Never Be the Same Again
by maryperk


Summary: When Spike helps Buffy pull a fast one on Parker, things turn out much more complicated than they first appear.  Scenerio #2 in the Immortal Guardian Series
Chapter 4: Halloween Part 2

At the frat house, Guy was leading a blindfolded girl in a hula girl costume towards a table covered in a variety of bowls.

"Now put your hand in this one, Rach, what is it?"

"You guys are sick," said the girl, Rachel.

"It's eyeballs, Rach. Eyeballs," whispered Guy in his creepiest voice. Rachel giggled, but when she pulled the blindfold off she found her hands were filled with real eyeballs. Her screams echoed through the frat house.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy and Spike waited on the sidewalk on the corner near the frat house waiting for the others. Spike had shifted into his gameface before getting out of the Desoto right after he kissed Buffy absolutely senseless. He growled at her that later it was the Slayer's turn to be captured so the Big Bad vampire could have his wicked way with her. He grinned when he smelled her instant arousal.

Spike was still grinning when Xander clomped up behind them. Xander did his cheesiest Frankenstein imitation which caused Buffy to start giggling.

"Where's Anya?" Buffy asked.

"She is having problems with the bridal hair, so she will be a little late," replied Xander. Then he got a look at Buffy's costume and he was speechless. He gulped and shot a look at Spike that caused Spike to growl and grin at the same time. He was pleased with Buffy's costume but didn't want any other gits to be looking at her; even it was her best friend.

The trio moved closer to the frat where they met up with Oz and Willow coming from the other direction. When Willow saw Buffy's devil costume she asked the Slayer if she had any weapons on her. Buffy leaned into Spike's shoulder.

"My weapon is right here. Fists and fangs. Oh, Riley might show up," Buffy rolled her eyes just as the big dark haired man clomped in out of the darkness.

"Speak of the devil," Xander muttered under his breath. As a group the Scoobies turned to greet the newcomer. They were taken aback by his costume. Riley had dressed as the dreaded Dracula. When he saw the group, he shoved plastic teeth into his mouth.

"I vant to dink yo' blud," Riley said in his best Bela Legosi voice. Spike couldn't contain his mirth so he buried his face in Buffy's shoulder trying to suppress his laughter. Riley looked offended at being laughed at until the laughing man pulled his face away from Buffy. Riley gasped softly. The professor was right. William wasn't human and none of these people seemed to notice.

"Spike, quit laughing at Dracula," Buffy hissed, poking the vampire in the ribs with her elbow.

"Sorry, luv, couldn't help myself after our little conversation last week at the Bronze." Riley watched in astonishment as the hostile kissed the human girl on the cheek and tucked her into his side. She didn't even seem to mind or notice that the hostile had elongated teeth and deformed facial features. Maybe Buffy didn't know that her 'boyfriend' wasn't human. Riley decided right then and there that he must save Buffy from the hostile.

Just then a couple of commando guys stepped out of the bushes carrying guns and wearing goggles. They looked the group over carefully ignoring everyone except Spike, who they leveled their guns at.

"Step away from the hostile," one of them commanded the group.

"That's not a hostile, guys, that's my boyfriend. Why don't you go harass someone else?" answered Buffy. Her good mood was fading fast with the newest threat. When the commando guys shook their heads and refused. She looked at her friends and nodded. They started to mill around slightly. Before the commandos knew what hit them, Buffy had them both unarmed and down on the ground.

"Now I don't know who you guys are, but leave my boyfriend alone," Buffy said through gritted teeth, "Let's party, gang."

"How did you do that?" asked Riley, who was amazed that a small girl like Buffy could take out two of his best men so easily.

"Years of karate training," answered Buffy, airily.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Inside the frat house, the partygoers were all running around screaming while the strobe lights were going wild, making everything look creepier than usual. A voice resonated through the house, "Release me."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy hurried up to catch up with Spike, sliding her arm into his. She looked up, smiling and let him know through the claim that she adored him above all others. He smiled down at her, and curled his tongue around a fang. They followed behind Oz, Willow and Xander. Trailing last was Riley the Impaler in all his glory.

~~~~~~~~

The party-goers continue to run and scream down the frat house hallways as they attempting to get away from the creepy things coming out of nowhere.

