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Part Nine
Oz walked briskly through the busy streets of Sunnydale, with Xander close behind. It always amazed him how different this small town looked in the light of day, when the creatures of the night no longer ruled. All of the horrors were quickly forgotten when the rays of the sun banished the dark shadows in which, at night, evils of all sorts lurked for their unsuspecting victims. Normally Oz loved the day, the warm sun, the friendly air, the smiling, alive faces...but today he did not notice. Today, he was he was on the hunt.
The hunt to rescue his lover.
“Are you sure we’re going in the right direction?” Xander puffed, trying to keep up, “And why didn’t we take the van? I would be a lot better than walking.”
“Because I can’t smell her in the van,” Oz replied.
“Ah, smell?” Then Xander remembered Oz was able to sniff out Willow, like a blood hound. It was some kind of Wolfie thing, that he didn’t pretend to understand, “Oh, yeah sure...you’re gonna track her down...great. One problem...It’s been over ten hours since she was kidnapped, don’t you think the scent would be cold?”
“Not to me.”
“Right,” Xander replied, “I guess I have to walk in your paws...er I mean...shoes to understand...”
“Xander,” Oz stopped, and looked at his friend, “The scent is weak, but it’s there. She was really scared, and that makes it stronger than normal...but I have to concentrate.”
“Okay, concentration is a good thing. I mean without it we can’t find Willow and Giles. So you just keep on concentrating, while I follow you to oblivion...”
“Xander?”
“Yeah?”
“This isn’t helping the concentration thing.”
“Sorry.”
Xander and Oz continued to walk in silence, both hoping that they would be able to save the girl they both loved...
****** “Let go of me!” Willow screamed. Then when she heard the growl of the Hounds she added faintly, “Please?”
The Beastmaster strode back and forth in the room, his hands clasped behind his back, “You can release her. And let us be.” When the two vampires put her down and left, he stopped and looked at Willow, “Tell me, they didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“Well,” Willow thought about trying to get them into trouble, but decided that probably wouldn’t work. “No, not really. But they hurt Giles.”
She could hear a sickly chuckle coming from the demon, “Yes, well...that’s not really my concern. What I’m concern about is you...and your ability to cast spells.”
Willow shook her head. This was becoming very tiresome. Every time he asked her, she gave the same response...no. But he kept on trying, then let her go. And every time he let her go, the two henchvamps would come an collect Giles. This little game of his had been going on for the better part of the day...if it still was day. She wasn’t really sure of that...she wasn’t really sure of anything anymore. All she knew was that she was not going to give him what he wanted. She would not let Giles down.
The Beastmaster seemed to know what she was thinking and shook his head, “The longer you resist me, the greater the harm will come to your friend. Now you don’t want that...do you?” He walked over to her, and stroked her hair with his clawed hands.
Willow tried hard not to cringe at his cold touch, but the evil emanating from the demon was so powerful that she involuntarily jerked back. Not looking at his dark eyes, her voice shook, “I-I told you I can’t do the spell by myself. I-it’s too hard.”
The Beasmaster grabbed her arm roughly, and growled, “You know, I’m beginning to think you are lying to me. You don’t know how to cast the spell, and the Watcher won’t...how very convenient...don’t you think?”
“Ow!” she cried out, feeling pain for the first time since her capture, “You’re hurting me. I-I’m not lying to you, I swear. T-the spell is too complicated for one person to do by themselves.”
“Then you will need the Watcher to help,” the Beastmaster figured, “Well, then...I suppose I’m going to have to convince him some more.”
“No,” Willow pleaded, “Please! You’ll kill him.”
The Beastmaster walked over to the door, turned back to her, and smiled, “I know.”
****** Buffy was packing her slayer’s bag, grabbing weapons of all kinds, and jamming them into the denim satchel, “Okay, Oz is right about one thing. We can’t just sit here and do nothing, while Callisto, or Emily, or whoever she is walks around killing everyone we know. And if we can stop her, then we should be able to stop the Hounds...”
“But...” Edgar began to protest.
“Don’t worry,” Buffy assured him, attaching the walkie talkie to her waist, “I’m not going to slay her unless I have to,” Then turning to Amy she asked, “Do you think you’re up to doing some magic?”
Amy smiled, “Yeah, sure. I’ve been itching to cast a spell. What do you need?”
