Chapter 15: The Pack Part 2
Mr. Flutie showed Buffy to a classroom in which a cage was set up for Herbert.
"See, the problem is," he said as they walked, "you kids today have no school spirit. Hold on, let me get his outfit off." He removed Herbert's helmet and foam razorback. "Today it's all gangs and drugs and those movies on Showtime with the nudity." Looking at Buffy, he quickly added, "I don't have cable. I only heard."
More passionately, he went on. "When I was your age, we cared about the school's reputation, the team's record, all that stuff." Then, as if he realized what he was saying, he amended himself. "Of course, when I was your age I was surrounded by old guys telling me how much better things were when they were my age." He gave up then, and went in to prepare the cage for Herbert's arrival.
Buffy gave a small laugh. "Yeah," she said, more to Herbert than to Mr. Flutie. For a principal, he isn't always as clueless as he seems, she thought.
Buffy was still standing there holding the pig when Paige entered the hallway through the double doors to outside. She didn't say anything, just gave her the slightest glance and gave Herbert a prolonged stare as she passed by. Which Buffy thought was odd, though not necessarily any more so than the rest of her behavior had been lately.
No, what really creeped her was that Paige gave the pig the wiggins. Herbert squealed, terrified, and wriggled in her arms like he wanted to beat his own personal best at the hundred-yard dash. It was all she could do just to hang on to him. He kept squealing and writhing until Paige was long out of sight.
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A sudden storm had rolled over Sunnydale during the day, unleashing driving rain and booming thunder.
Rain had its pluses and minuses, but one of the big minuses was that P.E. had to be held indoors, in the big old gym. And Coach Herrold, not huge on imagination to begin with, had a limited repertoire of activities that he could think up for indoor workouts, especially once basketball season was over.
Coach Herrold was a big man with silver hair and a military bearing. Buffy had heard rumors that he'd served as a drill sergeant for years, finally getting out and becoming a high school coach because it was the only other place where he could command blind obedience.
"All right, it's raining," he said, marching up and back between the two assembled ranks of P.E. students and Paige. Paige had volunteered for some very odd reason to help out since it was raining, not that he was complaining. "All regular gym classes have been postponed. So you know what that means . . . dodgeball." He held a ball up in one big fist, as if to demonstrate to anyone who hadn't caught on yet what a dodgeball looked like. "Now, for those of you who may have forgotten, the rules are as follows: you dodge."
He tossed his ball to Buffy, stepped out of the center, and blew his ever present whistle. The two sides backed away from each other, toward opposite walls, everyone already eyeing their intended targets.
Coach Herrold blew the whistle again and rubber flew.
"One down," someone said as the first kid was tagged by one of the red balls. More went down quickly, stepping aside to the bench. To survive in dodgeball, you had to be light on your feet, with the reflexes to avoid the flying balls, yet still fast enough to grab any that came your way so you could knock out members of the opposing team. Dawn, Buffy and Willow had all started with balls, but that only gave the most momentary of advantages.
Buffy had the distinct sense that she was being particularly targeted by Rhonda Kelley, but that was hard to know for sure in a game where everyone was, by definition, a target. Some people threw the ball harder than others, though, and Buffy dodged a couple of well-aimed burners that came uncomfortably close. Then she caught a glimpse of Paige winding up for a powerful throw. Before she even had a chance to wonder who he was targeting, she saw — Dawn had just thrown a good one, followed through on her throw, and her back was mostly to Paige. Paige's ball slammed into her shoulder, hard.
The look Dawn tossed Paige's way as she slunk toward the bench almost broke Buffy's heart. She knew that Paige was only Dawn's Whitelighter. But she had figured that Paige was at least her sister's friend.
Buffy didn't have time to dwell on the matter. Willow, her last teammate was knocked out, and she realized it was just she facing down six opponents.
And not just any six.
Paige, Xander, Kyle, Rhonda, Tor and Heidi. Buffy flashed back on the Bronze, last night, and the zoo trip before that. This is too weird, she thought. She faced them for a moment, but then, almost as one, they turned away from her. Looked at Xander. Held the look.
Xander returned it.
