Chapter 23: Fear, Itself
October 30, 2001 – Tuesday
Harris Home
"What do you think?" Xander asked.
A quietness descended upon the group as Willow, Xander and Oz stared at the Jack-o'-lantern Xander had been carving.
Xander held up the knife in his hand and sighed. "I don't know, I was going for ferocious, scary, but it's coming out more dryly sardonic."
"It does appear to be mocking you with its eye holes," Willow agreed
"The nose hole seems sad and full of self-loathing," Oz added.
Xander turned the harmless Jack-o'-lantern around to show the face to those opposite. "Faith, what do you think?"
"Wouldn't like to meet it on dark night," Faith announced in a deadpan serious voice.
Buffy turned her pumpkin, making them all smile as they took in the slashes above the eyes.
"Okay," Xander began as he stood up and walked to the other end of the room. "I've got a treat for tomorrow night's second annual Halloween screening. People, prepare to have your spines tingled, your gooses bumped by the terrifying," he took the video out of the bag, his tone changing to one of disbelief, "Fantasia?"
Oz thought for a moment, then remarked, "Maybe it's because of all the horrific things we've seen, but hippos wearing tutus just don't unnerve me the way they used to."
"Phantasm. It was supposed to be 'Phantasm.' Stupid video store!"
"I thought we were doing the Alpha Delt thing?" Willow sought to confirm.
"What thing?" Xander asked.
"The scary house?" Buffy queried. "Sounds kind of lame."
"It actually borders on fun," Oz assured them. "You have to go through the scary house maze to get to the party. Which is usually worth getting to. Those guys go all out."
"As witnessed last Friday," Willow remarked.
"Very true," her boyfriend agreed.
"We might as well check it out. Halloween's gonna be quiet, hellmouth wise," Buffy pointed out.
"That's just jinxed it," Willow remarked, but without any mean intent. "Now we're going to get costume possessed again."
"Costume possessed?" Faith queried.
"Two years ago, an old friend of Giles' showed up and cast this spell. We all turned into our costumes," Willow explained.
"And on that note," Buffy began as she stood up, "me and Faith ought to patrol and see if any vamps fancy making play tonight."
"Hey, nothing happened last year," Oz recalled.
"You're right," Xander realized. "Let's not jinx that comment."
"See you guys tomorrow," Buffy called as she and Faith left.
"So, there is a party?" Xander queried.
"Didn't we tell you?" Willow replied looking at Xander.
"It's cool," Xander said defensively. "You guys have a little college thing. Hey, fine by me. I got better things to do than tag along to some fraternity—"
"You can come," Willow told him.
"'kay," he said happily. "But only because I lied about having better things to do."
"A blast will be had by all," Oz informed them.
Streets of Sunnydale
Faith and Buffy, hands linked made their way down the street. "So what are you gonna wear?" Buffy asked her wife.
"I have to wear something?" Faith queried.
"It's a costume party. Don't worry, Mom's making mine."
"Maybe Aunt Piper has something I can borrow," Faith said as twig snapped nearby. She abruptly let go of Buffy's hand.
Buffy got out her stake. "Let the games begin," she said as a demon came out of the bushes.
Faith punched him hard, staggering him. "Ow! Geez, that hurts!" the demon cried. He reached up and ripped his face off to reveal that his face had been a mask and that he was actually human. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Before Buffy and Faith can explain or apologize, he ran off.
"Not my fault," Faith admitted sadly. "This is why I hate Halloween."
"I know," Buffy agreed.
October 31, 2001 – Wednesday
U.C. Sunnydale - Rocket Cafe
"I've got the basics down – levitation, charms, glamours. I just feel like I've plateaued wicca-wise."
Buffy and Faith nodded to their friend as they picked up their lunch selection. "It's a good start," Faith said. After Leo telling them about Willow's use of magic to re-ensoul Angel, first Buffy and later Faith had taken to training the redheaded progenitor.
"Do you guys think I am read for the next level?" Willow wondered.