Buffy found Miss Calender's disc and popped it into the computer, “Well, since we can’t get a hold of the Book of Nasty Spells, we’ll have to settle with this.”
Looking at the words that scrolled across the screen, Amy understood, “Spell of Restoration. Not as permanent, but it should work. I’ll stop by the magic shop and see if they still have an Orb of Thesula...I hope. But, if we do that spell, won’t Callisto know it?”
“Yeah, well I was thinking about that,” Buffy said, “The spell restores the soul, right? Do you think that Callisto, and the vampire demon inside Emily are linked?”
“Possibly,” Angel said, “It’s hard to say. Last time Callisto walked the Earth, it was in her own body. I have no idea, what would happen with her being trapped in another body.”
“Wes,” Buffy asked, “can you and Amy look through the books? Do some major research on this. There’s got to be something that would tell us if the soul of a demon can be linked to the soul of another demon.”
“I’ll try,” Wesley said, “This is just so unprecedented. I wish the Council would have helped.”
“The Council is a bunch of wusses,” Faith growled, “I wouldn’t count on their help to find our way out of a wet bag.”
“Um, Buffy?” Joyce broke her silence, “What can I do?”
Buffy turned to her mother, who looked tired, and bruised, but determined to help her daughter, “Help Wesley with the research. He’s gonna need all the help he can get. Radio us when you have an answer.”
As Buffy, and Faith headed for the door, Wesley asked, “What are you planning on doing?”
Buffy stopped and considered the young Watcher for a moment, “I’m not sure. Keep her from killing us, I guess. Just give me results soon....we don’t have much daylight left.”
“I’ll meet you there when the sun goes down,” Angel said, “Don’t do anything until I get there.”
“We’ll let you know where we’re at,” Buffy nodded.
Edgar followed behind them, “I’ll take you to her lair, but please don’t ask me to help you kill her.”
“I won’t,” Buffy said, “Just don’t try to stop us, if we have no choice.”
“I won’t,” he replied sadly.
****** “I won’t help you,” Giles said weakly, right before another hard kick was delivered to his midsection, sending him into a spasm of coughs, “And...doing...this...isn’t going...to help your...cause.”
“You know,” the Beastmaster considered, “you’re absolutely right.” He walked over to Willow, who was tied to a chair, and lifted her up, chair and all, “Perhaps, I need to try another approach.”
“Hey!” Willow cried out, as the Beastmaster ripped the ropes that bound her.
The Beastmaster held her by the back of her neck, and dragged her over to one of the steam pipes. Willow could feel the heat radiating from the pipe, as he pushed her face towards to the hot metal. ‘He’s gonna burn me!’ Willow thought, struggling desperately against him but to no avail. His grip was like a vice, and the more she fought him, the tighter the grasp became.
“Now,” The Beastmaster said, with great precision, “You were saying...?”
****** Wesley waded through the countless dusty volumes that cluttered the Library table, hoping that the answer to all his questions were somewhere in its pages. They were running out of time, he knew that...but more importantly, Giles and Willow were running out of time. If they were still alive.
This was more than he had ever bargained for when he took the assignment on the Hellmouth. Train the Slayer to fight vampires and demons....yes. Guide her in her battle against the forces of darkness...absolutely. But he had not expected to be in lethal danger himself, hunted by hounds against which the slayer could not protect him. He didn’t really blame the Council for their lack of involvement, but he wished he had some guidance....some help against this seemingly impossible foe.
Wesley tried to remember the details about the first encounter the Council had with the Beastmaster and his Hounds. There was much written about it, but little details about how to stop the beasts. They needed to sever the link between the summoner and the Beatmaster. But how do you do that, when you are trying not to kill her?
“I got everything I need for the spell,” Amy announced, coming through the Library doors, “I even managed to snag an Orb of Thesula. I had to practically beg, plead and grovel with the shop owner to give up his last one. He wanted to save it for a rainy day.”
“Well,” Wesley sighed, putting down a book, “I think this constitutes a rainy day.”
“I think this constitutes a monsoon,” Cordelia snipped, looking up from one of the many books that littered the table. "My eyes are going to fall out of my head, if I have to read one more paragraph on 'things that go bump in the night'," She huffed, standing up and stretching, "There isn't anything in here about Callisto, or demon combo platters...or anything. Well, except this really gross picture of a human sacri-"
"Cordelia," Wesley sighed, "Just keep looking."