~~~~~~~~

"Let the fun begin," intones Oz his hand reaching for the doorknob.

~~~~~~~~

Guy ran down the hallway screaming, "God, help me." He rounded a corner, tripped and fell down the stairs. He lay at the bottom of the stairs, his neck at an awkward angle, his sightless eyes staring at nothing. The voice resonated through the frat house again, "Release me."

~~~~~~~~~

"The joints not jumping. Where is everybody?" asked Xander once they were all inside. The frat house foyer appeared empty of any people. Laughter poured from a one eyed mechanical head as it sat in a punchbowl on a table next to the door. The rest of the foyer was appropriately decorated for Halloween chills and thrills.

"Follow the signs," said Oz, pointing at an arrow. Buffy looked at the mechanical head with it's eyeball hanging out. She just raised an eyebrow.

"Terrifying," she commented sarcastically, "If I were Abbot and Costello this would be fairly traumatic." Spike chuckled at her wit. That's was one of the first things that he had found intriguing about Buffy; her witty comments.

The group moved through a door into a hallway. Riley brushed against the cobwebs decorating the hallway. The webs tangled in his hair and he shrieked like a girl.

"Get it off! Get it off!" He tore at his hair with his hands. He then noticed that none of the others moved to help him. Riley was getting discontented with this assignment that Professor Walsh had ordered him to do. He had just made a fool of himself in front of these people and it embarrassed him. He hated being embarrassed.

"Well, that part was realistic," commented Willow, looking around the room. She had to admit the decorations were pretty darned good.

"Frat boys aren't too obsessive with their cleaning. Might not be decoration per se," quipped Oz Just then a skeleton brandishing a knife jumped out of the closet attacking Xander. It looked so real he jumped and screamed a little, but when it fell to the floor it was plastic and so was the knife. He stood there panting.

"I wasn't scared, I was in the spirit," Xander said, still panting, his hand over his heart.

"And we'll back you up on that. Even if they question us separately," said Willow, patting Xander's shoulder.

Riley noticed how fast Willow was to help and support her friend. Oz looked over at Willow to agree with her, when he saw a tarantula on her shoulder. Willow turned her head and eeped when she saw the spider. Both Oz and Spike moved towards her to brush it off her shoulder. Oz checked her over, letting her know it was gone.

"Okay, that's just not sanitary," Willow grimaced, still shuddering a bit. Big hairy spiders were not on her favorite things list.

"Okay, let's get to the party part of the party," replied Buffy grabbing Spike's hand. Willow and Oz followed closely behind with Willow still asking if Oz was sure the spider was gone. Oz assured her it was indeed truly gone.

The group walked into yet another room empty of people where Buffy noticed a spot on the floor. She pointed it out to Spike, who sniffed the air. Buffy knelt down to touch the stain and Spike knelt beside her.

"Blood, luv. Human blood. This is not good, Buffy," Spike whispered in Buffy's ear. He began to expand his senses, "Humans, two floors up, the fear is intoxicating, Slayer. They are all terribly frightened. And magic, some sort of magic."

"Hey, I thought this led to......" Oz broke off as he glanced around the room. Okay, he was totally lost now. He could have sworn he knew the frat like the back of his hand.

"What's that on the floor, Buffy?" asked Xander, peering over the Slayer and the vampire's shoulders.

"Blood, real blood," responded Buffy. She and Spike stood up.

"Okay, actual creeps have been given here. Bravo, frat boys," Xander shouted loudly.

"Shhh," Buffy tilted her head trying to hear, "Do you hear something? Like a - squeaking noise?"

"Oh, it's these rented boots, patent leather. I asked the guy to...?" said Xander, pointing down to his Frankenstein boots.

