Dawn arrived at the Magic Shop where she discovered Giles, Buffy, and Anya
waiting for her. They greeted her as she walked in and she gave them a big
smile accompanied by a happy little wave.
Buffy gave her a double-take. "What was that for?"
"Oh, I don't know," Dawn said with a tone that said she knew something that
they didn't. "I'm just feeling happy." She looked at her sister and faked
a frown. "Am I supposed to be moping like a sourpuss?"
Anya looked at her as if she had two heads. "Well, we are going to a
cemetery to visit a grave. I don't think there's room for being there with
happy thoughts. Do you think that's appropriate?"
Dawn looked at her and brought down her happiness a bit. "Anya, Tara would
want us to be happy. Isn't that why we're going there? To talk about all
the happiness she did give us while she was here?"
"Quite right," Giles said in agreement. He turned to look at Anya and he
put on his most convincing stern face. "N-now, Anya. I want you to be
happy when we get there. If you don't, I shall take you across my knee and
give you a thrashing."
Dawn looked at him in surprise. Buffy put a hand to her mouth and tried not
to laugh. What surprised Dawn even more, was when Anya looked at Giles and
gave him a look usually reserved for two people alone.
"Promise?" she asked coyly.
Giles opened his mouth to respond.
Buffy cleared her throat as loud as she could.
Giles and Anya came back to earth and regarded her with some embarrassment.
Dawn couldn't help it. She giggled. Buffy couldn't help it either. She
burst out laughing. It was the same kind of belly laughing that Giles did
when she told him that she had slept with Spike.
It was infectious. Dawn started laughing, too. And so did Anya and Giles.
All four of them laughed.
Then Dawn ran up to Giles and gave him a hug. "I'm so happy for you!" Then
she hugged Anya. "So how long has this relationship been kept secret from
us?"
Anya looked at Giles with a serious expression. "What is she talking
about?"
Dawn and Buffy looked at her.
Giles looked at the expressions on their stunned faces, and he couldn't help
it. He burst out laughing again. They all joined in and when they finally
stopped laughing, Giles took a deep breath and put his arm around Anya.
"Six months it's been, Dawn," he said softly.
Dawn looked at Anya.
Anya smiled and cocked her head. "I had you fooled, didn't I?"
"You did," Dawn said with a bright smile. "But you two are together?
You're really a couple?"
Giles nodded. "We are."
"Six months?" Buffy asked, a little disappointed. "I thought it was at
least two."
Giles looked at her in surprise. "Y-you knew about us two months ago?"
"Well...yeah."
"How did you, er, know?"
Buffy raised her eyes at him. "The noise in the bushes at the park gave it
away."
Giles and Anya stared at her.
"I had to stake two curious vampires so they wouldn't interrupt." Buffy
made a face as if she was going to be sick. "I won't even mention that I
had to have a peek to satisfy my own morbid curiousity."
Giles opened his mouth. "Y-you peeked?"
Buffy shrugged. "Well...I was investigating the disturbance." She made a
face again. "And let me tell you...it was disturbing." She smiled. "Then
when I saw who it was, I had to keep the park free from all vampires. I am
the Slayer."
Giles stared at her, horrified at the thought of what exactly Buffy could
have peeked at.
Dawn giggled. "The bushes in the park." She danced with excitement. "Oh,
this is so wonderful!"
"Yes, it is," Giles agreed, still pondering over what Buffy had just told
them. "But...we were enjoying the secret life. I-it really was challenging
to keep all of you in the dark." He looked at Buffy. "You're not going to
say it's creepy?"
"Why? Because you're an old guy, and Anya's a young sweet thing?" Buffy
inquired innocently. "Nope. Not going to say that at all." She shook her
head innocently. "Not me. I'll leave that up to someone else."
Anya waved a hand toward Buffy. "Well...technically, I am older than
Rupert. Much older." She smiled at Giles. "Hey! I'm robbing the cradle."
"Robbing the cradle!" Dawn exclaimed with excitement. "Oooh! I am so happy
for you! First Xander and Willow, and now you two!"
"Xander and Willow?" Giles inquired.
"Willow and Xander?" Anya wanted to know.
"Huh?" was Buffy's contribution.
