Backstory & Episodes

Episode 5-Be Haunting You

Slayers Virtual Season 8
 
Episode 5 – Be Haunting You
 
Starring:
 
Matt Long as Alex Sanders
Lizzy Caplan as Eliza Sanders
Nanako Matsushima as Shina Taji
Jennifer Ehle as Jennifer Sanderson
And Johnny Depp as David, the Archangel
And a special surprise guest!
 
Written by Kelley Hawkins
Edited by Melody Nation
 
Disclaimer: The major characters in these episodes/stories are the creations of Joss Whedon and any and all entities who have a share in them such as Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, Warner Bros or Mutant Enemy Productions. The stories are written by fans and are not intended for profit or to infringe upon or undermine the established copyright of those mentioned above. The situations depicted in these stories (sexual or otherwise) are not intended to harm the reputations of those actors associated with the characters involved. The only things that are ©2004 are those characters that are the creation of the Slayers VS8 staff and the original plotlines of the stories.
 
Teaser
 
The Night Before Halloween
 
Xander glanced at the clock above his head. The clock approached midnight as he finished making the final cuts for his latest woodworking project. The overhead light lit up his work area so he could not see very far beyond that point. Giles and Willow allowed him to use the large garage at the back of the school building for his workshop and since he more often performs work for them, they provided him with some killer power tools.
 
Suddenly, Xander’s mind began to drift to Buffy. He could not believe that they had to postpone their first date yet again. He knew it was emergency Watcher/Slayer business. However, he could not help but be disappointed. He and Buffy can finally go on their date tomorrow night. “Halloween!” Xander mumbled. Halloween was not his first choice considering what has happened to them on this hallowed evening for the past oh six years. Maybe one of these Halloween’s the mystical energy that is not supposed to exist on this night may actually...NOT!
 
When the clock approached midnight, a cuckoo bird immediately slid out of the clock and began to cuckoo every single of the twelve strokes. Willow gave him that clock as a joke last year for his birthday. He liked it at first but now when it signaled the start of Halloween, he despised that clock. After all the bad experiences on Halloween, Xander felt superstitious. He heard a sudden clanging beside him, about two feet away. Xander stopped the jigsaw he was using to finish the most intricate cuts. He strained his ears to listen. Nothing!
Xander shook his head and turned on the jigsaw once more. Once he completed the last of the cuts, he turned off the saw once more and grabbed for his small sander. Just as he was about to turn it on, he felt a cold breeze blow on his neck. No wind blew outside, however. It was very chilly this night but there was no breeze. Xander felt goose bumps rise on his arms and the hair on the back of his neck stood at attention. Then the door to his right creaked open and quickly shut.
 
“Hello,” Xander asked. “Willow? Giles?”
 
Silence!
 
“Anyone there?” Xander asked.
 
Xander found more silence. “Okay, that was just...creepy!” Xander muttered aloud.
 
He heard Willow and Dawn talk about their encounter with some very malevolent spirits in the house but nothing specific to the garage. He quickly walked back to his tool chest and removed a small recording device he kept out here. Sometimes he wanted to record the sounds of his machinery and listen to it if he had trouble sleeping. Strange, yes! But sometimes necessary. He flipped the digital device to start upon voice activation and waited a few moments. He had recently read an article on the Internet that explained about EVP, electronic voice phenomena and it could not hurt to try it. He’d have Willow help him listen to it on one of the computers later.
 
He decided to ask a question. “Is anyone there?”
 
He actually did not expect anything to happen at this point. The creepy feeling had passed but when he saw the device begin to record, he froze. When the device stopped recording, Xander asked another question.
 
“Why are you here?” Again, the device started to record and the garage felt colder than usual. He glanced over at the thermometer he had in her and it registered 43 degrees. The last time he checked, just before midnight, it was 55 degrees. How can it drop 12 degrees in a matter of minutes? The device seemed to record for about a minute and then shut off again.
 
“Who are you?” Xander asked the empty room and he looked at the recorder. Nothing! The recorder did not begin recording this time.
 
“Who are you?” Xander asked again. Again, nothing! He glanced back at the thermometer. The temperature registered 52, a nine-degree jump in less than a minute.
 
Xander decided at that moment to call it a night, hung up his sander on his pegboard, and quickly left the garage in search of Willow. He suspected she would still be at the school examining Watcher reports. Xander walked from the garage to the main school building. Suddenly, he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. A white, almost transparent shape moved toward the woods. Xander watched the transparent figure with wide eyes and then remembered Buffy’s words of comfort when they purchased this place. “We can handle a few ghosts after all we’ve been through, right?”
 
Xander turned and made a mad rush to the main building deciding that he did not want to “handle” the ghosts alone, especially on this “non-mystical” night.
 
Act One
 
Willow sat in the computer room looking over the Watcher’s reports as Xander had predicted. She was reading about the new Slayer, Dana that Andrew had sent her. He had almost totally botched the whole operation when retrieving Dana from Angel and his colleagues but thankfully, he finally came through.
 
After Andrew left, Willow spent over a half hour on the phone trying to convince Angel that they had things under control here. Andrew had them convinced that she and Kennedy were in Brazil mostly in Rio, Buffy and Dawn were in Italy where Dawn attended an Italian school and that Xander was in Africa. Willow laughed softly to herself. “That Andrew!” Willow muttered aloud.
 
Andrew arrived with Dana and several of his assigned Slayers, the day before. They had Dana confined to the basement in a jail area they had specially and privately created for the occasional rogue Slayer or two. Giles had good forethought and Willow supposed it was because of Faith’s “rogueness” that prompted his idea.
 
Willow almost finished reading the report and stopped as she read the words from Andrew. “Spike is alive like Gandalf the White resurrected from the pit of the Balrog!” Willow gasped and quickly put the report in the folder. She moved back to the computer and quickly began typing on the keyboard and using her mouse. Willow glared at the screen as she clicked on the “Confirm Delete?” button. She quickly looked around her. When she realized no one was behind her, she sighed with relief.
 
She walked over to the library area of the computer room and promptly threw the folder into the fireplace. Giles had wanted her to review the report because he had already heard from her all about Andrew’s fiasco so she was not worried he would ask her for it again. The actual file she would file in the computer’s database had the sentence about Spike being alive, neatly removed. “Whew!” Willow exclaimed as Xander ran into the room.
 