"No, no, I... Wait. It's something else. I hear it, too. Something like...?" Willow's eyes slowly turn up towards the ceiling. Everyone else looked up, too. There hanging on the ceiling of the room were hundreds of ... bats? Real, live bats.

"Bugger," muttered Spike as the bats began to pour off the ceiling. The gang dropped as a group, except Riley who dropped a minute too late and got a bat caught in his hair. He pulled it out and threw it on the floor, stomping on it. Oz pulled him away from the bat, kneeled down and picked it up. He examined it closely then held it up to show his friends.

"Rubber. It's made of rubber," he replied. Buffy and Spike exchanged looks.

"What is going on around here?" Buffy asked no one in particular. This was getting weirder and weirder. Just another Halloween on the Hellmouth. Buffy looked at Riley who was still a little freaked and shook her head. She still wasn't sure why he was tagging along.

"Look, maybe it's nothing. Maybe it's just a neat trick. You know, something done with wires or...?" stammered Xander out loud, even as he secretly tried to find truth in his words. Everyone looked around startled when a voice echoed through the frat house.

"RELEASE ME!!"

"Or it might be something else.....Freakin' Hellmouth," the last was muttered under Xander's breath as he came out of denial and realized the real truth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anya patted her hairdo as she came up the walk of the frat house. She hoped Xander appreciated the trouble she had gone through to look nice for him and his friends. Anya thought she looked quite good in her Bride of Frankenstein costume. When Anya got on the porch of the frat house, she found a welcome mat.......but no door. The wall was solid where the door was supposed to be. Strange. She pounded on the wall.

"Hello," she shouted as she continued to pound, "Anyone there? Where is the door?"

Confused, she stepped back off the porch and peered up at the three story house. In a brightly lit window, she saw a girl dressed in a hula costume pounding on the panes, screaming for help. Suddenly the stones of the house expanded covering the window and the girl disappeared from sight.

"Xander," Anya whispered, "My Xander is in there." Anya knew she needed to get some help. The only answer was Mr. Giles, Buffy's Watcher.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Scoobies plus Riley walked back into the entrance room. They all looked around confused. They had appeared to have gone around in a circle. The sound effects were louder in the entryway. Oz moved over towards some wires.

"Where's the stairs?" asked Willow, pointing towards the spot the stairs used to be at. It was now just a wall covered in fake cobwebs.

"Where's the door?" asked Xander.

"This is the way we came in, right? We just went in a circle?" asked Buffy. She jumped slightly when Oz jerked a couple of wires and the room flooded to silence.

"Thank-you, wolfboy," muttered Spike. His ears were ringing from all the high pitched shrieks on the soundtrack.

"You're welcome."

"OH, I have a neat idea! Let's get out of here," said Riley. He was extremely ready to get out of this strange situation. When the others just gave him a blank look, he decided to be quiet and observe the others. They seemed to not even really notice the strange situation, taking everything in stride.

"And you were the one so eager to tag along," Buffy muttered under breath. She watched as Spike and Oz examined the missing staircase and missing door, their demons consulting each other.

"Seriously, Buffy, we don't know what's going on here," Willow pleaded, "It's making me wiggy and that's not of the good."

"My turn. Does anyone hear that?" questioned Xander, but no appeared to hear him as they went on with thier own conversations.

"As soon as we start dealing with it we'll know what it is we're dealing with. Do you hear something?" stated Buffy, as she started looking around the room to locate the noise.

"Like I said. Sounds like a hissing," said Xander again, hoping he wouldn't be ignored again. Buffy continued as if she hadn't heard Xander speak at all.

"It's like a.. ssss..noise?"

"Gee I thought the word hissing cover it pretty well," grumbled Xander. Buffy peered at the only door in the entryway. She moved to open it and peered inside. Sitting there rocking back and forth was one of the frat boys.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know. I'm sorry..." he continued to mutter and rock. Oz came over to sit down on his haunches.

"Chaz?" Oz asked. Chaz turned to peer up at Oz, the terror palpable on his face.

"I didn't know...." he trailed off. Oz looked up at the rest of the gang with a questioning look on his face. Then he turned back to Chaz.