"It's really up to you," Buffy said.
Willow nodded. "What is college for if not experimenting?" she asked. "You know, maybe I can handle it. I'll know when I've reached my limit."
"Wine coolers?" Oz asked as he came up to them.
"Magic," Faith clarified.
"Oh, you didn't encourage her, did you?" he asked.
Willow glanced at him in surprise. "Where is supportive boyfriend guy?"
"He's picking up your dry cleaning," Oz answered, "but he told me to tell you that he's afraid you're going to get hurt."
Willow smiled. "Okay, Brutus." Oz looked at her. "Brutus – Caesar? Betrayal – trusted friend? Back stabby?"
"I'm with you on the reference, but I won't lie about the fact that I worry. I know what it's like to have power you can't control. I mean, every time I start to," he lowered his voice, aware that normal freshmen were around, "wolf-out, I touch something deep, dark. It's not fun. But just know that whatever you decide, I back your play."
"See? Concerned boy, sweet boy." Buffy smiled.
Willow followed suit. "I kind of like him - worrying anyway."
They moved to the table, where Anya and Xander were waiting for them.
"Oh, we have to stop by Giles' place before we go. Apparently, he's decided to go all out on Halloween, and indulge in the festivities," Willow said as they sat down.
"Giles celebrating Halloween. I wonder who he'll be?" Buffy mused.
Giles Apartment
"Happy Halloween!"
A unison of silence followed the greeting. Finally, Buffy chose to be the first one to air what they were all thinking. "Oh, my, God."
Giles stood before them, a giant bowl of sweets in his hands, a large, garish hat and matching poncho upon him. "It's a sombrero."
"And it's on your head," Faith remarked.
"It seemed festive," Giles replied as he stood back to let them inside. "Look, look!" He reached up to turn on a small Frankenstein near his head. The toy sounded classic robotic sounds. "It's alive!"
"Well, I got to say, its weird, you relaxed on Halloween," Faith commented as they all came in.
"I convinced him," Tara remarked as she came from the kitchen.
"Hey, Tara," Buffy said as she wrapped her arms around her cousin.
"Hi, Buffy," Joyce returned the embrace before turning to her daughter-in-law. "Hi, Faith," she greeted as she hugged the brunette Slayer.
"Hi, Blondie," Faith said returning the greeting.
"So," Tara said as she took a step back. "When are you all getting ready?"
"Oh, we need to hand in Psych assignments first," Buffy explained. "Figured it wouldn't be appropriate giving them to Walsh in costume."
"Good point," Tara agreed. "She doesn't seem to have much of sense of humor."
U.C. Sunnydale – Psych 101 Classroom
Buffy and Faith entered the room for Psychology 101 with Willow and Oz after they had said their goodbyes to Giles, Joyce and Tara.
"Excuse me, Professor Walsh? We came to hand in our assignments."
"I don't give credit for early, but thank you," Professor Walsh said as her TA took the papers.
"We got them out of the way before the party tonight," Willow explained.
"The one at Alpha Delta," Riley Finn added. "Halloween. When the ghosts and goblins come out."
"That's actually a misnomer," Buffy informed them.
"Well, I didn't mean real ones," Riley added.
"And what are you doing?" Faith wondered.
"Well, I'm going to sit here and grade papers."
"Scary," Oz mused deadpanned.
"Very," Riley replied.
U.C. Sunnydale – Alpha Delt Fraternity
"Okay, watch your step, boys," one of frat members remarked as Oz and Xander came in, a large speaker in their arms. "Paint's still wet in a few spots. Thanks for the loan, man. Our sound system sucks."
Oz merely shrugged. "Mi Casio es su Casio."
Xander gestured to the pentagram the frat boy was painting on the floor. "Well, that's an interesting little design. What does it mean?"
"No clue. I got it out of this book. There is a lot of really cool stuff about..."
Xander saw some grapes in a bowl and picked one out. "Ooh, grapes! Wow, peeled. You guys know how to spoil your guests."
