Xander strolled toward Giles home but as he neared the door, it began to
open and someone was coming out. He quickly ducked into hiding around a
tree and he carefully peered out to see who was leaving Giles home. He was
quite surprised.
It was Jenny Calendar. She closed the door and, carrying a large bag with
handles, she headed for her car without being aware of Xander as he watched.
Xander waited until she had drove away. Then carrying the large book he
held in his hands, he approached Giles front door.
It took him a moment to pick the lock, and then he was inside.
There on the counter before the kitchen was a neatly wrapped package.
Xander headed for it with a purpose.
-----
"Hey, girl friend," Buffy greeted from behind as she approached the girl at
her locker.
Willow jumped and cried out, dropping her books onto the floor. She turned
to look at Buffy with wide eyes. "Don't do that!"
Buffy held up her hands. "I'm sorry, Will. I didn't mean to scare you."
Willow bent down to pick up her books and Buffy also bent down to help her
friend retrieve her books. "Willow, we're concerned about you," Buffy said
softly, not wanting to run her off like she did at the Bronze last night.
"Both Xander and me are."
"Xander and I," she corrected.
Buffy grinned. "That's a good sign. You know how terrible my grammar is."
Willow looked at her. "I have to go, Buffy."
Buffy's grin faded. "Willow...what's going on?"
"Nothing's going on. I just have things to do! You know, Willow-like
things that don't have anything Xanderish or Buffyish to do with them." She
didn't look at Buffy. "No slaying involved...and-and no b-book
studying...Just stuff."
"Willow...I'm not losing you, am I?" Buffy hesitated as she felt like her
throat was closing up. She realized it was a lump in her throat. "I feel
like I'm losing a friend here, Will. Please tell me it isn't so."
Willow was speechless. She had to be. If she opened her mouth to say
anything, she would end up telling Buffy what was happening. But if she did
that, then Xander was as good as dead. It was after 4th period and Willow
had not seen Xander since that very morning. She couldn't say anything...so
she didn't. She clamped her mouth shut, abruptly turned and as the tears
began to fall, she walked away as fast as she could.
Buffy was dumbfounded. She stared in shock and wanted to go after Willow so
badly...and yet if she did, she risked pushing her friend away forever.
----
The bell had rung. The halls were empty. And Willow found herself standing
in front of the doors that led into the Auditorium. She looked at the
double doors as if they were the enemy waiting to grab her.
She gathered up what courage she had and slowly began to reach for the door.
"'I'm not afraid of spooks'," she chanted. "'I'm not afraid of spooks.'"
She took a deep breath. "Cowardly lion or no cowardly lion...here goes."
She opened the door and entered the Auditorium.
The place was huge and she couldn't see anyone about. But that didn't mean
there couldn't have been someone in hiding.
"Hello?" she called out.
She took a few steps down the ramp between the seats and looked toward the
stage.
"Anybody here?" she asked.
She made it to the stage and stood there for awhile, listening and looking
around. Puzzled, she slowly made her way up the ramp but that's when she
stopped in her tracks.
Two teenage girls were making their way toward her from the top of the ramp.
With dawning horror, she recognized them. One was a brunette named
Rhonda, and the other was a blonde named Heidi. They were smiling at
Willow as they approached, but there wasn't anything friendly about those
smiles.
Willow took a step backward. Then another. Then she began to turn around
and directly behind her were two teenage boys. She cried out in alarm. She
also recognized them. The dark haired, tall boy was Kyle, and his blonde
haired friend was Tor.
When the four bully's had Xander as their friend, they had been called the
Pack. But why had they returned now? They had vanished after the hyena
spirits had been restored.
Kyle grabbed Willow before she could try to run away. "Where do you think
you're going? Weren't you told to cooperate?"
"Y-yes. I--" Willow began.
Kyle interrupted her by shoving her into one of the auditorium seats. He
sat beside her as Rhonda took a seat directly behind her. Heidi climbed
over the seats to sit beside Willow and that left Tor to take a seat
directly in front of her.
She was trapped, and she was scared. She couldn't stop thinking about
Herbert the Mascot, and Principal Flutie.