"What's happening?" Oz asked, again. Chaz just began to rock back and forth faster.

"It...ah..." Chaz trailed off again. He allowed Oz to pull him from the closet.

"What is it?" asked Buffy. She had never seen anyone so terrified before in her life. She glanced at Spike, who tapped his nose and shook his head. He couldn't smell anything in the house except the humans and the magic.

While they were preoccupied, a plastic skeleton holding a knife becomes real. The knife is real, shiny and sharp. The bones are real, white and covered with blood and sinew. Bloodshot eyeballs appeared in the sockets as it straightens its head.

"What's alive? Chaz, what happened here?" asks Buffy reaching out to touch the frat boy on the shoulder. Chaz jumped a mile high, moaning.

"He's in shock," said Xander just as Chaz looked up behind the group and began to scream. Before anyone could move to see what the frat boy was screaming about, the newly risen skeleton stabbed Buffy in the shoulder. Spike jumped toward the skeleton knocking its head off, then kicked it to the ground. As soon as it hit the floor, it turned back to plastic.

"I think the cape took most of it," replied Buffy, as she pulled off the cape. Riley noticed her devil costume for the first time that evening. He gulped as lust filled his system. He stepped back though when the hostile turned his yellow eyes on him letting out a warning growl.

"Let me see, pet," Spike turned her so he could see the wound mark. He wasn't too happy that his mate had gotten hurt.

"Could need stitches. You should at least get a bandage or something," replied Oz as he checked out the wound along with Spike. Spike patted around in his duster pockets and pulled out a couple of big pieces of gauze that he used to tend Buffy's wound with. He stuffed the gauze back in his pocket when he noticed Riley eyeing it oddly. He declared that the bleeding had almost stopped.

Then a girl screamed somewhere else in the house. Chaz whimpered and scrambled back into the closet. He closes the door behind him.

"Cowering in a closet is starting to be a reasonable plan," dry panned Oz, really meaning it. Buffy looked over to the closet door... but, it had disappeared.

"What closet? It's a blank wall. Spike and I are gonna make our way upstairs and check on the people there. You guys find a way out of the house and use it." Buffy put her hand out to Spike, who dug a small crossbow and its bolts out of one of his pockets. He handed it to Buffy, who loaded it deftly.

"You are telling us to run away and leave you and Spike behind?" implored Willow.