"Eyeballs, man. Blindfold chicks and have them stick their hands in the bowl and tell them it's eyeballs. They love that."
"And here I was wasting time buying them flowers and complimenting them on their shoes," Xander said while looking around. "So, you go through the whole house of horrors downstairs and it ends up here. Sweet. You fratly guys have a nice setup."
"Hey, mighty, mighty Alpha Delts. You should think about pledging."
"Xander is a civilian," Oz informed them.
The frat guys sat up and blinked. Ohh. Townie, huh? Didn't know. He looked so normal. Sure, we should let him come to the party, Oz?"
"Hey, standing right here!" Xander said, clearly offended at being talked about like he wasn't there.
Josh laughed as Xander forced a bitter chuckled.
Scary noises started to sound. "Cranking," one of the frat boys pronounced.
Xander glanced at Oz, and saw him frown. "Sensing a disturbance in the Force, master?"
Oz pulled out a pocket knife. "The left speaker is crackling a little bit."
"And you feel stabbing it is the proper solution?"
"I'm just going to trim the wire. It might be a short." Oz bent down at the back, and began to cut. "Ah!"
"Oz?" Xander said worriedly.
"Cut myself. It's okay." Oz shook his hand, some of the blood dripping down on the painted symbol on the floorboards. The pentagram shimmered, then returned to its natural state. No one noticed as a previously rubber spider turned real and began to crawl across the wood.
Summers Home
"Thanks again for doing this."
Joyce took the red cape out of her sewing machine and handed it to her daughter. "I'm just glad I could find it. There. Try it now. I let down the hem and loosened it a little around the hood."
"Oh, it feels better." Buffy looked up. "Oh, no. Someone is getting nostalgic face."
"I'm sorry. I'm thinking about the little girl who wore that. What is it? Five? Six years ago."
"Yeah, Little Red Riding Hood was the cutting edge in costumes."
Joyce laughed. "Your father loved to take you out."
"He was such a pain! 12 years old and I can't go trick-or-treating by myself?"
"He just wanted to keep you safe."
"No, he wanted the candy. I was just the beard."
"Oh, that's not true actually. The candy was for me. Your father loved spending time with you." Joyce paused remembering. "So, what is Faith going as?"
"I don't know, she said it was a surprise. Should be interesting." Buffy said, they heard the sounds of someone orbing in. She spun and smiled when she saw Leo and Faith behind her. "Hey. You look beautiful."
Buffy took in Faith's costume. The brunette Slayer wore a black corseted dress with a flower design on the corset. Stenciled on her arms in green glitter was icy, on her left shoulder was a butterfly and in her hair was ribbons of flowers.
"Why thank you, babe," Faith said as she kissed her wife. "This was actually moms. She wore it for Halloween last year. According to Aunt Piper she was supposed to be a witch of nature."
"I hope you both have a good time," Joyce remarked as she came up beside them.
"I have to agree," Leo said.
"Normal Halloween fun," Buffy agreed.
Little did they know, the Powers or the Elders or whoever were not listening.
U.C. Sunnydale – Alpha Delta Fraternity
Meanwhile, at the frat house, things were well on the way to becoming a spooky, worthy of the Hellmouth, Halloween party.
"Okay, Rach, what's in the next one?" A frat guy asked in an ominous tone as they toured the mystery glass bowl.
"You guys are sick!" the blindfolded girl commented.
"Here, give me your hand."
She squeezed the grapes in the bowl. "This is gross."
"Eyeballs, Rachel, they're eyeballs! Muahaha!"
She giggled and took off her blindfold.
Only to find real eyeballs in her hand.
Let the games begin.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"Hey, Red. What you got in the basket, little girl?" Xander asked.
"Weapons," Buffy replied seriously.
"Oh," Xander said.
"Just in case," Faith remarked. "After all last Halloween my mom, Aunt Piper and Aunt Phoebe got sent back in time to protect our ancestor. And the Halloween before that…"
"Was the costume possession," Willow finished for the brunette Slayer.