Dawn could not contain herself any longer. Everything came bubbling out
like a fountain. "Xander came to pick up Willow and he came in with flowers
and Willow did that cute little smile of hers for him. You know? The one
she uses only when Xander is with her. And they left together arm in arm
and I really hope they become a couple because it would be so sweet and they
so deserve it." She squealed. "Oh, isn't this exciting? Doesn't this make
you happy?" She hugged Buffy and then she hugged Anya.
Giles smiled and shook his head. "Your enthusiasm is very c-catching,
Dawn."
Dawn hugged him.
Anya took Giles' hand. "Well...don't you think it's time we should go? We
really shouldn't keep Tara waiting. She's expecting us."
Buffy smiled. "Anya. Tara really isn't there, you know."
"She's not? Then if Tara isn't in the cemetery where we put her in the
ground, then why are we going there?"
She paused. "Well...to honor her memory. To plant her flowers and make her
site look pretty."
Anya looked thoughtful. "But where is she if she's not there?"
Dawn smiled at her. She put her hand over her heart. "She's in here. In
our hearts and our thoughts." She thought of something. "Oh! Does Xander
and Willow know about you guys?"
Anya and Giles exchanged glances. "Uhm, er...no," said Giles. "But now
that you know, they'll find out soon enough." He waved a hand toward the
door. "Now lead the way, Dawn. The flowers are in my car."
Dawn bounced on her feet, twirled around and headed happily toward the door.
"This is a great day, isn't it?" She was bubbling over with joy. "How
can anything ever ruin a day like this?"
She went through the front door.
The door closed behind her.
... ... ...
A few seconds ticked by.
... ... ...
A half a minute ticked by.
... ... ...
Almost a full minute passed by, and the door to the shop opened once again.
"Hey!" Dawn exclaimed. "Aren't you guys coming?"
Dawn stepped into the shop and she stopped short. She looked around but
Giles, Anya, and Buffy were nowhere to be seen. She walked toward the
counter.
"Buffy?" She looked up at the book shelves on the top level. "Anya?" She
walked toward the back room. "Giles?" She walked into the back room where
Buffy had been teaching her some of her moves. "Where is everybody?" She
frowned. "I thought we were supposed to be happy! Guys? This isn't
funny!" she suddenly exclaimed.
------
Willow felt sick to her stomach. She walked around Xander's basement
apartment with a great deal of conflicting emotions running through her.
She knew that he just wouldn't get up and leave without telling her where he
was going. There wasn't a note anywhere.
Something had happened to him.
But what?
For a year, Willow hadn't used a drop of magic. She couldn't use it now
even if she wanted to...which she didn't. It was gone from her. She knew
it was and Giles had used magic to see if she still had it. His tests
showed that it was completely gone. There wasn't a trace of it within her.
But in spite of that, she could taste it in the air if someone else had used
it. She didn't understand how that was possible, but it was a parting gift
to her when the magic left for good. She had the ability to sense magic if
it was being used.
The apartment tasted sickly sweet of dark magic.
That's why she felt sick to her stomach. Because she knew that dark magic
had been used by someone and it had been used on Xander. It had taken him
away from her.
She had to go to the Magic Shop and tell the others. They would help her
find Xander. They would protect her from the dark magic.
She turned to go out the door but was startled to find that someone was
standing there, watching her. Willow froze. She looked at the man. She
looked at him long and hard, because she was trying to grasp what her eyes
were telling her. Who she saw standing there should not be there at all.
She took a step backward. Then another. She began to tremble with fear.
She wanted to look for a way of escape but she was so terrified that she was
unable to look away from the man standing in front of the door.
The man just stood there and watched her. There was a smile on his face.
Willow stopped backing up and looked at the man knowing that she was going
to die soon. And there wasn't anyone around to help her this time.
"Do you know what I'm thinking right now?" Warren asked her with a wry
smile. "I'm thinking of the intense pain you're about to experience before
I end your life. And I'm also thinking of how much fun I'm going to have
just making you scream." He rose his hand toward her and opened his palm.
Some invisible force shot out at Willow and pinned her arms to her sides and
pinned her legs together. It was as if she was being bound by invisible
cords. The magic that bound her also rose her off the floor a few inches,
leaving her suspended in the air.
"Oh, God...no..." she began to cry out, but Warren waved his hand again.
Willow's mouth disappeared. She couldn't scream now. But the terror in her
eyes was what Warren enjoyed looking at.