“Willow!” Xander practically shouted. “We’ve got problems!”
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy patrolled that evening along with Vi, Rhona, Shina, and Liz. Liz successfully dusted her first vampire and Shina tracked a demon to its lair and used her sword to chop off its head. Then as midnight approached, they found no further activity.
“It’s that “non-mystical” activity that Giles swears by Buffy announced to the group of Slayers.
 
“What?” Liz asked.
 
“Yeah, according to all of Giles’ research, he swears that Halloween night is, like,
dead for the undead.”
 
“But?” Shina asked.

”Well, that same Halloween everyone in Sunnydale turned into their costumes. Kids were all demony, Willow was a ghost. Buffy smiled suddenly. “...and Xander was cool army guy!”
 
“What were you?” Liz asked.
 
Buffy’s eyes widened and looked away and said in a low voice. “Eighteenth century girl.”
 
Liz laughed. “I bet the kind who never got her hands dirty, huh?”
 
“You guessed it,” Buffy said. “Then at a frat party in college we were all stuck in a “haunted house” that played on our worst fears. A wee little Irish fear demon appeared. And when I say “wee,” I mean itsy bitsy. I stomped him and all was chocolate goodness after that.”
 
Rhona and Vi laughed simultaneously. “Speaking of chocolate..,” Rhona said.
 
“Way ahead of ya!” Buffy said, pulling a bag of candy bars from her bag and passed them out to all the girls.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow stared at Xander hoping he did not witness what she did on the computer and with that file. He seemed more occupied with his latest problem.
 
“What trouble?” Willow asked.
 
“A ghost! In the garage, Xander said. “And I think I have it proof,” Xander said as he held up the digital recorder.
 
“You keep a digital recorder in the garage,” Willow asked, amused.
 
“Yeah, well I like to record my machines and..,” Xander stopped when Willow began to laugh.
 
“We can talk about that later, Mister. Let’s see what you have here,” Willow said as she grabbed the recorder from Xander’s hands.
 
Willow pulled open a drawer, found a small USB cable, and plugged it into Xander’s recorder and the other end into the USB port on the front of her computer. Immediately, the computer recognized the new hardware. She opened the digital recording software and proceeded to download the files contained on the recorder. She pressed “Play” on the first recording and listened for a moment. The sound of a circular saw filled the speakers.
 
“Music to my ears,” Xander said.
 
“I don’t think I wanna know,” Willow exclaimed, then quickly clicked the stop button and then began to play the second recording retrieved from the digital recorder.
 
There was a brief silence and then, “Y-y-y-essssss!”
 
Xander felt chills move down his arms. Willow looked up at him. “Did you ask a question?”
 
“Oh, yeah. Sorry! I asked if anyone was there.”
 
“Then?” Willow asked.

”I waited for a few moments and then asked, “Why are you here?”
 
Willow paused a moment before saying, “The answer may be on this third file, right here,” she said as she clicked “Play” again.
 
They heard some static and then, “Y-y-yoooouuuuu!” and then “I am not” something. They could not make out the last word after “I am not.”
 
Willow looked at Xander and she could see a look of fear in his eyes. She decided to find out how he knew about EVP.
 
“So, Mister Brainiac what gave you the idea to ask it questions with a digital recorder. I didn’t know you’ve heard of EVP!”
 
Xander looked at her. “Yeah, I was surfing the Internet the other night for ah--games and came across an article on EVP. I found it quite interesting.”
 
Willow looked at him as if she was seeing him for the first time. “Ahhhh. Trying to impress the lady?” Willow joked.
 
Xander smiled. “You’ve got me figured out, Will!”
 
* * * * *
 
That same night, Faith slept in her bed, dreaming as usual. The dream showed a scene with a man in a black shirt. He walked by as a young girl sobbed behind bars. Faith saw the man had stored something in an old air vent. He removed the grill and took out a box as a young Dana cried and screamed in terror. Faith saw flashes of woodshop tools on a workbench in this dream. The man grabbed a saw, holding it in his hand as he stood over the sobbing young girl. Faith then watched as the man took a syringe out of the box he took down from the old air vent. He held it up, squeezed the plunger, and squirted some of the blue liquid out of the needle.
 
Faith realized in her dream state that the girl in the jail cell at the Slayer school, these were her memories. Young Dana breathed fearfully as her captor knelt before her—it was Spike! The girl started to speak. “Heart...and head. Have to get home. Doesn't hurt if you hold still,” Dana said in a singsong voice. Faith inhaled sharply and then tossed and turned in agony from the visions of her dream.
 
Faith awoke in a sweat and looked around her room. She felt the tears as they trickled down her cheeks. Could it be possible? Did Spike torture this young girl?
 
* * * * *
 
Halloween morning Buffy awoke with the need to call Faith. After dressing, she immediately dialed Faith’s number. It was eight in the morning and Buffy hoped she was awake by now.
 
Faith answered her phone on the fifth ring.
 
“Faith, did I wake ya?”

“Yeah, I was dozing here on the couch.
 
“Can I come over?” Buffy asked.
 
“Yeah sure!”
 
“Cool, I’ll be there in fifteen,” Buffy said as she replaced the receiver.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow awoke with a feeling a trepidation about today...Halloween. She could not explain the feeling she felt. She just felt worried about something. “Not much mystical activity, my ass,” Willow thought. Some of their more frightening times happened on Halloween. She remembered that it was also Samhein and she relaxed a little. Of course, that would explain Xander and his ghost. The spirit world was actually most active on the night of Samhein...at midnight. She tried to shake the feeling and then walked into her bathroom to take a shower. As she lathered her hair, she began to think about Liz and smiled to herself. “That body!” Willow thought.
 
* * * * *
 
Xander awoke and looked around him. He smiled. It was Halloween and he had a date with Buffy. He marched into the kitchen to find something to eat. He opened his freezer and pulled out some microwavable pancakes and as he warmed them in the microwave, he began to make coffee. “Gotta love technology,” Xander said aloud.
 
Xander ate his pancakes and just as he was about to go take a shower, he felt a cold chill at his back. He shivered and stopped in the middle of living room and looked around him. The phone book flew off the table beside him and landed against the wall on the other side of the room with a loud crash.
 
* * * * *
 
“Sorry, I woke ya!” Buffy said as she walked into Faith’s apartment.
 
“Couldn’t sleep good after the dream.”
 
“What dream?”
 
“I had a dream about Dana. Very intense!” Faith said, not mentioning what she may have found out about Spike.
 