"Like the tux, Xander," Buffy added, admiring the tuxedo Xander was wearing.
"The name's Bond. James Bond," Xander replied in a deep tone. "Insurance, you know, in case we get turned into our costumes again. I'm going for cool, secret agent guy."
"I hate to break it to you, but you'll probably end up cool head waiter guy," Buffy informed him.
"As long as I'm cool and wield some kind of power." He then looked at the corseted dress Faith was wearing. "And what are you, Faith?"
"A witch of nature," Faith replied. "It was my mom's. She wore it for Halloween last year."
"Will," Buffy greeted as Willow and Oz joined them. She noticed that Willow was wearing what looked like armor. "Medieval Will."
"Hail, ye olde – vareletty – thou," Xander added.
"I'm Joan of Arc," Willow explained. "I figured we had a lot in common, seeing as how she had that close relationship with God."
"And you are?" Xander asked Oz. Oz merely put aside his jacket to reveal a name tag with the word GOD upon it. "Of course. I wish I'd thought of that before I put down my deposit. I could have been God."
"Blasphemer," Oz joked.
They turned to walk down the path. Suddenly a group of masked green guys crept out of the bushes in front of them. They rose up to their full height, took a look at them all and walked on.
"Nice costumes," Faith commented as they left. "Very stealthy."
"What are they supposed to be?" Willow wondered aloud.
"NATO?" Oz decided.
"Oh, yeah, I, ah, invited Anya to join us, but she's having some trouble finding a scary costume, so she's just going to meet us there," Xander recalled as they reached the front door.
"Let the horrors begin," Oz declared.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Inside things had worsened.
"God, help me!" A boy screamed running down a corridor, as chaos of Halloween toys turning real took over the house. He fell down the main staircase to land in a heap at the bottom.
Meanwhile a deep voice bellowed, its sound echoing throughout the house. "Release me!"
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"The joint's not jumping. Where is everybody?" Xander wondered out loud as they entered the empty Entrance Hall of the Frat house. Mechanical laughter came from one of the one-eyed heads sitting on punch bowls. A sign with the word 'DETOUR' was placed above it.
"Follow the signs," Oz remarked.
Buffy glanced at the severed head. "Terrifying. If I were Abbott and Costello this would be fairly traumatic."
Willow walked through into the next bit of the hall. "Uh, ah! Cobweb!" She shook it off herself. "Okay that part was realistic."
"Frat boys aren't too obsessive with their cleaning. Might not be decoration per se," Oz warned them.
Xander jumped then as a fake skeleton with a long silver kitchen knife came out of a cupboard by him. "I wasn't scared, I was in the spirit."
"And we'll back you up on that," Faith assured him. "Even if they question us separately," she added.
Willow glanced at her shoulder and screamed as a spider crawled upon it. "Uh, get it off!"
Faith reached out and brushed it away. "It's gone."
"Okay, that is not sanitary!"
"Yeah," Buffy agreed, "let's get to the party part of the—party."
They turned a corner. Oz halted, puzzled. "I thought this led to..." he trailed off as everyone noticed the stain on the floor before them.
"What is it?" Willow asked.
Faith crouched down and put his finger on it, then up to her nose to confirm her suspicions. "Blood. Real blood."
"Okay, actual creeps have been given," Xander decided. "Bravo, frat boys!"
"Shh!" Buffy requested. "Do you hear something? Like a - squeaking noise?"
"Oh, it's these rented shoes, patent leather. I asked the guy to..." Xander informed her.
"No, no," Willow disagreed. "I—wait. It's something else. I hear it, too. Something like…"
At once, they all looked up to the ceiling. To find it covered in black bats. The squeaking got louder. Then the bats struck.
Instinctively they ducked, hands reaching out to flick them away. Then Buffy heard a growl and looked to see a fireball formed in her wife's hand, which caused the bats to fly away.
"Bats fear fire," Faith explained.
Buffy glanced around them. "Where did they go?"