"We need help. We need the only person that can make sense of what's happening," Buffy said as she peered down each of the halls trying to determine where to go to now.

~~~~~~~~

Giles sat eating the Halloween candy out of the bowl. He was bored out of his skull. Not one trick or treater had come to his door. He was almost embarrassed at how excited he had acted when Spike and Buffy had dropped by earlier. Giles could only hope they were having a more exciting time than he was. He was broken out of his morose mood by an insistent knocking at his door. Giles jumped up out of his chair and hurriedly threw the candy wrappers in the trash. He grabbed the bowl of candy before flinging the door open.

"Happy Hall...ween?" Giles trailed off as a bedraggled Bride of Frankenstein brushed past him into his apartment.

"Xander's in trouble. The gang's in trouble, but mostly Xander," Anya babbled, trying to get Giles to understand what was going on.

"Anya?" Giles just stared at the girl for a few minutes. He was unsure why she was knocking at his door in a Halloween costume.

"Are you listening? Xander is trapped," Anya stated. What was wrong with Giles tonight? He seemed a bit depressed, but Anya decided she wasn't going to dwell on such topics right now. She had a mission, a mission to save Xander.

"Uh, ah, where are Buffy and the others?" asked Giles, trying to get a handle on the situation. Damn it, it was Halloween, nothing was suppose to be happening on Halloween. Giles conveniently forgot that he was on the Hellmouth.

"Oh, they are trapped, too, but we have to save Xander. He's my boyfriend and I want orgasms later," Anya stated, again, more emphatically.

"Slow down, Anya. I need you to be more specific," replied Giles, sitting down and taking off his sombrero. Anya was making little to no sense to him at the moment.

"Ah, we were supposed to meet at this house, and I got there and there was no door where a door should be. And then I see this girl standing in a window, and then poof! She's gone," Anya waved her hands dramatically in the air to emphasis her point.

"She vanished from the window?" asked Giles.

"No, the window vanished from the house," answered Anya.

"Hmm. Matter and reality distortion. Like a summoning spell's temporal flux," Giles said as he rose to pull a book off the shelf. Thumbing through the pages, he found what he was looking for.

"What?"

"Hmm?" Giles said distractedly, and then glanced up at Anya, "Oh, never mind. I just need to get some - supplies together. I wouldn't worry about Xander. At least he's amongst friends." Giles felt the need to reassure the worried ex-vengeance demon.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Will, I'm telling you..." Buffy said as Willow interrupted her.

"You're telling me? You're telling me?" Willow was pissed now. What business was it of Buffy's to tell her what to do? They weren't high schoolers anymore and Buffy wasn't the only powerful one in the group.

"I can't do my job if I have to worry about each of your safety," Buffy said a bit crossly. She couldn't understand why Willow was freaking out so badly right now.

"It's not your decision!" screamed Willow, much to the dismay of everyone else in the room. This was turning into a catfight. One they didn't have time to deal with at the moment.

"Got to disagree with you there," replied Buffy.

"Oh, of course you do. Being the Slayer doesn't automatically make you boss. You're as lost as the rest of us," Willow poked Buffy in the chest with one finger. Oz and Xander started to talk at the same time.

"Let's all take a breath. Buffy, maybe...?" Xander, tried to cease the argument.

"What are we talking about?" Oz asked as he came up behind Willow.

Willow turned to Oz, "It's a simple incantation, a guiding spell for travelers when they become lost or disoriented." Oz's presence calmed Willow a bit.

"And how does it work?" asked Buffy, calming down herself. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad after all.

"It conjures an emissary from the beyond that lights the way," Willow explained. She was positive she could do this. Now all she had to do was convince Buffy.

"Conjuring? Will, you said you weren't ready for conjuring yet. What if you mess up? Your spells are only 50-50 as it is," asked Buffy, concerned with her friend.

"Oh yeah? Well, - so is your face!" Willow spat back at Buffy. Willow turned on her heels and walked down one of the hallways.

"What?! What does that mean?" Buffy started to follow her friend. She had lost control of the situation and had no clue what was going on. Willow turned around to look at Buffy.

"I'm not your sidekick!" screamed Willow before stomping off down the hallway. Oz shrugged his shoulders at Buffy, running after his distraught girlfriend. Buffy stood there and sighed.

Riley just stood there confused. Conjuring? What did that mean? Willow was human, his radar said she was. Now he was alone with Buffy and the hostile. There was something strange about Buffy, too. She knew too much about Sunnydale's night life. And where had that other guy, Xander, wandered off to?

"A bit hard on the girl, weren't you, Slayer?" asked Spike wondering what was going on with Buffy. She wasn't usually this mean to her friends. Spike knew from experience on how much she loved and trusted her friends.

"Not you, too, Spike? Is it gang up on Buffy day?" Buffy pressed her palm to her forehead. She was developing a headache.

"I am not ganging up on you, luv, just trying to figure out what's going on in your head," replied Spike. This evening wasn't turning out to be the fun filled party it was promised.

"What is going on in my head is, I can't do what I need to do if I am protecting a bunch of people. I thought you of all people would get that," said Buffy, the tone of her voice becoming a bit more irate.

"I do get that, but for some reason tonight you are making everyone feel both used and useless tonight," commented Spike.

"Well, that was a bunch of laughs," Xander said, trying to soothe the ruffled feathers of the Slayer, "Look, Buffy, we are all tired and a little edgy. Maybe Willow is over reacting. But now is not the time to let stuff tear us apart. What I'm saying is, I'm right with ya. I'm right by your side. I'm...?" Xander trailed off as he realized that neither Buffy nor Spike was listening to him.

Riley decided at that moment to speak up. "Look, I don't want to get between you two, so I am going to go search for a way out," he stated, before turning and following the path that Willow and Oz had taken just few minutes before. This night was getting weirder and weirder. Riley knew the report he would file with Professor Walsh was going to be a doozy. He just hoped she believed him.

"Ya, I think I will go with Riley. Let you two fight in private," replied Xander following the college boy down the hall. He shook his head at the Slayer and the vampire. He had a feeling of foreboding deep in his gut that this night wasn't going to end well for his friend and her newfound love.

Xander turned the corner to find himself in a room filled by lit candles and cobwebs. He saw no sign of Riley. He called out but no one answered his calls. When he turned around to return to Buffy and Spike, he found that the hallway he had just passed through had disappeared.