“We need to work with Dana. I am worried about her,” Buffy said.
 
“Yeah, Willow told me what she went through. Losing her parents that way. Imagine being totally insane and then becoming a Slayer...,” Faith trailed off.
 
Buffy decided not to comment. “I am fixing to head to the school. Coming in early before your Sunday defense class?”
 
“Yeah.”
 
“Good, I want you to meet Dana. How would you feel about working with her? She needs someone to help her through all this!”
 
Faith paused. She thought of Jade and her mission to kill David. She still felt like she was betraying those closest to her but this was something she had to do for her sister.
“Yeah, I could do that, B.”
 
Buffy smiled. “I think she can learn a lot from you.”
 
“Yeah, you can learn a lot from a dummy!” Faith said and then smiled.
 
“Well, I once taught Willow a few things about...Damn!” Buffy muttered. “I forgot what it was.”
 
Faith almost giggled then, but not quite. “So, what’s ya doing after school?”
 
“Xander and I have a date and I coming home to get ready for it.”
 
Faith’s face registered a look of jealousy but she quickly recovered. “You and Xander, eh?”
 
“Yeah, I know—bizarro world, right?” Buffy smiled as she thought about Xander. “Not this time.”
 
“Glad you’ve moved on to the living, B.”
 
Buffy’s face fell and not because Faith said that to her. She just remembered when she had spoken those same words before, to Angel. She also tried to make Angel jealous that night by doing the “slut” dance with Xander. “When she was bad..,” Buffy thought.
 
Faith led Buffy into the kitchen. “Want some coffee?” Faith asked.
 
“Naw, I’m good,” Buffy said.
 
“So, when did you and Xander start to...go out?” Faith couldn’t resist asking.
 
“Well, it all started with his eye,” Buffy said.

”His eye? Oh, yeah, the tantric mystical energy. So how’d that go?” Faith asked with a grin.
 
“It didn’t,” Buffy said. “You see Dawn’s green energy makes her wicked powerful or should I say “Wiccan” powerful.”
 
“Humm! You don’t say?”
 
“Willow researched all about it. She said that with Dawn’s energy she could harness the high degree powers of a Wiccan or even a Slayer!”
 
“So I guess she chose Wiccan since she is healing and all?” Faith asked.
 
“Yep!”
 
“Does that disappoint?” Faith asked.
 
“No, I think Dawn would be safer as a kick ass Wiccan. Like Willow.”
“Yeah, Red sure is powerful now! Who’da thought,” Faith said as she shook her head.
Then, Faith decided she should confide in Buffy about David. Something at that moment made her want to share everything with her. Her and Buffy have been good lately but she still feels that she does not fit in to their little group.
 
Buffy’s cell phone rang. She looked at Faith and then answered the phone. “Yeah?” Buffy quickly pressed her end button. “I have to go,” Buffy said, quickly.
 
“Yeah, sure, B,” Faith said, somewhat disappointed as she watched Buffy run for the door.
 
Act Two
 
Willow thought that a conjuring spell would help her ease her “Halloween” trepidation. She began to prepare her herbs and she sat in her sacred circle for protection.
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy hurriedly ran toward Xander’s apartment not far from Faith’s. Her Slayer speed helped her arrive in only seven minutes. Not bothering to knock, Buffy ran into his apartment. It was a mess. Xander sat on the floor in his living room, not moving.
 
“What is it?” Buffy asked. “Whoa!” Buffy yelled. “It’s freezing in here!” Then Buffy looked into Xander’s dining room and saw all the chairs piled up on the top of the table.
 
“Something’s here!” Xander exclaimed.
 
“Something...what?” Buffy asked.
 
“A-a-a ghost,” Xander managed between his quivering lips.
 
Buffy moved toward Xander and helped him to his feet. She led him out of the house. It was 45 degrees outside but it felt warmer than Xander’s apartment.
 
“What happened in there? Buffy asked, amazement filling her voice.
 
Xander filled her in on all the things that happened to him the night before and about the EVP recording, he was able to get.
 
Buffy frowned. “Perfect, a spook to mess up our night of dating fun,” Buffy told Xander.
 
Buffy looked over at Xander and realized that he was still freezing. She gathered him in her arms and held him. Xander shivered in her arms. Xander put his own arms around Buffy’s waist. She looked at him and smiled.
 
“Nobody...or nothing will ruin our night together,” Xander told her as he began to warm up against her body.
 
Buffy pouted and looked up at him. “Are you sure?”
 
“Sure I’m sure. Not gonna let a little ghost... At that moment, his front door flew open and a cold breeze blew past them and quickly left his apartment.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow’s eyes turned black as she sat in the middle of her sacred circle.
 
“Why did thou conjure me?” The deep male voice of spirit in the middle of Willow’s living room asked.
 
“I need to know if there is any other mystical or spiritual activity in this town right now.”
 
“You live on a Hellmouth, Witch,” The spirit told her.
 
“Yes, but anything more unusual than usual?” Willow asked, her eyes still black.
 
“Very jealous spirit.”
 
“Jealous?”
 
“Yes, Witch, jealous,” the spirit suddenly vanished and Willow was once more alone in her room.
 
* * * * *
 
Dawn was puzzled when she could not find Buffy. Dawn went to take a shower and began to wonder about Willow and Liz. Could Liz be interested in the red head? Dawn wondered.
 
Dawn suddenly remembered that it was Halloween. She felt sudden excitement as she thought of the night ahead. She could not believe that Buffy was letting her go to Liz and Alex’s party tonight. Then she remembered her date with Xander. She wanted Dawnie far a way tonight so they could be alone. Dawn smiled to herself because she benefited from her sister’s good moods lately. Since Dawn touched her that night, Buffy has been a completely different person.
 
Dawn wondered if Willow would like some company. She picked up the phone to call her as Giles walked into the room. He smiled at her and then walked toward the kitchen.
 
Willow answered on the third ring. When she heard Dawn’s voice Willow said, “We’ve got trouble. I’m coming to get you so we can talk about it.”
 
“Sure!” Dawn said as she replaced the receiver.
 
* * * * *
 
Dawn waited in the living room with feeling of dread. Willow arrived about ten minutes later.
 
Dawn had the door opened for Willow before she even approached the porch.
 
“Where’s Giles?” Willow asked.
 
“In his study, I guess,” Dawn replied.
 
The red head made her way to Giles’ study without saying another word. She knocked anxiously on his door. Giles said, “Come in!”
 