The room was devoid of bats. Except for one on the carpet. Oz reached out.
His girlfriend cautioned him. "No, Oz, don't it might be..."
"Rubber," he finished, picking it up. "It's made of rubber."
"What the hell is going on here?" Buffy wondered looking toward Faith.
"Look, maybe it's nothing," Xander said hopefully. "Maybe it's just a neat trick. You know, something done with wires or..."
A rumbling voice interrupted him. "Release me!"
"Or it might be something else," Faith corrected.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Outside, Anya was walking up to the door in a large pink bunny suit.
That is, the wall where the door once stood.
"Where is the door?" Anya asked out loud. She knocked on the wall. "Hey! Hello!" She sighed at receiving no answer and stepped back out on to the street.
Suddenly a scream sounded, making her turn up to look at the house. She could see a girl screaming in one of the upper window's.
"Help me! Help me!"
Then the window was abruptly bricked up.
"Xander!" Anya quietly uttered in fear, before going for help.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Inside everyone continued to walk around the ground floor.
"Where are the stairs?" Xander asked.
"Where is the door?" Willow followed up.
"This is the way we came in, right?" Buffy sought to confirm. "We just went in a circle?"
At that moment the sound effects went off.
"Thank the lord!" Buffy commented to Oz who had reached for one of the switches to silence the house.
"You're welcome," Oz replied.
"I think we ought to motor," Faith remarked.
"My turn," Xander remarked. "Does anyone hear that?"
"Do you hear something?" Buffy asked.
"Like I said," Xander added, "sounds like a hissing."
Buffy put her basket down. "It's like a 'ssss' noise."
"I thought the word hissing kind of covered that nicely," Xander said.
Faith opened the closet door nearby. Inside was a boy shaking. "I'm sorry." I didn't know. I'm sorry," he said.
"Chaz," Oz remarked in greeting as he crouched down to him.
Chaz continued to shiver and shake. "I didn't know."
"What's happening?" Oz asked.
"It ah..."
"What is it?" Buffy asked.
"It's alive. It's alive."
Behind them a previously plastic skeleton slowly raised the knife it held in its bony hand.
"What's alive?" Buffy asked.
"He's in shock," Xander pronounced.
"Chaz, what happened here?" Buffy asked.
Chaz looked up, then screamed in pure terror. Buffy felt something strike her, and Faith rapidly grabbed the murderous skeleton, throwing it off her to the floor.
Where it turned to plastic.
After looking at it for a second, Faith turned back to her wife. "Are you okay?"
"I think the cape took most of it," Buffy replied, taking it off.
"Cowering in a closet is starting to seem like a reasonable plan," Oz mused as they heard blood curdling screams. Chaz grabbed the closet door and shut himself in.
"What closet?" Buffy asked, pointing out the now suddenly blank wall.
"Buffy and I are going to make our way upstairs and see if there are any people up there," Faith decided. "You guys find a way out of the house and use it."
"You're telling us to run away and leave you two behind?" Willow queried in surprise.
Buffy pulled out her crossbow as a fireball formed in Faith's hand. "We need help. We need the only people that can make sense of what's happening."
Giles' Apartment
Giles sat dejectedly in a chair the sombrero resting beside him, the bowl of candy in his lap. One by one, he unwrapped and ate the chocolate. Suddenly knocking came at his door. Excitedly, he sprang springs up, brushed the wrappers off himself and threw on his sombrero. "Just a moment…Coming…" he said as he swallowed the candy in his mouth. He opened the door to find Anya at the door.
"Xander's in trouble!" Anya exclaimed as she burst in. "You've got to do something! Right now!"
"Anya," Giles greeted, surprised at both her appearance and costume.
"Are you listening? Xander is trapped!"
"Where are Buffy, Faith and the others?" Giles asked her as they all walked into the living room. He knew that Buffy and Faith were spending the holiday in Sunnydale with Joyce instead of with Faith's family in San Francisco.
"They're trapped, too, but we've got to save Xander!"
