Intimidation and Arrivals
by DawnBTVS
Chapter 7
[reviews]
I shove the doors open, leading Buffy and Xander into the library. Xander is still holding his rifle and swinging it this way and that.
"Giles!" I shout, just annoyed at this point. I think it showed in my voice since Giles is instantly in front of us.
"Why does Xander have a real rifle?" Giles asks as Buffy and I exchange frowns. Oh boy.
"It seems that everybody has turned into monsters. At least...wait, not all of them turned into monsters. I had a girl turn into a thumb-sized fairy and a kid turned into a steroid enhanced baseball player. It's like everybody was turning into their costumes or something," Buffy says as the realization hits me.
"Right! That's why Xander became a soldier. Wait, how come we aren't in our costumes? Why aren't you acting like a princess and me uh...a little girl or whatever?" I ask Buffy. Xander is still sizing Giles up so I shoot him a glare, which finally stops him.
"Did you buy your costumes in the same store?" Giles asks as I turn to look at him.
"No. Buffy and I got our costumes at the Party Town store that's always been here. Xander got his army fatigues at this new costume store. Its name was Ethan's," I reply, not missing Giles grow tense at the name of the store. Why's Giles growing angry at a store name? It's not like the name "Giles" was up for consideration or anything.
"We have to get there now," Giles says just as the library doors shove open. Oh shit...uh...crap. It's Spike and I presume Drusilla, with roughly five more vampires. Buffy nudges Xander hard in the back.
"Those guys, you can shoot at them," Buffy says as Giles and I race towards the weapons cage. I toss a cross bow to Buffy. Spike and Drusilla are hiding behind the counter while I hold a stake. I'm not big with the hand-to-hand fighting but I know how to use a stake. I think if I had a cross bow, I'd end up shooting Buffy or Xander. Soon the five vampires are dead, however Spike and Drusilla aren't. They both stand up, staying behind the counter.
"Nice work, love. Ordinarily, tonight's pretty much monster free, as I'm sure the Watcher there explained to you. This year though, things are just a bit different. I'm not up on most of the details, however I do know that I'm going to kill you in a few minutes," Spike says with a smirk, stepping around the counter. Xander raises his rifle but Buffy steadies his arm. Why, I haven't the slightest idea. Then again, bullets can't kill a vampire but I'm on the side for pain any way necessary.
"Red has power. She's filled with quiet, the hidden waiting to be unleashed. Can you feel it, my little Robin? It purrs content but it'll hatch in due time," Drusilla says with a smile. She's officially freaky. I-in a big insane way and I don't have any power at all. I can't even float three ice cubes without them going bonkers.
"Giles go to Ethan's and figure out what the hell's going on. Spike, you two want to fight, I can deal," Buffy says, charging at Spike. I let out a low whimper, torn between following Giles and helping Buffy. Xander fires at Drusilla who takes a couple bullets but it doesn't seem to faze her at all. I finally charge at Drusilla after seeing Giles disappear. Xander seems in some kind of trance and has dropped his rifle to the ground. I glance at him and turn to see myself face to face with Drusilla. I let out a startled gasp as she smiles and grabs me by the throat. I struggle to get out but it's not working. I fish in my pocket and find a cross, quickly thanking God for that minor miracle, and hold it up. It drives Drusilla back. I catch a glimpse of Spike flying against the wall and getting up, growling. Buffy steps next to me as Xander remains lost in wherever the hell he is.
"Are we going to be okay?" I ask Buffy. Buffy just nods her head, picking up the stake from the ground, and holding it out in front of her. Spike is back on his feet and leering at us.
"I like this, Slayer. You can certainly fight, I'll grant you that much. I thought this would be really simple. I mean, I've killed a couple Slayers already, so what's one more? Yet, you have friends. You've made this night a lot more difficult than it has to be. I'm going to call it off, for tonight. We'll definitely be seeing each other in the future though. Tell Red that she'd make one hell of a vampire if Drusilla's right," Spike says with a grin. He grabs Drusilla's hand and marches out of the library with swagger. I can hear Xander come to his senses behind him, confused. I frown at Buffy, who seems scared. It's not an emotion I'm used to seeing from her, and that makes me extremely worried.
"I'm here, alive. It's like I was trapped and couldn't speak or say anything," Xander says as Buffy and I sit down at the table. I don't like the thought of being turned into a vampire. Then I'd have to drink blood, eeeugh.
"Oh! We should get back, and try and find the kids. Take them home and such," I say, rising to my feet. Buffy gives me a soft smile and rises to her feet as well. We head out as Xander follows us.
~~~BTVS~~~
It had been a month since that fun Halloween night. I had still managed to get stuffed with chocolate goodness, which I promptly threw up two hours later. Buffy scolded me and then had to follow my example. I would've given her a big smirk upon her return but I was too sick to bother. Life had been fairly boring since then, though Jenny finally let me help out. I had done this five-page lesson plan and everything too! Only a page was used but Jenny complimented me on my dedication and told me I should be a teacher. I don't know if I could handle high school but I think I could handle middle school. I glance back at Daniel Osbourne, who continues to watch me. I just give him a quick smile, which turns into a frown when I face the front of the class again. He's really creeping me out lately. He's always watching me and it's like he's stalking me. I've told Buffy this, and she's kept a close eye on him. He hasn't done anything physically though, so all she can do is just comfort me with words.
"Okay class, we'll pick this up tomorrow," says Ms. Johnson as I breathe a sigh of relief that class is over. I grab my books and throw them in my backpack, rising to my feet. I exit the classroom when I realize that Oz is walking with me. I give him a glance, unsure of what he's up to.
"Hi," I say, feeling creeped out. Oz just gives a casual nod.