Willow opened the door and as soon as Giles saw her face, he knew something was up. “What’s wrong?”
 
Willow began to tell Giles and Dawn about Xander’s experience in the garage the other night. She then told them about conjuring the spirit.
 
“A jealous spirit,” Giles asked.
 
“The school building must have several spirits. What happened at that school?” Willow wondered.
 
“I don’t know, but I think it is bloody time we find out,” Giles exclaimed while nervously cleaning his glasses.
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy finally talked Xander into coming back into his apartment by convincing him that the breeze we felt meant that the ghost left. When they walked in they both noticed the papers all over the floor, his small table, which fell, sat on its front. His couch cushions were askew.
 
Xander inhaled deeply and looked over at Buffy. Without saying a word, Buffy began to clean up Xander’s living room. Xander helped her and neither of them uttered a word.
 
Once they finished cleaning up all the mess, Xander sat down on his couch and Buffy followed him. She grabbed his hand. He looked up and met her eyes.
 
“You know, Buff? We’ve been through quite a lot in how many years now, eight? But I’ve yet to feel that kind of fear. That entity was angry. At me! The kind of entity that...could kill me while I sleep. It’s like those nightmares we had in high school. But they’re real!”
 
Buffy continued to hold his hand. “Xander, if you think we should cancel our date tonight, I will completely...”
 
“No! There will be no canceling of anything tonight! We’ll just go to your place instead,” Xander said, as he smiled at her wanly.
 
“It’s a date,” Buffy said.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow, Dawn and Giles walked into the school building at a little after nine in the morning. They felt somewhat nervous as they crossed the threshold into the entry hall even though school has been in operation for at least a week now. Giles immediately went to find Elsa, the woman hired to care for the girls at night and on the weekends. Elsa was not in her room. His stopped next at the Slayers quarters. No one was around.
“That’s odd!” Giles exclaimed aloud, as he looked around the empty quarters. Giles left the Slayers quarters to head to the library and promptly removed volumes of books from the shelves. In one of them, he immediately opened it to an entry on jealous spirits.
 
Willow and Dawn went out to the garage. They stood out there a moment and then Willow asked, “Do you feel anything?”
 
“No, do you,” Dawn asked.
 
Willow shook her head negatively. “No.”
 
Dawn looked around the surroundings of the garage and admired all of Xander’s shiny tools. She glanced at Willow. “He really takes care of his tools, doesn’t he.”
 
“Like a mother hen,” Willow said.
 
Dawn laughed. “I can’t help but feel that this spirit is somehow connected to Xander. Why would a spirit from a school building that he has never been in want to haunt him?”
 
“Good question!” Willow exclaimed. “I still can’t believe he thought to get an EVP recording last night.”
 
“Can I hear it?” Dawn asked.
 
“Yes. I saved it on my computer,” Willow said as she left the garage heading to the computer room. Dawn followed.
 
Once she logged in, she quickly pulled up the EVP sound files. Willow explained to Dawn that Xander had asked the spirit two questions. “This is the response to his first question, is anyone there?” Willow explained as she clicked the “Play” button. Dawn felt a chill go down her spine when she heard “Y-yyyyes!” clearly. Willow played the second recording after telling Dawn the other question that Xander asked, “Why are you here?” The digital recording played and Dawn heard “Y-yyyou!”
 
Dawn looked at Willow with a frightened expression on her face. “That is just eerie!”
 
“Yeah, I know. But try contacting the spirit of the dead and see how eerie that is,” Willow exclaimed.
 
As Willow and Dawn walked into the school building from the garage, Giles practically ran into them on his way to find them. He held a large brown, dusty book in his hands.
He began to read, “Jealous ghosts are thought to cause misfortunes such as illness, accidents, poverty and infertility.”
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy carried a tray of coffee and cookies from the kitchen into the living room where Xander sat waiting. As she walked toward the couch, her feet simply slipped out from under her and she fell. The tray flew from her hands and crashed to the floor. Buffy cried out painfully. Xander quickly rose from the couch and went to help her to her feet.
 
“Are you alright?” Xander asked, alarm filling his voice.
 
“Yeah, I think so,” Buffy said as she rubbed her backside.
 
“Did you trip on something?” Xander asked as he looked around the floor in the path she walked from the kitchen. Nothing was there.
 
“No, nothing. I was just walking and then boom.” Buffy sighed and bent down to begin cleaning up the mess the spilt tray caused.
 
Xander stopped her and led her to the couch. He kissed her on the nose. “You rest for a minute. I’ll clean it up.”
 
Buffy watched him clean up the broken cookies, spilt coffee, and began to fantasize about tonight. She was relieved they would be going to her house after dinner instead of back to this place. “What is going on here?” Buffy wondered.
 
Once Xander finished picking up the last of the broken glass from the coffee mugs, he sat down beside Buffy. “So, how’s your—errr—bottom?”
 
“Better...Slayer healing and all that but I am usually more, shall we say, balanced.”
 
Xander laughed then. His laugh became infectious and she laughed along with him.
 
Buffy picked up the phone and began to dial her house. “I am calling Giles to let him know what is going on,” Buffy said as she waiting through three rings, now four rings. There was no answer. “That’s strange,” Buffy said. “No one is home.” Buffy then tried to call the Slayer school. She found the same thing. No one answered the phone. She knew that Elsa and the girls would be there if not Giles and the others.
 
“No answer there either?” Xander asked.
 
Buffy shook her head. “That is starting to worry me. Are you up to going to the school?”
 
“Yeah, let me get my keys.”
 
* * * * *
 
Willow picked up the phone to try to call Xander to let him know what Giles found out. He would likely be the one in danger more than anyone would. She waited and let the phone ring three times, then four, then five. No answer! Willow slammed down the phone with irritation.
 
Dawn came up behind Willow, placed her hands on the red head’s shoulders, and began to rub them in a gentle motion of her small hands. Willow immediately began to relax. All the pent up tension and irritation left her body completely. Willow smiled. “Dawnie, that feels wonderful. Thank you.”
 
“My pleasure,” Dawn said as she smiled at Willow’s back.
 
“Have you been practicing those techniques?” Willow asked.
 
“No, not really, I just concentrate really hard. It’s amazing,” Dawn said.
 
“I have noticed a major change in Buffy lately,” Willow said. “Would you have anything to do with that?”
 
Dawn grinned. “Yep!”
 