“So, now that you have all the right things for the spell,” Joyce asked, “Are you going to cast it?”
Amy set all of the components down on the table, “Yeah, but it’s gonna take time to prepare the spell. It’s not just a matter of reciting it, I have to get all the components ready. I need some time.”
“We might not have a whole lot of time,” Cordelia pointed out, “The sun’s beginning to set.”
“That’s my cue,” Angel said, as he headed for the door, “With the sun setting, everyone’s gonna have to be on guard.”
“That means those horrible Hounds will come out again?” Joyce asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Wesley sighed, “We must figure out a way to destroy Callisto, before we cast the Spell of Restoration. So, Amy if you can let Buffy know, and prepare the spell, the rest of us will continue with the research.”
“And hope we can figure out a way to stop the Hounds before they come back and kill us,” Cordelia added, “I’m research girl.”
“Me too,” Joyce said, picking up a book, hoping that her daughter was being careful.
****** “Keep trying,” Buffy finished, tucking the walkie talkie back into her belt.
“What’s up?” Faith asked.
“Amy said she got everything, and is preparing the spell,” Buffy explained, “While Wesley, Cordelia and Mom are trying to figure out a way to kill off Callisto,” Then noticing the pained look on Edgar’s face, she added, “Without killing Emily.”
“Yeah, well” Faith snorted, “I still don’t know why any of you want to save a vampire?”
Buffy and Edgar both stopped and looked at Faith.
“Sometimes,” Edgar explained, “somebody who should be your enemy, becomes your friend..”
“And someone, who you think is a friend, is your enemy,” Buffy finished.
Faith knew that she meant Mrs. Post, and how she had betrayed her trust. But somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered if Buffy knew about her pact with the Mayor. She continued to walk in silence up to the large house. “What is it with vampires and fancy houses?” she sniffed.
Edgar smiled, “Well, actually...I picked this one out.”
“Figures.”
Buffy, Faith and Edgar stopped by a row of hedges behind the house. There was a back door, and several windows....all of which were covered up. Yep, this was a vampire’s home.
“Okay,” Buffy asked Edgar, “what are we in for?”
“Emily sleeps in a furnished room in the basement,” Edgar explained, “She has several followers....body guards, as is were...”
“How many?”
“About half a dozen,” he said, “...after the ones the both of you killed.”
“Last time I checked,” Faith quipped, “she did fine without any help.”
“Yes,” Edgar agreed, “but, it doesn’t hurt. The bodyguards will provide the right amount of distraction for you, so that she can move in for the kill.”
“Sweet kid.”
“This is no child we are dealing with,” Edgar grimaced, “this is a powerful, evil demon, who will stop at nothing to see you destroyed.”
“What did we ever do to her?” Faith asked, moving stealthily around to the back of the house.
“You killed Mister Trick.”
“And your point?”
“Part of the vampire in her wants you dead for that reason,” Edgar explained, “Callisto, want’s you dead because you both are the Slayers. That’s reason enough for her.”
“This is just getting more fun by the minute,” Buffy sighed, “I just hope we can hold her off until Wesley and the others find a way to send her packing.”
****** “ALL RIGHT!” Giles shouted, as he watched the Beastmaster push Willow closer to the scalding steam pipe, “All right! I’ll do it!” He lowered his head and whispered, “I’ll do it.”
The demon stopped, and turned to him, “Did I hear you correctly?” he asked, with faked surprise in his voice, “Did you say you were going to do the spell?” He continued to hold Willow close to the pipes, but his grip relaxed a bit, “Getting soft in your old age, eh?”
“Just let her go,” Giles pleaded weakly, “I’ll do your damn spell, but you don’t need her to cast it. I can do it alone.”
This caught the Beastmaster’s attention. He dropped Willow to the ground and moved quickly to Giles, picking him off the ground, by the throat, “You had better not be lying to me, Watcher, or you’ll get to watch, Willow die...about three seconds before I kill you!”
He threw Giles up against the wall. ‘This is becoming a habit,’ The Watcher thought, as he slid to the ground, gasping for breath, and holding a painful side, “I....have...to reveiw the spell...before I...cast it,” Giles managed to get out.
The Beastmaster strode around the room, never taking his eyes off his prey, “Why? Just cast it!”
Giles knew he had him, “It’s not that simple,” he gasped, “To just cast the spell, without knowing what it is that I’m casting, could have disastrous results.”