"Hey," he replies. I don't like this at all and want to get away. He begins moving into my zone of privacy, again. I glare at him but this doesn't do anything to control the situation. I'm frowning now.
"What do you want?" I ask, wanting him to go away as quickly as possible. He just gives me this Snyder like leer.
"Are you still a virgin?" he asks now sniffing my neck. I clench my teeth at this action. I feel powerless right now. Everybody else is just ignoring what's going on.
"That's totally inappropriate," I snap back at him. He pulls back and growls at me. He growled! Now I'm scared. It's like facing a vampire who can attack in daylight. Just as I'm about to scream, I see Buffy placing a hand on Oz's shoulder, and throwing him to the floor quite forcefully.
"You ever come near Willow again, I'll beat you into a coma," Buffy snarls. She's pissed, and it's a side that she only unveils when she's in Slayer action. Oz slowly rises to his feet but he gives a grim, creepy, smile. He winks at me and turns, walking away. Buffy turns and I instantly crush her in a hug.
"Buffy," I whisper into her ear. She just whispers into my ears a variety of assurances. I rest my head on her shoulder, hating Oz, and hating that peers of mine can be so vicious.
~~~BTVS~~~
I was holding Buffy's hand in mine as we walked along the grass. We had scoped out a couple cemeteries however nothing had popped up, or risen. I was lost in my thoughts as Buffy nudged me with her shoulder.
"What's going on in there?" Buffy asks, poking my head with her finger. I give her a quiet smile.
"Just thinking about this morning and the way Oz has been acting around me. He reminds me of Angel, or Angelus, or whatever. Oz just acts predatory around me, you know?" I ask, wanting confirmation on my train of thought. Buffy looks at me, and I can see the worry in her eyes. I know that she's worried about me getting physically hurt after this morning's confrontation.
"To be honest, he scares me, Will. He's already made remarks and hasn't exactly been afraid to invade your space. I can't be around you every second and I don't want you getting hurt by him," Buffy says. I smile back.
"I love you, and I know I'm not big with the fisticuffs, but I can handle myself. If it's any comfort, I know I can scream at least. We can't be living our lives always worried about what might happen, right? We're young females in love. We should be living in the moment," I say, smiling broadly. Buffy returns the smile. I'm feeling happy, content with what I'm going through in life. It's kind of funny considering the badness in it but I think I'm used to it. Sunnydale kind of has that effect.
"Did you hear that?" Buffy asks. We stop as I strain my ears to listen for whatever Buffy heard. I can hear a low growling, like an angry puppy. I glance at Buffy, confused at what's causing the sound. Buffy releases my grip and cautiously stalks forward, pulling her stake out. I follow quietly, not wanting to be away from my protector.
"I think it came from over there," I whisper, pointing at a hedge of bushes. Buffy turns to me, nods her head, and moves towards that direction. The growling is starting to grow louder. Suddenly, a shape comes out of the bushes. We both instantly rise to our full height and start backing up. It's like a man wolf...or a werewolf.
"Do you see a werewolf, Will?" Buffy asks, now nervous. I'm scared out of my wits now. The thing looks much bigger than me. I bet it could eat me in one gulp.
"Uh-huh," I whimper back, still backing up. Buffy holds her stake up and stands still. The werewolf continues forward, snarling. Without warning, of course since why would it give us a warning and ruin the fun, it charges forward. I let out a shriek of surprise and fear. Buffy tries to tackle it but it pretty much knocks her to the ground and aims at me. Uh-oh. I turn and start to run but get slammed to the ground. I feel the wind, what there is, get knocked out of me. I roll over onto my back and stare into a snarling snout. It seriously needs a breath mint, ugh.
"Willow!" I hear Buffy shout. She's on her feet. Why isn't the werewolf biting me? It sniffs my neck and now come the wide-open jaws. I close my eyes, waiting for the teeth to sink into my tender flesh. Instead, I get a really, really loud roar of pain in my ears. The werewolf lurches off me and to the side. I've gone deaf from the roar since I can't hear what Buffy's saying. I instinctively scramble away on my butt. I see three stake wounds in the fur of the werewolf. It's breathing is lessening, slowing down. I rise to my feet, my knees still trembling from the too close for comfort call of nearly getting bitten by a werewolf. I wonder if that would've turned me into one. For the first time tonight, I look up, and take in the glow of the full moon.
"Is it dead?" I ask Buffy, not daring to take my eyes off it for fear of it attacking me again. Buffy just stands beside me, not answering. We watch it for about ten more minutes, neither of us brave enough to get closer. I notice the hair start to recede and glance at Buffy.
"It's changing," Buffy, whispers to me. I nod my head, curious about whom it is, and now worried that we killed it or him or her, whatever. Okay, definitely a male. I frown at Buffy, feeling awkward in this situation.
"Oh no," I say, half choking on the words at the sight before me. It's Oz, completely nude, and seemingly quite dead as suggested by the three puncture wounds in his chest. I look at Buffy, scared that we could go to jail, and afraid that we just killed a person. Buffy looks back at me, worried, and also scared. She tentatively walks closer and bends down, checking his pulse. I see her eyes close as she pulls her fingers away. I cold feeling of dread washes over me, like a riptide but it doesn't pull me away.
"Dead," Buffy whispers, rising to her feet. I walk or stumble towards Buffy until I'm right beside her.
"What do we do?" I ask. I don't like Oz, he's been creepy, but I didn't want him dead. He was a werewolf though, and if it weren't for Buffy, then I'd be one dead lesbian redhead in Sunnydale.
"Let's bury him and get back to Giles," Buffy says. I think I'm hallucinating, but Buffy seems oddly calm. That or she's just detached from this considering the deaths she's likely seen in her life. She told me once when we were in bed about her Watcher in Los Angeles. I bend down and start scooping dirt with my hands, making a makeshift grave for Oz.