Willow laughed. “I wish you would have developed these skills a long time ago, Dawnie.”
 
“Yeah, they would have come in handy after we defeated the first...all those injured Slayers.”
 
Giles came in to meet with them once more. “Did you get a hold of Buffy or Xander?”
 
Willow huffed. “No...there was no answer at Xander’s.”
 
“We need to go there,” Giles said as he walked to the front door. Willow and Dawn followed him and then Willow ran right into his back when he stopped suddenly unable to open the door.
 
Giles turned to glare at her. Willow shrugged.
 
“That’s odd,” Giles said. “The door won’t open.”
 
“Nothing is odd anymore,” Dawn said. “It always has an explanation even if it’s a paranormal one.”
 
Willow reached around Giles to try the door. The door was unlocked but it would not open when she turned the knob. She quickly ran from the entry hall to the door leading out to the garage. Same thing! The door would not open. They had previously been able to open this door when Willow and Dawn came into the garage only a moment before.
 
Dawn looked up, he eyes turned a very light blue almost white. She then yelled, “STOP!”

Giles tried the door again thinking his protégé could do anything with her powers but again faced a door that would not open. “No one is here either,” Giles said, softly. “I think Elsa’s room and the Slayer’s quarters and they were empty.
 
“Great! Alone in the building with no Slayers.” Dawn exclaimed.
 
Act Three
 
Buffy and Xander reached the school building about thirty minutes later. Buffy jumped out of the car first and ran up to the front door. She tried the door. Locked! She looked back at Xander as he approached the front door. He handed her his keys. She quickly found the correct key and inserted it into the lock. The key did not move in the lock. The door would not open.
 
“Damn!” Buffy exclaimed.
 
“The door won’t open? When has that ever happened to us before?” Xander asked, perplexed.
 
Buffy turned around and knocked on the door very hard. There was no response. She grabbed for her cell phone attached to her jeans and flipped it up and dialed the school’s number. After five rings, Buffy began to worry. Then it continued to ring in her ear an additional six times. Angrily she closed her cell phone closed. She reopened it and then dialed Dawn’s cell phone number. She received an automated message asking her to leave a message and the caller would return the call. She pressed end and then dialed Gile’s cell phone number. She received the same automated message. Buffy then punched in Willow’s apartment number to tell her what was going on. She received Willow’s electronic voicemail. Buffy angrily punched end and then tried Willow’s cell phone. This time it rang once, twice, three times then four...voicemail!
“Something’s wrong in there, Xander!” Buffy said angrily as she told him how she was unable to reach anyone by phone. “We have to find a way in this building.”
 
Buffy heard a car approaching and looked behind them. She saw Faith’s truck pulling into the parking lot. She was here to teach her Sunday defense class. “Good,” Buffy said to Xander. “Faith may have spoken to someone in there.”
 
Faith walked up to the front door of the school and smiled as she saw Buffy and Xander outside.
 
“So what’s going on, B? Xan?” Faith asked.
 
“We can’t get in the school,” Buffy said. “The door seems like it is locked but I can’t open it with the key.”
 
Xander looked at the two women and then had an idea. “Remember our little Halloween adventure at the fraternity house?” Xander asked Buffy.
 
“Yeah, so?” Buffy said, frustration clear in her voice.
 
“One word...chainsaw!” Xander said as he made his way toward the garage where all his tools were.
 
Once Xander, Buffy, and Faith reached the garage, Xander took the keys Buffy gave him and found the key to the garage. He was able to unlock the padlock that held the doors in place. He then pulled back on the doors to open them. Nothing! The doors would not budge. Faith rolled her eyes and then ran at the door with a high Slayer kick right between the two doors. She expected the doors to crash in so they could get into the garage, but this didn’t happen. Instead, Faith fell hard to the asphalt.
 
“Damn!” Faith muttered and touched her ankle, pain etched on her face.
 
“What is going on?” Buffy yelled.
 
Xander walked to her side and pulled her to his chest. “I don’t know Buff! Let’s just try all the doors before we give up.”
 
The three went around to all the doors on the property and found the same frustration. There was no way into that house.
 
“We have no ladder or anything to help them.” Xander said, frustrated.
 
Buffy looked up at the many windows on the side of the school. The school looked dark inside. “We need to break a window,” Buffy said.
 
Xander ran to the patio off the back from the kitchen and pick up a small wrought iron table. He threw it against one of the tall windows. They all expected to hear the shattering of the glass but instead, the wrought iron table bounced off the window and before their very eyes, it melted into the grass.
 
Buffy blinked then rubbed at her eyes to make sure she just saw what happened. When Faith spoke next, Buffy knew she did not imagine what just happened.
 
“f***! Did you guys see that?” Faith exclaimed.
 
* * * * *
 
“This is ridiculous!” Dawn exclaimed. “There has to be a way out.”
 
“Yes, Dawn and we will find it.” Giles told her as he headed toward the kitchen area.
 
Willow and Dawn followed him. On the way, Willow pulled out her cell phone and tried to make a call. She didn’t have a signal. “Figures!” Willow said.
 
“What?” Dawn asked.
 
“No signal,” Willow said as she held out her phone.
 
“Let me try mine,” Dawn said. She found the same thing.
 
“Giles?” Willow asked.
 
“What?”
 
“Your cell, do you have a signal?”
 
Giles reached in his pocket and pulled out his small phone. He checked it and then shook his head back and forth. “No,” he said.
 
Once they reached the kitchen, Giles noticed that there was fresh coffee in the pot and there were several empty cereal bowls and mugs in the sink.
 
* * * * *
 
At the same time that Giles stood looking around the empty Slayers quarters, Vi walked through him and into the kitchen. Neither one saw each other. Several of the girls were in there eating cereal and drinking coffee.
 
Elsa stood near the large picture window as Xander who, just outside, tried to throw the wrought iron table through it. Yet Elsa did not see Xander throwing the table nor Buffy or Faith standing beside him.
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy’s cell phone rang. A look of surprise flashed across her face but she quickly took it out of her pocket and answered.
 
“Buffy?”
 
“Yes, who is this?”
 
“Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I was unable to reach Giles. I called because we have reports of unusual dimensional activity on the Cleveland Hellmouth.”
 
“Dimensional activity?” Buffy asked as she looked at Xander and Faith. “We are right in the middle of this dimensional activity!” Buffy exclaimed.
 
“Yes, it seems like the past, present and futures have all merged. Fred is trying to figure out what may be causing this..”
 