There was a long pause, as the Beastmaster considered this. Then he finally spoke, “Very well,” he sneered, throwing the book at Giles, “Study the spell, if you must. But I warn you...if you try any tricks...”
“I know...I know...Willow and I...die,” Giles, rubbed his aching shoulder, “I think you mentioned that already.”
“Good,” his smile stretched across his cruel face, “Then, I’ll leave you to it. You have one hour to figure it out.” He then reached down and scooped up Willow, “And, just as an assurance of your word...you’ll see Willow, when the spell is cast.”
Giles’ heart sank, as his eyes locked on Willow’s. They were pleading with him to save her. Pleading...to free them from this hell they had been thrown into. Pleading...with him to stay alive...if not for himself, than for her...and Buffy. Their gaze only lasted a few seconds before she disappeared from the room, but it was all he needed to realize that he had to do something! He had to stop the Beastmaster once and for all!
Giles only hoped that the spell to set him free...might be the very thing that could be his downfall.
****** It didn’t take long for Angel to find them waiting at the house. Once he arrived, they followed Edgar through the back entrance, and slipped silently inside. It was quiet in the large house...too quiet. The sun had gone down, giving the vampires ample opportunity to awaken and head out. There should have been more activity.
“I don’t like this,” Faith whispered, as they moved into the wide hallway, “it’s too damn quiet.”
“Yeah,” Buffy agreed, pulling out ‘Mr. Pointy’ and bracing herself for an attack that wasn’t happening. “I have a real bad feeling about this. Like we’re...”
At that moment, five vampires leaped out of the darkened doorways at the group.
“Like we’re being ambushed?” Angel finished, dodging out of one of the vampire’s way, and hitting another one squarly in the face.
“Cover your backs!” Buffy shouted. Then, turning to Edgar, she commanded, “Get out of the way! Stay someplace safe, until this is over!”
“That shouldn’t be too long from now,” Little Emily said, walking into the center of the room.
She looked over at Edgar, who was huddled in the corner, and sighed, “Edgar...I never thought YOU of all people would betray me like this. I’m kinda disappointed.” Then, with childlike innocence, she shrugged, “Oh well.”
She waved her hand, and sent a small desk flying through the air. It hit the wall above Edgar, splintering into a thousand pieces, “I’m going to have to punish you. After, I punish your new friends.”
“Well,” Buffy sighed, “Here we go again. I hope they do the spell fast.”
“Yeah,” Faith agreed, adopting a fighting stance, “I really don’t feel like going another fifteen rounds with psycho kiddie.”
“Or her friends,” Angel pointed out.
****** Amy had everything set up; the words, the bones, and the stinky herbs. Now, all that was left was to perform the spell...and hope it worked. “I’m ready,” she announced.
“Right,” Wesley said, taking up the paper with the spell, “It’s now or never.” He began to read, “Quod perditum est, invenietur.”
“Not dead, nor of the living,” Amy recited, “Spirits of the interregnum I call.”
As they were casting the spell, Joyce continued to scan through some of the books. She half listened to the words that filled the library, while she was looking. Something wasn’t right about this. She couldn’t place her finger on it, but it was knawing at the back of her head.
They were missing something.
Something important.
Then, she saw it. The answer that was plain and clear...and right in front of her eyes.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” Joyce muttered, as she stared at the page in the book, “I mean, I don’t think this is going to get rid of that Callisto person.”
The Orb glowed for a minute and disappeared, leaving an exhausted Amy in its wake, “Well we *are* only working on a theory...but...” Wesley began. Then he suddenly realized that if Ms. Summer’s said that, she must have had a damn good reason, “What would give you that impression? If I may ask?”
She handed him the book and said simply, “This.”
Wesley read its pages carefully, trying to fully understand what he was reading. “It’s a spell to return Callisto to the Void!” he exclaimed, “My god! It was right here before us, and we didn’t even see it! But why would they put a spell like this in a common book?”
“Probably because no one would think of looking there,” Cordelia suggested, “Like us.”
“So,” Joyce asked, “If the spell you just did doesn’t work on Callisto...what’s going to happen?”
“What’s going to happen?” Wesley repeated, “Well, I suppose she will realize what we tried to do.”
“And she’ll be angry...right?”
“Yes,” Wesley nodded, “I would assume she would be.”
“Right,” Joyce turned a page, “And Buffy, Faith and Angel are with her right now...”