"This can't be good," Xander thought to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I am just tired of everyone telling me how to do my Slaying. First Giles, and then Angel. Are you going to be one of those who try that, too?" Buffy threw her crossbow down on a nearby table. She stood there with her hands on her hips, magnificent in her fury.

"No, luv, I am not going to try and tell you how to do things. I just don't want you to alienate your friends just because you are feeling a bit bitchy." Spike tried to placate his mate.

"Bitchy. You think this is bitchy? You haven't seen bitchy, Spike," Buffy's voice raised another octave.

Spike huffed; this was going to be a very, very long night. Where was the sweet, pleasant Slayer that he had been dealing with the past week or so?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She thinks I'm not ready to be a full blown witch! I can handle the dark forces as good as anyone else. It's not that hard. I-It's just a guiding spell and I'm careful and all," Willow bitched as she stomped down the hall ahead of Oz. Willow couldn't believe the gall of her friend. Oz looked around the room they just entered, where he noticed something extremely odd.

"This floor used to have windows," he commented. Willow ignored him as she looked around the room.

"Look. We found the stairs. Buffy didn't find the stairs, no sir!" Willow continued her tantrum as she stomped up the staircase. Oz followed Willow up the stairs, hoping he could calm her down soon, so they could get back on the task of getting out of this predicament they found themselves in.

"You guys aren't thinking clearly....." his voice trailed off as he looked down at his hands.They were hairy and his fingernails were extended into claws. His costume was starting to look real. He was wolfing out, and it scared him. From above him, on the second floor he could hear Willow continue to talk.

"We just need to get up to the goat room and maybe we can..." Oz rushed to the top of the staircase to call out to his girlfriend.

"Willow, something is happening."

"Something good?" responded Willow, turning to look at him, "Oh, no not good." Oz's eyes were large-pupiled and black, his teeth were elongating and the fun he wore for his costume was becoming real. Willow's eyes grew larger and larger as she realized it wasn't a night of the full moon.

"I'm changing," moaned Oz, in fear. He was worried if he changed all the way that he would hurt Willow, especially since they didn't have the tranq gun with them. Buffy and Spike might have been able to help, but they were left behind in the fight.

"But...but you can't! There is no moon tonight," stammered Willow in confusion. There should be no reason for Oz to be turning into a werewolf tonight. Willow wondered Oz was being influenced by the house in some matter. She knew they needed to find out what was going on and soon.

"I have to get away," Oz stated as he began to back away from Willow. He was unwilling to hurt his love while in his bestial state. Willow put out her hand to stop him as she moved closer to him.

"No, we need to find something to restrain you, like a rope or chains, or something....," Willow began to look around the room for something to use in restraining Oz, but he just kept backing away from her.

"There is no time!"

"I can do the guiding spell. I know I can make it work!" Willow begged Oz to understand.

"Will, please...," Oz pleaded. Willow mad a grab for him, shouting no, but to no avail. Oz batted her hand away from his and growled 'no' right back at her. Willow realized her hand hurt. When she looked down at it there were three long, red scratches on the back of her hand. Oz got a look of horror on his face before he turned and ran away from her.

"Oz! Oz, don't leave me!," she cried as she started to follow him, but when she got to the end of the corridor he was gone; vanished as if he had never been there with her.

~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy realized that both she and Spike were hot-tempered. Didn't their previous fights as mortal enemies show that? Buffy knew that she had been feeling off ever since Angel dumped on her right before the prom and that was no reason to take it out on Willow or Spike. The past week with Spike had been so delightful and enjoyable. She watched him circle the room, his jaw clenched in anger from her hurtful words. Buffy knew she had to make this right, but the words were so hard for her to form. Little did Buffy, or any of the others, realize that whatever the presence was in the house, it was playing on their fears and insecurities.

"Spike, are you going to leave me?" Buffy didn't recognize her own voice; it sounded weak and childish to her ears. Spike jerked his head around to look at Buffy, but she wasn't looking at him. She had torn the devil horns out of her hair and was busily toying with them. Spike could see the profile of her face, her lip between her teeth as she fought back tears.

"Bloody hell," growled Spike, as he crossed the room to stop in front of Buffy. When she didn't look up at him, he reached one hand out to caress her golden hair. When his long pale fingers got to the end of the tress he was holding, he brought the hair to his nose to smell it. This action caused the Slayer to abruptly lift her head and bring her lips within millimeters of Spike's. The lock of hair fell from Spike's fingers just before he dropped them to outline her lips.

"Spike," Buffy whispered, her tongue darting out to touch his fingers. Spike groaned as desire shot through him like flash lightening.

"Not going to leave you over one li'l argument, luv. It's not my style. You and I are bound to have lots of fights, Slayer, it's who we are. I spent a century with one woman, Buffy, but she was never my mate. Not like you are. You are my Slayer, my Buffy, my mate. I will dust before I let anything...anything come between us," Spike closed the few millimeters to cover Buffy's lips with his in a tender, love-filled kiss. He felt Buffy moan and her arms slip around him. Finally Buffy pulled away to rest her forehead on Spike's shoulder.

"I don't know what made me do and say all those things," she whispered softly. Spike had to strain to hear her words clearly. Spike had a sudden thought when he heard her words.

"Think it's the house, luv," Spike replied. Buffy pulled away to look into his eyes. Then a look of extreme concentration crossed her face.

"What happened to Xander, Spike? I don't remember him being with us after the bats attacked us." Spike began sniffing the air. He pulled slightly away from Buffy to glance down both hallways leading out of the room. Buffy placed the horns back on her head and grabbed the small crossbow from the table where she had tossed it earlier.

"Me, either, Slayer, but I can track him. Let's get a move on. We need to find the stairs or something to get to the people upstairs," Spike said, grabbing Buffy's hand in a death grip. He was worried if he let her go she might disappear like their friends had. Still sniffing the air, Spike pulled Buffy down the hall, following the path that Riley had taken.