Kyle threw the first ball. Hard, at close range. Xander went down on the wooden gym floor. Kyle scooped up another ball, slammed Xander again. Then they were all throwing balls, pounding Xander into the floor like they wanted to nail him to it.
Buffy ran, across no-man's land and into the middle of it all. She took her friend's hand, hoisted him to his feet and away from the punishing balls. A couple of balls bounced harmlessly now, but no one was throwing any more. They were just looking at Buffy silently. She caught Paige's gaze, stared into her Whitelighter's eyes as if hoping to see something there. Some glimmer of the Paige she had known.
But there was nothing. She was a stranger. She turned away, and Kyle, Rhonda, Tor and Heidi followed.
Game over. A satisfactory class session, at least to one person. "God, this game is brutal," Coach Herrold said as they filed out. "I love it."
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Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Willow waited outside the gym for Paige. They leaned against a bank of lockers, and when she came out she was accompanied by Kyle, Tor, Heidi, and Rhonda. They were all dressed in dark, blacks and browns, almost like a uniform.
"Paige," Dawn said, stepping toward her. They had all seen it, they were all concerned. "What's wrong with you?"
With a glance back toward the others, Paige moved away from them. "I guess you've noticed that I've been different around you all, lately," she said, her voice low and intimate.
"Yes," they all answered.
"I think, um . . ." she paused, as if searching for the right words. "I think it's because my feelings for you all have been changing. You all no longer need my guidance. Good luck."
She started to laugh then, and the others joined in. The group of them sounded sick to Buffy, Dawn, Willow and Xander, laughing hard.
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"I don't understand Paige," Dawn said with a shake of her head. "She's our Whitelighter and she doesn't want to guide us anymore?"
"I think something's wrong with her," Buffy said.
"Or it could be something with the rest of us," Xander countered. "Think about it. She's been sniffing you a lot, Buffy. But not the rest of us, why?"
"You think this has something to do with me?" Buffy asked.
"We don't know," Willow said. "But it's possible."
Buffy shook her head. "No," she said firmly. "That still doesn't explain why Paige is hanging out with the dode patrol." She slid down from the wall. "Something's going on. Something weird." She started past Dawn, Xander and Willow.
"What are you going to do?" Dawn asked.
Buffy turned to face them once more. "Gonna talk to the experts on weird."
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One of those experts could only be Giles, who she found in his usual haunt, the school library.
He'd been cataloguing, she figured, because he was carrying a clipboard and one of those little cards from the card catalogue with him as he moved from place to place.
While he was cataloguing she was talking and following him around.
"Paige's taken to teasing the less fortunate?"
"Uh-huh," Buffy said.
"There's been a noticeable change in both clothing and demeanor?"
"Yes."
"And spends all her spare time lounging about with imbeciles?" Giles said. Even he found that kind of behavior coming from Paige to be out of character. If it had been Xander for example he could attribute it to hormones. But it was Paige, and over the last few weeks she had never shown that kind of behavior. "Alright, I don't know what to look under for this. But I'll start researching. You might want to call her sisters and see if Paige might have given them a hint on what happened."
Buffy nodded, she headed into Giles' office as she thought back on everything that had happened since she started noticing the change in Paige. "Wait," she said as she came back. "Paige and the others have been laughing much like a hyena."
"Are you saying Paige's becoming a hyena?" Giles asked.
"I don't know," Buffy said. "Or been possessed by one. Not just Paige, all of them."
"Well, I've certainly never heard of —" Giles started.
Then Dawn charged into the library, clearly upset. "Herbert," she exclaimed. "They found him!"
"The pig?" Buffy asked.
"Dead," Dawn replied. "And also, eaten! Principal Flutie's freaking out."
Buffy looked at Giles. "I think I better get on the phone to Piper and Phoebe."
"Right," Giles said as he headed for the stacks. "And I better start trying to find reference, either to possession or some form of animal transformation."
Buffy walked back into Giles' office and picked up the phone as she dialed. She waited a second before she heard a voice on the other end.
"Halliwell Residence, Leo Wyatt speaking."
"Dad, it's Buffy. Is Piper and Phoebe there?"
"Buffy?" Leo said noting the tone of his daughter's voice. "What's wrong?"
