asked. "His name isn't really Rumpelstiltskin, is it?"
"An anagram of it. I have absolutely no idea why they like that name, but their personal names are anagrams of it. We find that and we'll know who he is and maybe figure out why he was so pissed at Tika. Not that I for one moment think he was justified in being angry."
"Oz!" Cordelia exclaimed and pointed at their friend. The four hurried over to him. He was wolfed out.
"He said he was going as his werewolf self for the party tonight." Xander said. "Like the Wesen he liked the idea of being free to do that, even if it's just for the night. He looks just as scared as everyone else."
"So's Percy." Faith told them, calling attention to their Klaustreich friend, also woged and looking absolutely terrified. "God, this is awful, I feel so helpless. They can't see us, they can't hear us. They're locked up even more than Tika was in that sarcophagus, at least she could hear people around her talking. None of them seem able to hear us or anything."
The building shook "Free Me!" Roared though the building.
"Let's get this over with." Xander's face was hard and set. They made their way up to the attic and found something.
"It's a mystical symbol of some kind." Amy informed them. They watched as energy shimmered over the symbol.
"I'm thinking it came out of this book." Faith held up a book she'd found laying on top of a speaker. "Oz's band was set up to play up here, with the speakers everyone would hear them while enjoying the party." She handed the book to Amy, who looked at the pentagram on it.
"Oh, crap." She said. "Remember when you and Buffy were pissed over Giles having real books on Magic in the High School library?" She asked Xander.
"Yes, it was the equivalent of a loaded gun around kids."
"So's this book." Amy said grimly, paging though it until she saw the symbol drawn on the floor. "This symbol is used to summon Gachnar, a fear demon. Gachnar is causing the terror everyone downstairs is experiencing. But it would take more than the symbol, it would take a catalyst to activate it."
"Something like blood?" Cordelia asked, pointing at some splatters on the floor.
"Yes, blood would do it." Amy agreed. "The Magic caused Gachnar to be summoned and because he's a fear demon, fear can free him. Emotion can be funneled into Magic very easily. Once it reaches a threshold the portal will open and Gachnar will be freed. We can't let that happen."
"How do we stop it?" Xander asked.
"We disrupte the Magic and do that by breaking the symbol."
"It's painted on the floor." Xander observed. "By breaking it do you mean breaking the floor it's painted on or just the symbol itself somehow?"
"The symbol itself. See if the paint they used is still up here. I can rework the symbol to shut it down."
"Here it is." Faith held up a spray can she found on the floor. "They must have just finished this when the shit hit the fan." She handed it to Amy, who began to carefully alter the design on the floor. Slowly the energy shimmering on the floor died down and than blinked out. Screams could be heard downstairs and the sound of panicked footsteps could be heard as people ran from the building, determined to get as far from the source of their fear as possible. Afterwards the four teens made their way down the stairs and out of the house themselves. Where they were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.