“Wesley?” Buffy asked. Nothing! She lost him. “Dammit!” Buffy exclaimed as she threw her phone in the grass. Instead of it dropping quickly to the ground, it suspended briefly in mid air and then dropped very slowly to the ground as if held by a string.
 
“Who was that Buffy?” Xander asked as he continued to stare at the cell phone on the ground.
 
“It was Wesley.” Buffy said and then told Xander and Faith about the “unusual dimensional activity.”
 
“Could a simple ghost be causing this?” Xander asked.
 
“I don’t know,” Buffy said as she ran a hand angrily through her hair.
 
* * * * *
 
“Internet!” Willowed exclaimed as she and Giles rushed from the kitchen toward the computer room.
 
Dawn quickly grabbed a muffin from the counter and ran after them.
 
Giles stood behind Willow as she typed anxiously on the keyboard. Dawn bit into her muffin and then made a strange face as she looked at it. “Ugh!” Dawn exclaimed.
 
“What?” Giles asked.
 
“This muffin tastes like cardboard.” Dawn said, making another “yuck” face.
 
Willow turned around and grabbed the rest of the muffin from the younger girl’s hand. Willow pinched off a bit and tasted it. She now made a face and tossed the muffin into the wastebasket. “You’re right! Yuck!” Willow said.
 
Willow turned back to the computer and finished typing an SOS to Wolfram & Hart. She turned to Giles. “It seemed to transmit the email.”
 
Giles stood there as thousands of thoughts ran through his head as he added up all the things going on around them.
 
“With spiritual activity of great magnitude a lot of energy is exchanged between all of the spirits. I think what we may have here is some sort of dimensional disturbance.”
 
Willow and Dawn looked a Giles with confused looks on their face. Then Willow’s face brightened with a thought of her own.
 
“Have either of you ever read the novella, “Langiliers” by Stephen King?”
 
Giles and Dawn nodded negatively.
 
“W-well, i-it was about time traveling kind of. Several people on a plane went through some kind of wormhole into the past. A-and it was only the people who were asleep from the uh low pressure in the cabin. When they woke, the other people around them had disappeared leaving behind their jewelry, wigs and their clothes. Come to find out they were “wormholed” into the past. A pilot on board was able to land in an airport where they found more puzzling clues. Their f-food tasted like cardboard. No taste.”
 
“So we are somehow in the past?”
 
“M-maybe all this spiritual activity has triggered some kind of dimensional portal and we were zapped into the past. We are unable to call anyone or open any of the doors because the past is over. Gone!” Willow exclaimed. She flashed them a smile and then as she thought about what she just told them her smile quickly faded.
 
“Extraordinary!” Giles exclaimed.
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy paced outside the school building. Faith and Xander sat on the ground staring at the grass with defeated looks on their faces.
 
“Guys, the brains of this operation are all inside,” Faith said.
“Yeah, I was just thinking that,” Xander said.
 
“So do we just wait until they figure this out?” Faith asked.
 
“Damn! I feel so helpless!” Buffy exclaimed.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow paced back and forth in the computer room as Giles read about dimensions. Dawn sat near Giles reading in another book about astral projection. “I’ve got it!” Dawn exclaimed.
 
“What?” Willow asked as she ran over to Dawn.
 
“We are living in the past right now but the present and the future still exists on this plane. We need to do a spell to hop to the present.”
 
“How do we do that?” Giles asked.
 
“It’s kind of like astral projection where we project ourselves magically to the present. Then once our bodies are in the present the time warp should shift back into place.” Dawn said as she showed Willow the book she was reading.
 
“This should work!” Willow exclaimed.
 
Giles looked at the two women in wonder. “Let’s begin!”
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy stood up as she heard her cell phone ringing on the ground. She gave it a funny look and ran to pick it up. “Hello?”
 
“Buffy?”
 
“Yes, who is this?”
 
“Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. I was unable to reach Giles. I called because we have reports of unusual dimensional activity on the Cleveland Hellmouth.”
 
Buffy gave Xander and Faith a strange look.
 
“Buffy are you there?”
 
“Y-yes!” Buffy said. “It’s just that we had this same conversation only moments before.”
 
“It must be the dimensional activity we saw. You must have been shifted into the future and are now back in the present.”
 
Buffy continued to talk to Wesley as she ran toward the school building. Xander and Faith leaped to their feet and were not far behind her.
 
Buffy tried the front door once more and it opened. She looked back and Xander and Faith as she walked into the school building.
 
* * * * *
 
Giles lay beside Willow and Dawn as they chanted the spell. Willow’s body began to rise and then Dawn’s and then finally Gile’s began to rise from the floor. They continued to chant as all kinds of energy flowed around them.
 
* * * * *
 
Buffy ran into the kitchen to find most of the Slayers finishing breakfast. Elsa stood at the window and smiled at them as they walked in.
 
“Are Giles, Willow and Dawn here?” Buffy asked, alarm in her voice.
 
“No, Miss. I haven’t seen any of them this morning,” Elsa replied.
 
Buffy gave her a strange look and then turned around toward the computer room. The computer room was empty. Xander, Faith, Elsa and a few of the Slayers came up behind her.

”What is going on?” Vi asked Buffy.
 
“We’re not sure exactly,” Faith answered for her.
 
Suddenly the room felt warm and static flashed from the floor in the middle of the room. A blue light resembling lightening flashed and then right before their eyes, Willow, Dawn and Giles appeared out of the air and crashed to the floor.
 
The onlookers looked at the three in utter astonishment. Dawn looked over and smiled at them.
 
“We’re back!” Dawn yelled and jumped up. She ran toward Buffy and Xander and promptly hugged them.
 
“What in the hell just happened?” Buffy yelled.
 
“Astral projection,” Dawn answered, laughing, as if that explained everything.
 
Act Four
 
Buffy, Xander and Faith stood staring at Dawn and Willow after they finished explaining what happened to them.
 
“So, you were actually in this building the whole time but in the past?” Buffy asked.
 
“Yep!” Dawn said.
 
“How come we couldn’t get in here?” Buffy asked confusion clear on her face.
 
Giles cleared his throat and put his clean glasses back into place. “I think the dimensional activity kept shifting you all between the past, present and future. That explains why you received Wesley’s call twice. O-once in the--ah future--and once in the present. Speaking of Wesley, I need to call him and let him know everything seems to be back to normal now.”
 