"Paige," Buffy said. "I think she maybe possessed or transforming into …"
"A demon," Leo finished for Buffy. "I'll get Piper, hold on."
Buffy waited a moment and then she heard Piper's voice over the phone. "Buffy, what is wrong with Paige?"
"As I was just telling dad, I think Paige is possessed or transforming into a hyena," Buffy said. "Did you, Dad or Phoebe notice anything unusual last night about Paige?"
"Now that you mention it," Piper said. "She did seem different. You're sure she is either possessed or transforming into a demon."
"The evidence keeps adding up in that direction," Buffy replied. "There is the laugh, like a hyena. There is the fact she is being aggressive, not like herself. And Dawn just said they found a pig that the principal had bought as a school mascot, eaten, raw."
"It sounds like you may be right. I'll try and find out what I can from here. I need you to try something though."
"What?" Buffy wondered.
"Orb, with Paige in trouble, you may need us. And if we have to drive down it will be seven hours before we get to Sunnydale."
"I … I never tried," Buffy said.
"Okay this is what I told Paige when she was first orbing. Relax and take a deep breath. Feel the magic rising from a place of strength. Feel it building and building," Piper instructed her. "Practice orbing. I'll call you when we have something on our end."
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Buffy was doing as Piper instructed. She had managed so far to orb in one spot after the first hour of practice.
Dawn sat on the steps leading up to the stacks, a huge folio across her lap. Willow sat at a table, reading one of her own. Buffy and Willow looked up when Dawn spoke. "Wow," Dawn said. "Apparently Noah rejected hyenas from the Ark because he thought they were an evil, impure mixture of dogs and cats."
"Hyenas aren't well-liked," Willow agreed.
"They do seem to be the shmoes of the animal kingdom," Dawn said, bringing the book down to show Buffy and Willow a picture.
"Why couldn't Paige be possessed by a puppy?" Buffy asked. "Or some ducks?"
"That's assuming 'possession' is the right word," Dawn said.
"Oh, I'd say it is," Giles offered. He emerged from his office. "Piper called, she found something. Something I myself should have remembered. The Masai of the Serengeti have spoken of animal possession for generations. She said if you managed to orb to go ahead and come and get her otherwise she'll remain by the phone."
"So how does this possession work?" Buffy asked.
"Well," he explained, "apparently there's a sect of animal worshippers, known as Primals. They believe that humanity — consciousness, the soul — is a perversion, a dilution of spirit. To them, the animal state is holy. They're able, through transpossession, to draw the spirit of certain animals into themselves."
"And then they start acting like hyenas."
"Only the most predatory animals were of interest to Primals," Giles said. "So yes, that would fit."
"So what happens to the person once the spirit is in them?" Buffy asked.
"If it goes unchecked?" Giles said. Instead of answering, he handed Buffy a massive volume he carried.
She looked at the page he showed her, horror creeping over her face as she did. She slammed the book shut, put it down on the table next to Dawn, and headed for the door. "I gotta find Paige," she said.
Dawn reached for the book, tugged it to herself, flipped it open to the page Giles had shown Buffy. An old engraving on the page seemed to show a feast of some kind. But the main course didn't look to Dawn like hyena chow, or even raw piglet. It was humans — missing arms, legs, even heads, all depicted in graphic and gory detail.
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Buffy found the classroom to which she'd delivered Herbert before. The door was open. Inside, the cage Mr. Flutie had bought for Herbert was bent and twisted apart; the heavy wire looked as if animals had been at it.
The floor was littered with straw from the cage — and something else. She bent over, picked one up. It was almost eight inches long, a little bigger around than her finger. Broken at the end, as if something had snapped it — or bit it, maybe in search of marrow.
"Pig bones," she said.
She put it back in the mess on the floor and stood to leave. There was nothing more to learn here. She turned . . .
And there Paige was, right behind her. Her face held a malicious grin.
"Paige."
Paige didn't speak, just took a step closer to her. Buffy sidestepped, to go around her, but she moved to block her. Obviously she wasn't going to just let Buffy pass, so she tried another approach.
"This is ridiculous," Buffy said. "We need to talk — " Only instead of talking, she leapt at Paige, hands at her shoulders, driving her backward. Paige went down, and she landed on her chest, driving Paige into the floor.