Kyle smiled at her. "I know what you're thinking. But relax." He shook
his head. "We're not cannibals any more." He reached over and stroked her
hair. He leaned forward. "But I'll bet any amount of money, Willow, that
you taste even better than Flutie did."
The girls laughed and Tor smirked.
Willow reflexively moved her hands up to try to remove his hand from her
hair.
"Put your hands in your lap and sit still," Kyle ordered. Then he raised
his voice menacingly. "Now!"
Willow flinched. She forced her hands into her laps and she literally froze
with fear.
Rhonda moved her face close to Willow's ear. "Poor girl. She's so tense."
Kyle shook his head. "You shouldn't be tense, Willow. We are family after
all."
Willow looked at him, hesitant. "F-family?"
"That's right. You see, someone loves you so much that he has instructed us
to take care of you for him. So you have no reason to fear us." He
regarded her. "If you relax and be yourself with us, we'll treat you a lot
better than your other so-called friends do. They don't even know you truly
exist. They just let you hang around them because they feel sorry for you.
But we don't feel sorry for you. We respect you."
Willow had a hard time fighting back her tears. "My f-friends care for me.
Xander--"
"Xander," Heidi cooed. Then she and Rhonda giggled.
Tor grinned at Willow. "Xander was bad, Willow. Real bad. And he said
some bad things about you."
Willow shook her head. "I...I don't want to hear this. Th-that was not
Xander...He-he was possessed."
Kyle shrugged. "Doesn't matter. He still told us all about you and what he
really thought of you." He leaned forward. "Didn't he call you
pasty-faced? At least, that's what you heard him say. You didn't hear what
he told us."
"Please...stop." Willow looked at him with pleading in her eyes. "Is
th-this why I had to meet you h-here...so you could make me f-feel bad about
my friends?"
Kyle shook his head. "There's always a reason, Willow. We just like to set
the mood."
"Well...It-it's set, so can we just g-get on with this please?" She sat
still with her hands folded in her lap, and she stared at them as she tried
to keep from trembling.
Kyle looked at his friends one by one, and then he finally regarded Willow.
He nodded. "All right. It's simple really. There's an old cathedral on
the edge of town. Has a big bell tower and a cemetery in the back...Do you
know the one I speak of?"
Willow nodded as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"Be there at midnight. Alone." He paused for affect. "And bring the
book."
"Wh-what book?"
"Moloch, the Corruptor."
Willow stared at him. "I c-can't do that! You don't understand. I--"
Kyle suddenly grabbed a handful of red hair and he pulled Willow's head
back. "No. You are the one who doesn't understand! We have been
instructed to kill Xander if you do not do as we say, and we will do it. He
will die a slow death, Willow. And it will be your fault." He brought his
face close to hers. "You don't know what you're dealing with. We are
followers of Moloch and we hear his voice. He makes us strong. He shows us
how weak you are. Am I making myself clear?"
The tears were flowing freely as Willow stammered, "Y-yes! I-I'll get the
b-book!"
"Be sure that you do. You don't show up at midnight, we'll go to your
boyfriends house and kill him and his parents." He released his grip on
Willow and he and his friends got up to leave.
Willow just sat still and tried to compose herself.
Kyle turned to look at her closely. "Xander told us, Willow, that you are
nothing but a pathetic little girl and that is all you would ever be. A
pathetic little girl who would never find anyone because no one would ever
want you." He paused for affect. "I thought that you should know what
Xander really thinks of you. See you at midnight."
They left her then. For the rest of the period, she sat there and cried
until the bell rang. After the bell rang, Willow steeled up her nerve and
headed for the library to look for a book.
At the library, she saw Giles and Jenny talking excitedly about something as
they headed out of the library. Willow waited for them to pass and then she
hurried inside. She headed for Giles office since she knew that the book
would not be on any shelf. But after she searched the office, she found
nothing.
She sat at the desk and frowned in thought.
"Maybe he brought it home," she wondered out loud.
She frowned. It looked like she was about to skip three remaining periods.
But she had no choice.