Buffy shook her head not believing what just happened. She glanced at the clock in the living area and gasped. Xander looked at the clock also.
 
“We lost our whole day!” Buffy whined. “It’s now six o’clock and our date...”
 
Several Slayers moved toward Buffy. Shina asked, “Can we help you get ready? You have a killer dress and accessories in your office.”
 
“And makeup too!” Vi chimed in.
 
Buffy smiled. “Sure! Xander, do you still want to do this after all that’s happened to us today?”
 
He came toward her and put his hand on her shoulder. “I told you that nothing would ruin our night together,” Xander said and he brushed her cheek with his index finger.
 
Faith looked at the couple and enviously and then turned toward Willow. “I’m going to head out too,” Faith said. “I think I am going to patrol. Wanna come?” Faith asked Rhona.
 
“Sure! Let me get my bag,” Rhona said as she rushed toward the Slayers quarters.
 
Xander kissed Buffy on the cheek. “I am going back to my apartment to get ready and I will pick you at seven as planned. I promise.”
 
Buffy smiled at him, her smile filled Xander with a joy that he could not explain. As Xander turned to leave, Willow ran after him. “I am going with you, Xander. I am not quite sure all this “dimensional crap” is quite over yet.”
 
“That might be a good idea,” Xander said and then he started to tell her about the activity at his apartment early this morning.
 
* * * * *
 
Promptly at seven, the door chime rang throughout the school building. Elsa answered the door and Xander stood on the stoop along with Willow. Xander was dressed in some casual Dockers and a very nice blue and green, long sleeve jersey shirt. His smile was contagious. “Trick or treat!” Xander said gleefully.
 
Elsa laughed and opened the door wider for them to both enter.
 
As Xander entered the entry wall, Willow reached up and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “Have fun tonight, Mister!”
 
Xander smiled down and her and squeezed her should. Willow felt a brief feeling of pain as she remembered the feeling she felt for him when he only had eyes for Buffy. Yes, she was gay now but sometimes she wished things could have been different for them. Now, though, Xander had a chance to be happy again. She would not stand in his way for anything in the world.
 
At that moment, Buffy entered. Xander gasped when he saw her. She wore a long black and navy skirt with a handkerchief bottom and it slit up the right side of her thigh and a black, long sleeve velvet shirt with a square neckline that revealed her small cleavage. She wore her hair down and it spilled across her shoulders. Her lips looked luscious brushed with a delicate pink gloss. Xander closed his mouth when he realized it stood open in clear awe of her beauty.
 
“Buffy!” Xander said, stepping toward her. “You look beautiful,” his voice was raspy with emotion.
 
Buffy flashed him her brilliant smile and she placed her hand through his arm. “Are you ready?” She asked.
 
“Ready and willing—err—yes, I’m ready,” Xander said as he blushed. Buffy laughed.
 
Xander escorted her to his light tan sedan. He opened the passenger door for her and once she was in her seat, he closed the door for her. Suddenly he felt nervous as he moved around to the driver’s side. Once in the car he turned the key to start the ignition but it wouldn’t start.
 
* * * * *
 
Willow drove Dawn to her party at Liz’s house. As Dawn climbed out the car, Willow yelled. “I’ll pick you both up at eight in the morning for school.”
 
Dawn stuck her head in the window and smiled. “Cool! We’ll be ready.”
 
“Don’t party to hardy!” Willow said and then blushed with embarrassment. “That sounded good until I actually said it,” Willow muttered. Dawn giggled.
 
Willow drove toward her apartment thinking about Xander and Buffy. She smiled thinking about all that was ahead for them. Then she thought about Tara and suddenly felt sad. Sometimes she missed Tara so much that it hurt to her very soul. As she drove, Willow felt a tear trickle down her cheek. Willow wiped it away and smiled. Her memories of Tara, the most wonder woman she had ever known should not be filled with sadness. Willow smiled through her tears and continued to drive.
 
* * * * *
 
Xander looked down at the key in disappointment. He tried to start the car once more. The car’s engine stalled once more. He looked over at Buffy. “This can’t be happening. It’s a new car for God’s sake!” Xander tried once more and the car finally started. He put the car into drive and headed toward the restaurant.
 
Xander took her to a very nice Thai restaurant in a nicer section of Cleveland. Buffy smiled as he escorted her into the restaurant. He remembered that Thai was her favorite food.
 
As he grabbed he hand, he felt a cold chill at his back. He turned around slightly to look behind him but nothing was there. He decided to hide what just happened because after all that took place today he told himself it was only his imagination.
 
Once in the restaurant, Xander told the host they had a reservation for two at 7:30. Buffy smiled at Xander, clearly impressed. The host looked down at the list. “I’m sorry sir but I don’t see a Xander Harris listed on the reservation list.”
 
“What!” Xander exclaimed, his voice raising an octave. “I made that reservation two days ago and the person I spoke confirmed it for tonight at 7:30.”
 
The host looked down once more at the reservation list. “No, sir there is no reserv....”
 
Xander moved toward the man and grabbed him to the side. He held out a twenty-dollar bill to him. “Can you work something out, please. This is our first date and I really want it to go well, you know?”
 
The man smiled at Xander. A feeling of relief passed through him. “Of course, sir. I have just the table for you.” The host glanced at Buffy and smiled. “This way, please.”
 
Buffy grabbed Xander’s arm as they he escorted them to their table. The host moved to pull out Buffy’s chair for her but Xander took over and held out her seat. Buffy bent to sit down and suddenly, the chair flew out of Xander’s hands and Buffy almost fell to the floor of the restaurant but the host quickly caught her before she fell. Many heads turned, as they looked their way. Xander stared at Buffy with a look of complete shock on his face. The host helped her sit down as Buffy flashed Xander a strange look.
 
Xander quickly picked up a menu and began to read it when a quick breeze seemed to blow over only him. His menu flew out his hands and hit the woman at the table beside them. The woman cried out in surprise. Xander glanced at Buffy who was desperately trying to hide a smile. He bent over and retrieved his menu from the floor as the woman glared his way.
 
Buffy decided to act as if nothing out of the ordinary happened tonight and looked over the menu.
 
“I think I’ll have the Ma Kea Throng Krueng,” Buffy said, pronouncing the name of her dish perfectly.
 
Xander glanced at his menu. “Is that Slayer thing there, Buff?”
 
“What?”
 
“Speaking Thai food thing?”
 