Paige just laughed. "I've been waiting for you to jump my bones," she said. She growled an animalistic snarl and heaved, catching Buffy by surprise with a strength she didn't know Paige had. Paige bucked Buffy off of her and spun her over, so that Buffy was on her back, looking up into Paige's face. Paige pinned Buffy's wrists to the tiled floor.
"Get off of me!"
"Is that what you really want?" Paige asked. Buffy tried to hurl her off, but she was strong — even for Buffy, the Slayer.
Buffy gave an extra push, testing herself, really, to see if she was holding back because she was Paige, her girlfriend. A hyena-possessed girlfriend, maybe, but a girlfriend just the same. "We both know what you really want," Paige went on.
"You're in trouble, Paige," Buffy tried. "You are infected with some hyena thing. It's like a demonic possession —"
Paige ignored Buffy, cutting her off as if she hadn't even spoken. "We both know what you want, Buffy. Have since we met. Do you know how long I've waited?" As she spoke, she released one wrist, caressed Buffy's blond hair gently with her hand.
Buffy took full advantage of Paige's distraction. With the help of her free hand, she was able to throw Paige off her and scramble to her feet. "I don't wanna hurt you, Paige," she said, backing away from Paige's relentless advance. But it was bluff, and she knew it. She couldn't bring herself to really hurt Paige. She just hoped Paige wouldn't realize that.
Paige didn't. She lunged, slamming Buffy backward into a vending machine. Someone's long-lost change clinked down into the coin return. "Now do you wanna hurt me?" she asked. "C'mon, Slayer — I like it when you're scared." Buffy struggled against her but she held her tight, sniffing the air around Buffy. "The more I scare you, the better you smell."
Then Paige stopped talking, forced her head in between Buffy's jaw and shoulders, and began to savagely kiss her neck.
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School had long since let out, and darkness had descended on Sunnydale. Willow and Dawn sat alone in the shadowed library, at two of the computer workstations Giles had reluctantly agreed to allow in his sanctuary. On the screen before them was video footage of a pack of hyenas. They were terrifying to watch as they savagely tore at their prey, a wildebeest they had brought down.
The door opened and Buffy entered, dragging a heavy load behind her. "Hurry up!" she called to her sister and Willow. "We've gotta lock Paige up somehow, before she comes to."
Not just any heavy load, Willow realized. "Omigod, Paige — what happened?"
"I hit her," Buffy answered.
"You … hit her," Dawn said. "With what?"
Buffy headed for the cage, Willow and Dawn alongside, looking for signs of damage on Paige, who was out cold. They couldn't see any signs of impact.
"A desk," Buffy replied, Dawn opened the cage door, hauling Paige into the cage. "Not that I don't want Paige in that way, but she tried her hand at felony statutory rape."
"Oh, Buffy," Dawn said, horrified. "The hyena in her didn't —"
"No. No, but it's safe to say that in her animal state, her idea of wooing somebody doesn't include a Yanni CD and a bottle of Chianti." Buffy came out of the cage, closed the door behind her, turned the key. She jingled the keys in her hand as she crossed to a desk. "There, that oughta hold her once I've found a way to keep her from orbing. Where's Giles?"
"He got a call to some teacher's meeting," Willow told her.
Buffy took a big swallow from a bottle of water and headed into Giles' office. She picked up the phone and dialed.
"Halliwell residence, Phoebe speaking," came Phoebe voice from the phone.
"Phoebe, it's Buffy," Buffy said. "I need a way to keep Paige from orbing."
"Use the binding spell your mom used on you," Phoebe suggested. "It can be reversed at any time."
"Thanks," Buffy said. She ran back into the main room of the library and pulled out a journal out of her backpack.
When they had found out that Joyce did not have a Book of Shadows Paige had Buffy and Dawn keep a journal temporarily till they could write up their own family Book of Shadows.
Buffy flipped through her journal to the page she was looking for and walked over to the book cage and Paige. She motioned to Dawn who joined her. "I take your hands in mine," Buffy and Dawn chanted. "And with this string I will entwine, your powers I'll forever bind. From now until the end of time."
