Willow was far more terrified as she stood in front of Giles front door than
she had been when she was trapped in a crypt by Darla and Thomas.
she thought bitterly to herself.
She took a deep breath as she stared at the front door. She was just about
to do what she considered to be the unpardonable. But she fully intended to
get into Giles house and steal a book.
Giles was going to be so angry with her. However, she thought that she
might be able to live with that. What she knew she couldn't live with was
what her actions would do to the relationship they shared together. She
loved her parents, but they did not give her the time of day. For the most
part, Willow felt like she was in her parents way, taking up too much space.
But Giles was special to her and he probably didn't even know it. He was
the father that she didn't have. He listened to her when she babbled on
about whatever was on her mind at the time. He even responded with answers,
suggestions, or helpful hints about life in general.
She wondered if he knew how she felt about him.
But then she realized that it didn't matter if he knew how she felt or not.
After what she was about to do, he would never trust her again. Neither
would Buffy. But Xander might understand...because if she didn't get the
book, the Pack was going to kill him.
she reasoned to herself,
She hesitantly approached the door and glanced about nervously. She tried
the doorknob and found it to be locked.
She sighed.
She again nervously looked around as she made her way slowly around the
house. She was totally oblivious to the fact that a neighbor had seen her
and was at that moment calling the police. She continued on with
determination, but at the same time, her eyes kept blurring her vision with
tears.
She approached a window and looked in. There on the counter was a nicely
wrapped package the size of a large book. She breathed a sigh of relief
that Giles hadn't sent it out yet. She tried the window and discovered to
her horror that it-like the door-was locked.
In desperation, she picked up a rock and gathered her courage. She closed
her eyes as she tossed the heavy rock through the window with a crash. She
put her hand through the hole she had made and unlocked the window. Once
she managed to get the window open, she climbed in as carefully as she
could. But she stumbled into a bookshelf and fell to the floor.
She got up from off the floor, dusted herself off and slowly moved toward
the counter where the package was. She grabbed the package, pulled it
toward her cautiously-as if afraid it would bite her-and then she ripped
open the package. When she saw the cover of the book, she froze. Moloch's
image seemed to be staring at her, but the cover looked strange to her
somehow. She tried to ignore the feeling and slid the book aside.
She picked up a pen and wrote a note onto the torn package covering. Her
hand trembled as she wrote...
GILES
I AM SO SORRY.
PLEASE FORGIVE ME.
WILLOW
Finally, she picked up the book, walked purposefully to the front door and
opened it.
She stared in astonishment.
Two policemen were standing there waiting.
Without thinking, Willow reacted. She slammed the door shut, locked it, and
ran. She hurried out through the back door and ran as fast as she could.
She heard the police giving chase but at some point in time, she had lost
them. Still, she ran and she didn't stop running until she fell with
exhaustion onto the ground in the woods. She dragged herself to a tree
where she sat with her back against it and tried to catch her breath. She
looked fearfully about, feeling more alone in the world than she had ever
felt. She was a fugitive now. She was certain that she had just lost the
only true family she had ever known.
She didn't know what else to do, so she leaned against the tree and cried.
----
Willow had been overcome by exhaustion. The stress of what she had done and
at avoiding her friends so she could keep her secret safe was too much for
her to bare alone. A heavy sleep fell upon her but it was a restless sleep
filled with horrible nightmares. She had dreams of being arrested and
humiliated in public. She had dreams where her friends turned their backs
on her with disgust evident on their faces.
But the nightmares did not end.
Or perhaps they did.
For in her dream, she collapsed onto her knees deep in the woods and she
said softly, "I don't want to be alone." The tears flowed down her cheeks
and she buried her face in her hands, weeping bitterly.
In her dream, a hand touched her shoulder. "Willow..."
Startled, she looked up. She saw Angel standing over her and he looked at
her with such kindness in his eyes and she saw the concern he had for her.
He squeezed her shoulder gently, reassuringly and said, "I know you think
you're alone right now, Willow." He shook his head. "But you're not alone.
You never were."
Startled, Willow suddenly jolted awake and looked around in bewilderment.
She was surprised to find that the sun had gone down some, and the woods
around her was almost dark. She wiped her eyes, picked up the book, and
looked around again. How she wished that the last part of her dream had
been real...but it wasn't.
Angel was nowhere to be seen.
He wasn't really there.
Taking a deep breath, Willow began to walk back in the direction from where
she came.
Angel stepped from around the tree that Willow had been sitting against and
he followed her. He followed her for quite a ways and Angel was aware that
Willow was purposefully going around the town, but staying at the edge of
the woods. Eventually, she reached her destination.
It was an old cathedral.
As Willow disappeared into the dark building, Angel saw movement on the
opposite end of the property which the cathedral was on. Someone else had
arrived.
Angel smiled wryly. "Well, I'll be damned..."
It was Xander.
----
Willow found herself in the large open area where the congregation used to
sit. All of the benches, however, had been removed at one time or another
so the room was quite bare except for a single altar at the end. Candles
were lit upon the altar and torches hung from the walls. The torches were
lit and she was able to see quite clearly that the Pack was waiting for her.
They all stood by the altar and watched her as she entered. She walked
toward them, but she stopped when she felt a reasonable amount of distance
was still separating her from them. If she had to run, she wanted a good
lead. Tor was her only worry when it came to running. He had been on track
and he was fast.
Kyle smiled at her. "I'm glad you came, Willow."
Willow's mouth felt dry. "I-I only did this so you wouldn't hurt Xander."
She held the book to her, as if it were a shield.
Tor grinned. Rhonda and Heidi giggled.
Kyle slowly approached Willow. "I know you did, Willow. You did the right
thing."
Willow took a step backward.
Kyle stopped. "There's no reason to be afraid, Willow. We won't hurt you."
"W-why do you want this book?" Willow asked, trying to get him to talk.
"Don't you want to see your boyfriend again, Willow?" Kyle asked her.
She shook her head. "I d-don't have a boyfriend."
"Moloch was your boyfriend...wasn't he? He loved you, Willow." He took a
few cautious steps toward her and held out his hand. "Give me the book and
you can go...all right?"
She held the book out to him and he took it. He turned around and held it
out to Tor who came for it. Tor grinned at Willow and then he headed toward
a fire that was burning in the center of the room. Without any hesitation,
he dropped the book into the flames. Then he and the two girls began to
dance around the fire, singing, laughing, and howling like animals.
Willow stared in wonder.
Kyles was standing right next to her. He smiled. "He can never be captured
again, Willow. No one can put him back into that book ever again." He
looked at her. "And he has you to thank for that."
She frowned. "What do you mean? M-Moloch is dead. He can't come back."
"I can," said a voice directly behind her. "And I did."
Willow froze. Slowly, she turned around and came face to face with Fritz.
"You!" Willow exclaimed, taking a step backward.
Kyle grabbed her and held her tight.
Willow was too terrified to fight back. Her wide frightened eyes were
locked on Fritz as he slowly moved closer to her.
"You're...you're dead!" Willow cried out. "I saw Moloch kill you!"
"You saw what I wanted you to see, Willow, my love." Fritz brought his hand
up and caressed Willow's face as he leered at her. "The robot was remotely
controlled...and I was here in this body while you and your friends thought
they destroyed me." He smiled. "And now the book is destroyed. I am truly
free!" He looked into her eyes. "I shall reward you for your service to
me, Willow. I shall reward you well."