Giles took of his sombrero and sat down. "Slow down. I need you to be more specific."
"Uhm, ah, we were supposed to meet at this house, and I got there and there was no door where a door should be," Anya explained. "And then I see this girl standing in a window, and then poof! She's gone."
"She vanished from the window?" Giles asked.
"No, the window vanished from the house."
"Hmm," Giles mused. "Matter and reality distortion." He got up to get a book from his library. "Like a summoning spell's temporal flux."
"What?" Anya queried.
"Hmm? Oh, never mind. I just need to get some - supplies together. I wouldn't worry about Xander. At least he's amongst friends."
Alpha Delta Fraternity
"It's a simple incantation, a guiding spell for travelers when they become lost or disoriented," Willow informed her fellow witches.
"And how does it work?" Buffy asked.
"It conjures an emissary from the beyond that lights the way."
"Conjuring. Willow," Faith said. "I don't mean to be negative, but you haven't tried this level of spell yet. And given the current situation, it might turn into something else."
"Will," Xander began, "Faith does have a point, we…"
"Oh, yeah?" Willow cut in, angrily. "Well, so's your face." She turned and took off down the long hall.
"What does that mean?" Faith questioned the redheaded witch as everyone followed after Willow.
"I'm not hers or your sidekick," Willow snapped as she hurried away.
"Will, hang on," Oz said as he chased after his girlfriend.
"Well, that was a bunch of laughs," Xander said as he moved over beside Buffy and Faith. "Look we're all tired and a little on edge."
"Xander?" Buffy asked, as she looked around. "Xander, where did you go?"
"Funny how you still haven't lost your sense of inappropriate humor." Xander said as Buffy and Faith turned and appeared to look through him. "Knock it off. Skit's over. I'm right here."
"I'll go and look for him," Faith volunteered.
"Look for me? I'm right here!" Xander cried out following Faith around the corner.
Only to find an empty corridor.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Willow and Oz made their way down a hallway as Willow threw off her armor. "They think I'm not ready to be a full-blown witch. I can control my magic just as good as they can. It's not that hard, a guiding spell…I'm careful and all…"
"This floor used to have windows…" Oz said as they turned a corner and found the stairs right where they were supposed to be.
"Stairs!" Willow cried. "Look, we found stairs." She didn't that Oz had become distracted as he rubbed his hands. She started up them, Oz right behind. "Buffy and Faith didn't find the stairs. No sir."
"I don't think you guys are thinking clearly…" Oz said as they reached the top of the stairs. He continued to look at his hands as he was starting to transform.
"Okay," Willow said as they turned a corner. "We should go up to the Goat room and see if—"
"Will," Oz cut in as Willow turned to look him. "Something's happening."
"Something… good?" Willow said hopeful. She couldn't see the transformation as he was shrouded in shadows. He turned his face into the light causing to gasp in realization. "Oh. Not good."
"I'm changing," Oz informed her.
"But, you can't be," Willow countered. "There's no moon tonight."
"I have to get away," Oz informed her as he started to walk away.
Willow grabbed his arm. "No," she countered. "We need to just find something to restrain you…A rope or some kind of chain…"
"No time," Oz objected.
"Or…or…I can do the guiding spell," Willow suggested. "I know I can make it work."
"Will, please…" he begged.
"We can get out of here and…and find Giles or call Piper, Phoebe and Paige," Willow suggested. "They can help—"
"No!" Oz snapped. He pushed her away, his sharp nails, accidentally, tearing her forearm. He then took off afraid to hurt her anymore.
"Oz!" Willow cried. "Oz! Don't leave me!"
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Xander wandered, aimlessly. He came to a wall mirror and stared at himself. "There I am. Didn't go anywhere. Great. Just have to live with the fact that no one else can see me!"
He noticed the reflection of a dummy's head on the wall behind him. "I can see you," it said as blood starteds pouring out of its mouth and eye sockets.