~~~~~~

Xander hadn't seen another soul in about 10 minutes; he was starting to get very worried. Suddenly he realized he hadn't thought about Anya since being trapped in this scarefest. Xander hoped she was okay, that maybe she hadn't gotten trapped there with them. He walked into a room with a mirror. In the mirror, he saw his reflection.

"There I am. I didn't go anywhere," he told his reflection,"I just have to live with the fact that no one else can see me." He didn't notice that the mechanical head on the table behind him had opened its eyes and was staring at him, blood running out of its sockets. Noting some movement in the mirror, Xander turned to see what was behind him. He just stared at the head in disbelief.

"I can see you," it said, cackling. Xander gathered what little courage he had left and ran back up the hallway he just came down.

~~~~~~~

Willow sat cross-legged on a green gaming table, her eyes closed, and her hands lay limply on her knees. She needed concentration to do this spell. She had to find Oz.

"Aradia, Goddess of the lost, the path is murky, the woods are dense, darkness pervades, I beseech thee, bring the light," she chanted. Opening her eyes, she smiled when she saw a small speckof green light floating in front of her face.

"Woah! I did it! I did you. Hi! - Right, you're waiting for instructions. Lead me to Oz," Willow commanded as it started to float past her. Willow jumped off the table, "Wait! I should try to find the people trapped upstairs first."

Willow failed to notice that her new command caused the one light to break up into two lights. Then it broke into four lights, as she continued to talk to herself, her thoughts jumbled as she considered all the things she could possibly do, "But even if I get them, we still need to find a way out of the house."

The lights continued to multiply, until finally Willow had several dozen little lights swarming around her head. She looked up to begin speaking again, "Okay, here is what we should do..."

Willow trailed off as she saw the swarm of lights. They began to swirl around her head. Willow shouted stop at them, but they didn't respond to the command as they began to swirl around her head even more. The lights closed in on her, but when she went to bat them away, several of them flew into her mouth. She coughed and chocked before running off down a hallway, the lights chasing her like a swarm of bees.