"Now," Buffy said. "I'm going to find the rest of the pack."
Giles walked in just then. "The rest of the pack were spotted outside Herbert the mascot's cage. They were sent to the principal's office."
"Good. That'll show 'em," Willow said. The look on Giles's face wasn't reassuring. "Did it show 'em?"
"They didn't hurt him, did they?" Buffy asked.
"They, uh, ate him."
Willow sank into a chair.
"They ate Principal Flutie?" Dawn said.
"Ate him up?" Willow added.
"The official theory is that wild dogs got into his office somehow," Giles said. "There was no one at the scene."
Dawn found the bright spot—A tiny one, but bright just the same. "But Paige didn't — she was with you," she said to Buffy.
"Oh," Giles said, seeing Paige unconscious in the cage for the first time. "Well, that's a small mercy. How are you going to keep her in there?"
"Buffy and I temporarily bound her powers," Dawn told him. "She can't orb. We'll unbind them when she's herself again."
"Good," Giles replied as Xander entered through the doors.
"Giles, how do we stop this?" Buffy asked. "How do you transpossess someone?"
"I'm afraid I still don't have all the pieces," Giles replied. "Accounts of the Primals and their methods are a bit thin on the ground. There is some talk of a predatory act, but the exact ritual is . . ." He shook his head, and picked up one of his massive books. He flipped to a certain page, and continued. "The 'Malleus Maleficarum' deals with the particulars of demonic possession, which may apply."
He put the book down on the table, flipping a few more pages. "Yes, one should be able to transfer the spirits to another human —"
"Any volunteers?" Xander interrupted. He looked to Buffy. "I didn't see the rest of the pack. I went looking for them when I heard about the pig."
"What we need to do is put the hyena back in the hyena," Buffy said.
"But, until we know more —" Giles began.
"Betcha that zookeeper can help us," Dawn said. "Maybe he didn't quarantine those hyenas 'cause they were sick."
Giles seemed to catch on. "We should talk to him."
Buffy started for the door, then stopped again. "Oh, wait," she said. "Somebody's gotta watch Paige."
Dawn stood. "I will."
"Are you sure?" Buffy asked. "If she wakes up —"
"I'll help," Willow said as she moved next to Dawn. "We'll be alright. Go." She held her hand out, and Buffy put the cage keys in it.
"Come on," Buffy said to Giles and Xander.
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"Dawn, Willow."
It was Paige's voice, from the cage. Willow paused the hyena video she and Dawn were watching.
They turned to face Paige. "How are you feeling?" Dawn asked.
Paige tossed them a wry grin. "Like somebody hit me with a desk." She looked around the cage, registering where she was for the first time. "What am I doing here?"
"You're . . . resting," Willow said as she and Dawn walked toward the cage.
Paige rose, hooking the cage screen with her fingers. "You guys got me locked up now?"
"Paige," Dawn said. "You're possessed, by a demon. It's also why your powers are bound. They will be unbound once your better."
"Dawn, Willow," Paige sighed, "I know there's something wrong with me. I think it's getting worse. I can't just stand around waiting for Buffy to decide it's time to punch me out again. I want you two to help me."
"We are helping you," Dawn said.
"You two are doing what you're told."
"Buffy's trying to help you too, you know that," Willow countered. "Or, Paige does."
"Yeah, Buffy's so selfless, always thinking everyone else. Well, if I'm so dangerous, how come she left you two with me?" Paige's voice was low and warm — almost as if the cage between them was fading away, and they were the only three people in the world.
"Willow told her to," Dawn said.
"Why?" Paige asked.
"Because we know you," Willow answered. "And we wanted to be here to see if you were still you."
"You know I am. Look at me." They did, and they saw Paige. "Look," she said again.
Willow and Dawn moved closer to the cage, wanting to touch comfort their friend. Which was when Paige lunged, shoving her arm through an opening in the cage's doorway. Reaching for the keys dangling from Willow's skirt pocket.
Dawn and Willow jerked back, avoiding Paige's grasp.
"Now we know," Dawn said, with resignation.
Paige lost all pretense of friendship. She pounded at the cage with her fists. "Let me out!" she screamed, fury in her voice. "Let me out!"