Xander screamed and ran off as the dummy's head cackled.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Willow sat, her eyes closed, concentrating. "Aradia, goddess of the lost. The path is murky. The woods are dense. Darkness pervades. I beseech thee…Bring the light."
A small glow appeared in front of her as Willow watched it, her anxiety growing. Then there was a flash of light and a firefly appeared hovering in front of her. "Whoa. Hey. I did it," she said excitedly. "I did you. Hi." She could tell the firefly seemed to be waiting expectantly. "Right. You're waiting for instructions. Lead me to Oz."
The firefly started off toward the doorway. She followed for a moment, then, reconsidered and stopped. "
"Wait," she said. "I should try to find those people trapped upstairs first." Lost in thought, she didn't notice the firefly suddenly split into two. "Even if I get them, we still need to find a way out of the house." She turned back to the firefly. "Okay, here's what I think we—"
She instantly saw that where there had been one firefly was now four.
"Hey. What's going…" she said as the fireflies multiply at an alarming rate. "Stop!" Within second she was immersed within a swarm of fireflies. She swatted them away from her face, her eyes, as her terror mounted. "Stop it! Get off! Oz! Hel—"
A few of fireflies flew into her mouth causing her to gag and choke on them. Terrified, she fled, trying to escape the growing swarm as she let out a scream.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Faith froze when she heard Willow's scream. "Red!"
The scream seemed to be coming from down the hall. She sprinted to the door, and hurried through it. She came out at the top of a staircase that was no longer there and she fell. Faith hit the ground hard. She looked around her and discovered she's in a dimly lit room with concrete walls. "Basement," she said in realization. "I'm in the basement."
"All alone," said a voice from the shadows.
Faith looked toward the shadows, wincing in pain as she did. She saw nothing. "Who's there?"
The Source stepped. "They all ran away from you. They always will," he said as he chuckled. "It is time to come and sit on your throne, Faith."
"You are not real," Faith snapped as a fireball formed in her hand.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Outside the house, Anya and Giles stood, the latter with an open book in one hand, the other feeling the wall where the door had once been.
"Well?" Anya asked.
"We're going to have to create a door." Giles closed the book and walked over to the bag he had laid on the floor.
"Create a door. You can do that?" Anya remarked.
There was a mechanical growl of machinery as Giles stood up, a chain-saw in his hands. "I can. You may want to step back."
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Inside Buffy screamed in frustration and terror, battling a zombie onslaught. Five of them were piling on her, trying to pull her limbs off or bite her. She pushed them off long enough to get to her feet.
"No matter how hard you fight, you just end up in the same place," said one zombie. "I don't see why you bother."
"Enough of this," Buffy said and she tried to flame out. She frowned when nothing happened. A zombie knocked her down. She looked around for an escape route, any escape route, and saw a small door. She crawled to it as the zombies grabbed at her heels. She tried to open the door and when it didn't budge, she threw her weight at it.
Buffy tumbled into the party room, kicking the door shut behind her. "The goat room," she muttered to herself. She walked down the room, seeing shaking and cowering college students all around her. One boy looked very familiar. "Oz?"
He looked up as Willow came toward them, yelling, "Get them off! Get them off!"
Oz stood up and took his girlfriend's hands. "Will!"
"C-couldn't…get them…off," Willow informed him hysterically. "F-f-fireflies. T-too many! And they flew…in my mouth…And my eyes…and I…couldn't breath and…"
"It's okay. It's okay. We're okay." Oz pulled Willow into his arms.
Buffy shook her head. "We're not okay. We need to get out of here."
"I'd offer my opinion," a voice began, "but you jerks aren't going to hear it anyway. Not that 'didn't go to college' boy is worthy listening to. I might as well hang out my new best friend; bleeding dummy head, for all you dorks care."
"Xander?" Buffy said.
Xander stood up in relief. "You – you heard that? You – you can see me? Good. Oh, God, good!"
Faith emerged, visibly shaken. "Everyone okay?"
Buffy turned to him. "What happened to you?"
"The Source," Faith said. "Appeared, said it was time for me…"
"The house separated us. It wanted to scare us," Oz mused.