Everyone stopped.
“I think I’d better radio Buffy to see if it worked,” Wesley said nervously.
****** The battle was not going well.
They had managed to slay a few of Callisto’s minions, but every time they did, it provided the distraction the pint size demon needed to launch another attack. Buffy found that even two Slayers and a vampire couldn’t fight off vampires and a powerful demon at the same time. Not without serious battle injuries. All three were bruised and bloodied, and getting very tired of fending off vampires and dodging flying furniture.
“You know,” Buffy puffed, as she managed to dodge a chair, “Even Luke Skywalker didn’t have to fight Vader and the Storm Troopers at the same time.”
“Where’s that damn spell!” Faith gasped when she was struck by an end table.
Buffy was about to answer when she saw a familiar sight. Emily stood still for a moment. Her eyes glowed. The spell was working! She decided to take the opportunity to finish off the remaining vampires. Between the three of them, they quickly took out the last of Callisto’s followers, before the spell was completed.
They waited, holding their breath, for what seemed like hours. Emily only stood there, confusion masking her young face. “Edgar?” she looked over at the older man, buried under the splintered wood.
“Emily?” Buffy asked, cautiously approaching the tiny girl.
Emily cocked her head, “Who are you? Where’s my daddy?”
Buffy’s heart broke. How could she tell a frightened little girl that her father was dead...and that the girl herself was to blame? She moved closer to the child, wanting to comfort her...wanting to make it better.
Angel was in the doorway, watching the scene with sad reminiscence. He had been down this road before, and he knew the pain and confusion the little girl was going through. Very soon, she would remember everything that she had done as a vampire. And when that happened...
“Wesley to Buffy...damn, how do you use this blasted thing?” a voice came over the walkie talkie, “Please answer.”
Angel pulled the radio out of his belt and clicked it, “Yeah, what’s up?”
“I was wondering what was happening,” Wesley answered, “What’s going on?”
Angel watched Buffy move toward Emily as he answered, “Everything’s fine. The spell worked.”
The was a moment of silence before he heard the strained voice reply, “And Buffy? Is she all right?”
“Yeah,” Angel said, “She’s going to get Emily and take her someplace safe...”
“NO!” Wesley shouted from over the airways, “Get her away from Emily!”
Angel watched Buffy kneel beside the crying girl.
“We have the spell to send Callisto back to the abyss, right here at the library.” Wesley continued, unaware of the situation that was unfolding, “The ONLY spell! Callisto isn’t gone! It’s a trap!”
Angel experienced everything in slow motion. He heard the voice over the radio warning him of the danger, he saw Buffy hug the girl...but none of it seemed real. In a split second that lasted forever, he dropped the walkie talkie and ran over to his former lover. But even with the speed of a vampire, he still seemed to move painfully slow.
“Buffy!” he heard himself cry out, “Get away from her! She’s still Callisto!”
Buffy pulled away for a moment and stared at the girl’s face. Emily’s wide, innocent eyes turned cold and hard, and a sinister smile formed on her small, perfect lips, “Tag! You’re it!” she grinned, taking hold of the Slayer’s throat.
****** “Angel? Angel?” Wesley asked over and over, to no avail.
“What is it?” Cordelia asked, nervously, “What’s going on?”
“No response,” Wesley said, placing the radio down on the counter, “Damn! We’ve got to do that spell....and fast, before Callisto...” Then, realizing Joyce was standing right next to him, he amended, “Ah, we have to do that spell.”
“I know that Buffy is in danger,” Joyce admitted, “Please...do that spell.”
Amy sighed, “Count me out. I don’t think I can do another major spell. The last one nearly wiped me out.”
“I’ll do it,” Wesley said, taking the book, “At least I can try. It shouldn’t be too difficult. All I have to do is recite the incantation, burn some hickory shavings, and...”
“And you better do it fast,” Cordelia said, pointing up to the sky light.
All eyes turned to the ceiling, as several Hounds peered down on them.
“Oh my,” Wesley gulped, holding the book to his chest, and slowly backing away, “I think we had better take this someplace else. Slowly,” he cautioned the women, “Don’t run. They might be demon hounds....but they are still animals, and will react if we run.”
Suddenly the window broke, sending glass raining down on them. “Too LATE!” Cordelia screamed, as the Hounds leaped though the hole to the floor.
“RUN!!!!”
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