"Amy Madison did that once, didn't she?" Warren asked conversationally as he
walked toward Willow. He smiled as he saw how terrified she was. He
touched her face and watched her flinch. "Wasn't she a rat in your
possession for three years?" He chuckled. "And you called me a sick
monster."
He began to walk around her as if he were inspecting her. That was exactly
what he was doing. He was looking her over carefully to see where the most
amount of pain could be inflicted.
"Probably asking yourself what I'm doing here, aren't you?" He put his hand
on her back and put his mouth close to her ear. "Wondering how I got this
dark magic...which, by the way, is a lot more powerful than yours ever was."
He took a handful of her hair and yanked her head back forcefully.
Willow would have cried out if she had a mouth to do so. Tears flowed
freely down her face.
He leered at her. Then he kissed her where her mouth should have been.
Abruptly, he released her and stepped back as he laughed. He turned to
regard her thoughtfully as he clasped his hands together. "All right, let's
begin with the games, shall we?"
Willow watched him as the tears continued to roll down her face. If she
hadn't of been bound with invisible cords, she would have run right over him
if she could have. She knew that he was going to kill her. The when and
how was what frightened her the most.
"Why am I here?" he asked her, not really expecting an answer. "I mean, you
killed me in the woods. And can I say 'Youuch!', girlfriend? You caused me
to experience such exquisite pain that you really can't possibly imagine
what it truly feels like. Every nerve ending is on fire. You want to
scream, you want to cry...You want to tear away at your own flesh to make it
go away. But you can't. You just can't." He shook his head. "Then you
die and...well...you experience another place of torment. One where your
eyes are opened to the true meaning of suffering. This suffering makes what
you did to me like stealing candy from a baby. You have no idea..." He
watched Willow for a moment. He smiled. "But you will."
He moved toward her again. "Now...here's what's going to happen. We are
going to go somewhere quiet where you can scream as loud as you want. I'll
even let you run for awhile. You know, let your hopes for escape build up
until I dash them all away forevermore. Then, I'll hurt you for awhile.
I'll make you feel a lot of pain...and if I'm happy with the way you scream,
I'll let you run away again. Then...I'll make you watch someone you love
die horribly."
Willow stared at him.
Warren paused for affect. "Maybe Xander." He watched Willow closely. "The
Hero of the Earth. The one who single handedly stopped you from destroying
all life on this planet." He put a finger to his chin thoughtfully. "I
could peel his skin from his body like you did to me. Who would save the
Hero then? You? The Slayer?" He laughed. "Please."
She shook her head and pleaded with her eyes.
"You don't have a say in this, you know." He looked up at the ceiling.
"Now...where was I? Ah, yes. The plan." He smiled at her. "That's pretty
much it. When that's all said and done, I'll go find Andrew and Jonathan
and I'll make them into popsicle sticks. After that, I'll own the world."
He frowned at her. "I won't destroy it like you tried to do. People in the
afterlife were very pissed that you tried to do that, you know. You were
voted as one of the top ten worst living witches in the Hades Tribune. Very
disappointing, Red." He grabbed her by the chin and shook her. "Are you
listening to me?"
She nodded.
He brought his face close to hers. "Good, because now I'm going to tell you
why I'm here. Are you ready for this? Nod like a good girl."
She nodded.
"Let's just say that you made enemies while you went on your Wrath of Willow
phase." He looked into her eyes. "One of those new enemies of yours is
still recuperating from what you did to him, but he managed to regain enough
power to conjure me up from beyond. He bribed and made deals with a few
other powerful beings and they gave me more power than you will ever see.
And now, I'm back and I'm here to make you suffer horribly." He paused for
affect. "Would you like me to tell you who brought me back?"
Willow didn't move. She didn't want to know.
But he told her anyway. "Wrack. Does that name ring a bell? Ah, but wait.
There's more." He laughed in her face. "Would you like to know who
helped him, and who is still helping him as we speak?" He paused for
affect. "Amy Madison."
Willow tried not to believe him, but it didn't matter anyway.
Warren began to walk around her. "Okay, Red. Now that the formality's are
out of the way, it's showtime." He waved his hand at her.
Her mouth was restored and she gasped for breath. Then the invisible bonds
released her and she fell to the floor. As she struggled to regain her
feet, she realized that the basement and Warren were gone. She was out in
the woods again.