Buffy laughed. “No, my father and I used to eat Thai a lot and he helped me with all the proper pronunciations. What do you want?”
 
“I’ll take—uh—number 19.” Xander said.
 
“Oh, Gai Pad Nam Prik Pow. It’s normally very tasty. Can I order us?” Buffy asked.
 
“Please do,” Xander said.

Once the waiter came over and Buffy placed their orders, Xander’s felt wetness on his brow. He quickly wiped it away with dab of his napkin.
 
“So,” Buffy said. “What do you want to do after dinner? Wanna go back to my house and watch horror movies all night on the tele? Dawn’s staying over at Liz’s house and Giles told me that he planned to stay in his room at school because he wanted to continue with research about what happened today. We will have the place to ourselves.”
 
Xander smiled. “Yes, I would love that.”
 
“I’ve also bought more munchy, cheesy goodness.”
 
“Cheesy goodness,” Xander said still nervous as he worried what would happen next. He realized suddenly that he was finally out with Buffy on a real date. He was not going to let a little bad luck ruin their night. He reached across the table to grab her hand and the water glass that was not even close to his hand, fell over, splashing water all over the table and into Buffy’s lap. Xander gasped as Buffy squealed for the cold water seeping through her thin skirt. She quickly grabbed her napkin and began to blot her wet lap. Xander started to apologized when Buffy suddenly looked up at Xander. “We aren’t alone here, are we?” Buffy asked.
 
Xander looked up and flashed a smile of relief. “No, I don’t think so,” Xander said.
 
“Well, we’ll just ignore it. Did you hear me, whoever the hell you are?” Buffy announced to empty chair beside them. A few patrons of the restaurant looked their way once more.
 
The waiter walked by their table and Buffy motioned to him. “Could you pack up our dinner to go?” Buffy asked.
 
“Certainly, ma’am.”
 
“What are you doing?” Xander asked.
 
“We need to go home. We are missing, “The Abominable Mr. Phibes,” Buffy announced as she smiled sexily at Xander.
 
After Xander paid the check, the two left the restaurant and Xander drove toward Buffy’s house. As he reached over to take her hand, the radio came on, blaring heavy metal music in their ears. Buffy quickly covered her ears as Xander wrestled with the radio dials. Finally, the car was quiet again.
 
“Who the hell are you?” Buffy yelled.
 
There was no answer. Buffy harrumphed and then crossed her arms over her chest as she pouted the rest of the way home.
 
* * * * *
 
Xander pulled into Buffy’s driveway and without waiting for Xander to open her door, Buffy jumped out of the car and headed to the door. As she tried to unlock the door, her key flew out of her hand and clanked to the porch noisily.
 
Xander bent over to retrieve the key and moved to unlock the door himself. He was successful. Buffy stood at the threshold and announced. “You are not welcomed in my home!”
 
Xander gave her a look of fear and then Buffy laughed. “Not you, sweetie, whoever this damn spirit is,” Buffy said.
 
Buffy led Xander into the house and not being able to wait any longer stepped up to him and sexily stretched her arms and pulled him to her. She stood on her tiptoes and placed a quick kiss on his lips. “Alone at last,” Buffy whispered.
 
As Xander gathered her closer in his arms and kissed her gently at first and then hard. After all that has happened tonight, Xander still could not resist her. Suddenly, the lights began to flash. Xander continued to kiss Buffy not noticing the flashing lights since they both held their eyes closed as they desperately clung to each other. As Buffy began to explore his chest with her hands, the TV suddenly came blaring to life. Xander dropped his hands from around Buffy and they stopped kissing.
 
“Who is here, dammit! Show yourself now or so help me I will have an exorcist here before you can say...” Buffy yelled and then her voice trailed off as a flash of light in the middle of the living room revealed a seething Anya.
 
Xander stared at her. She wore a long white dress but he could clearly see straight through her. Buffy stared at her in shock. “What the hell!” Buffy exclaimed.
 
“Xander Harris! I haven’t been dead for six months and you are already groping Buffy! I knew you always had a thing for her! A sex thing!”
 
“What...who...how?” Xander sputtered.
 
“It’s me, Xander! Remember, the woman you left on her own wedding day! Don’t think he won’t do that to you, too, Buffy!” Anya shouted.
 
Buffy looked at Anya in exasperation. “Did you cause all of the time warp crap?” Buffy asked as she glared at Anya.
 
Anya smiled. “Kinda scarier than the whole fraternity demony thing, huh?”
 
“Damn you, Anya.” Xander said, glaring at his dead ex-fiancée.
 
“I’m already damned, Xander so you got your wish.”
 
Xander looked at her and suddenly his glared softened into a look of compassion. “Damned? How?” Xander asked.
 
“Well, it seems that the powers that be didn’t like all the vengeance stuff so I am doomed to walk the earth and help people.”
 
“But you did so much good. You helped save this world!” Xander exclaimed.
 
“Well, I get to go to heaven to get my orders every once in a while. In a 100 more years I should be there for good. Oh, Buffy!” Anya said, casually. “Joyce sends her love.”
 
Buffy smiled as her eyes welled up with tears.
 
“She told me to tell you that you were very brave and she is very proud of you.” Anya said. “Oh and Tara is there too and she wanted me to tell Willow that she is watching her and protecting her.”
 
Xander smiled and then walked to the apparition of Anya. “Anya,” he whispered. “Baby, I loved you very much. I still do in my own way, but it’s time you moved on. It’s time that we all moved on. Buffy and I were not meant to be together back in high school or when they started college. I think I was meant to be with you. You changed my life in so many ways, An. But I think we need to move on. Buffy and I have a real chance at something here. Please Anya, I just want to be happy.”
 
Buffy smiled at Xander through her tears and reached for his hand. Suddenly, the lights began to flash and Anya looked up.
 
“Okay, okay I’m coming!” Anya yelled up at the ceiling. “That’s my boss. If he knew I was here, he’d kill me,” Anya said and then laughed. “I’m already dead.”
 
Buffy laughed then and the sound mixed with her sobs.
 
“One more thing before I go,” Anya said, her voice suddenly filled with warning. “Be careful. Things are not as they seem.”
 
Before Xander or Buffy could react, the apparition of Anya disappeared. The chill left the air and Xander and Buffy knew she was gone for good.
 
Buffy gave Xander a puzzled look as they both contemplated Anya’s words of warning.
 
The End
 
Coming Soon-Episode 6