"But - we got away," Willow added.
"No," Buffy realized. "We were brought here. We all got so scared that we ended up here."
"Why here?" Faith asked.
Xander pointed at the pentagram and drawings on the floor. "I saw them painting that. They were copying it out of that!" He added, pointing to the book on the floor.
Willow picked it up and looked at the text. "I think it's Gaelic."
"Can you translate?" Faith asked.
"Release me! Release me!" A voice rumbled again.
"Okay…um…the icon's called the Mark of Gachnar," Willow announced. "I think this is a summoning spell for something called Gachnar. Somehow the beginning of the spell must have been triggered. Gachnar is trying to manifest itself, to come into being."
"How?" Buffy asked the redheaded witch.
"It feeds on fear," Willow informed her friend.
"Our fears are manifesting it," Faith concluded as she looked at her wife. "We're feeding it. We need to stop."
"Well, if we close our eyes and say it's a dream," Xander closed his eyes then rapidly opened them, "it'll stab us to death! These things are real."
"Can you flame?" Faith questioned. "We need Aunt Piper, Aunt Phoebe and Aunt Paige."
"I can't, I tried," Buffy admitted. "I think the spell calling our demon here is blocking my powers."
"Release me!"
"Okay, so our fears are feeding it, we get everyone out of here," Buffy began to suggest, just as the walls started to shake. "Let's go!"
Xander rushed to the door. He opened it to reveal... "Giles? Everyone, it's Giles! With a chainsaw. Glad you could make it."
"The walls closed up behind us," Giles offered in explanation as he walked over to them. Willow handed him the book. "Gachnar, of course. Its presence infects the reality of the house, but it's not managed to achieve full manifestation. We cannot allow this to come into being."
"But if it does, Buffy and I can fight it, right?" Faith questioned.
Giles showed the Slayers the illustration. "This is Gachnar."
"Okay," Buffy said. "Let's shut it down."
"Whatever we're going, let's do it fast," Xander suggested.
Giles began flipping through the book. "'The summoning spell for Gachnar can be shut down in one of two ways. Destroying the mark of Gachnar,'" he read aloud, as Buffy walked over and put her foot through the floorboard, "Is not one of them and will in fact immediately bring forth the fear demon itself."
"Good going, babe," Faith said shaking her head.
The floor rumbled and smoke arose out of the hole. The demon of Gachnar appeared before them.
"This is Gachnar?" Buffy queried peering down at the little demon standing on the floor in the middle of the group circle.
"Big overture. Little show," Xander remarked.
"I am the dark lord of nightmares! The bringer of terror! Tremble before me. Fear me!" Gachnar replied.
"He – he's no cute!" Willow mused.
Xander bent down toward the demon. "Who's a little fear demon? Come on! Who's a little fear demon!"
"Don't taunt the fear demon," Giles admonished him.
"Why?" Xander wondered as he glanced at Giles. "Can he hurt me?"
"No, it's just…tacky," Giles countered before looking at Buffy and Faith. "Be that as it may when it comes to slaying…
"Size doesn't matter?" Faith quipped.
"You will assume the Source's throne, you know," Gachnar informed Faith.
"No, I won't," Faith remarked, as she vanquished it; with a blow of her foot.
Giles' Apartment
"Some quality treats here, Giles," Oz remarked.
The group had all returned to Giles' place and were now finishing the sweets.
"Uhm, this is much better," Buffy declared in the arms of her wife. "There is no problem that cannot be solved with chocolate."
"That's your scary costume?" Xander asked Anya.
"Bunnies frighten me."
"Oh, bloody hell," Giles suddenly commented as he glanced at the book passage concerning Gachnar. "The inscription!"
"What's the matter?" Faith asked him.
Giles showed brought the book over and showed her and Buffy the page. "I should have translated the Gaelic inscription under the illustration of Gachnar."
"What's it say?" Buffy asked.
"Actual size." He shrugged and then chuckled, before closing the book.