~~~~~~~~~~

Riley was sure he heard Willow scream. He didn't know the girl very well, just from class, but he was sure it was her voice. It was then that he noticed a door. The first one he had seen since the frat boy's closet door had vanished while he was with the others. Riley tried the doorknob, but it was locked. He put his ear up against the door, concentrating he thought he could hear sobbing coming from the within.

Riley decided to batter all of his weight against the door. As he started to move his shoulder towards the door, it suddenly swung open on him. There was no way he could catch himself and instead of immediately falling to the floor, he found himself falling through the air. Riley had come to a sudden stop with a thud. As he laid there winded, he took in his surroundings.

Riley gave a shudder in spite of himself. There was nothing he hated more than basements and this one was the epitome of basements. The cool air smelled dank and musty. Several dim light bulbs flickered in wall sconces casting shadows out across the basement floor. A wine rack full of bottles and wine casks deepened the shadows even further.

"Always alone..." a hollow voice echoed through the basement. The familiarity of the words filled Riley with terror. They reminded him of his late grandfather, who had been a cantankerous old man left alone to raise 5 children on his own after his wife, Riley's grandmother, had died. The wisdom the old man had tried to impact on his only grandson scared the young boy more than helped him.

Riley gasped when he saw the owner of the voice. A young man about his own age shuffled out of the shadows. The unnatural tilt of the neck made Riley realize the boy was dead. Riley scrambled backwards trying to escape the sight in front of him.

"No one here to help you... no friends... no soldiers... nothing. You are nothing..." the dead guy trailed off. Out of the shadows behind him emerged creatures of every shape and size. Riley let out an unmanly scream as the monsters continued to close in on him.

~~~~~~~~~

Anya watched as Giles glided his hand over the wall where the front door of the frat house should be. He wasn't watching his hand as he had his nose buried in one of his dusty old tomes. Anya could feel the impatience running through her system.

"Well?" she asked as she began to fidget. To her it looked like Giles was not doing a thing; just caressing the wall while he read a book.

"We're going to have to create a door," Giles said as he closed the book. He walked over to his bag to reach his hand in.

"Create a door. You can do that?" Anya jumped when

Giles turned around with a very Ripper-like smile on his face pulling on the cord of a small chainsaw.

"I can."

~~~~~~~~~

Spike and Buffy hurled themselves down the hallway in search of the staircase or Xander, whichever they could find. They weren't being particularly picky at that moment. Both were startled when they reached the foyer again, where they heard what sounded like a chainsaw. The blonde couple jumped back when sawdust began to fly from where the blade of a chainsaw cut through the wall of the frat house. The wall section fell to the ground and when the dust settled, Buffy began to grin.
"Giles!" Buffy exclaimed excitedly, "You came to save us."

"Yes, quite right. It was Anya who noticed something was amiss," Giles indicated his young companion. She preened under his compliment. Anya patted her hair and smoothed down her costume.

"Anya, great costume," Buffy gave the other girl two thumbs up.

"You, too, Buffy. I bet Spike really appreciates the effort you put into choosing a costume," Anya announced eyeing the Slayer. Spike smirked and curled his tongue behind his teeth.

"Not to break up the mutual admiration society here, I need to know what's going on," replied Giles, flustered after he got a good eyeful of Buffy's costume.

"When we got here there wasn't anyone around," Buffy informed her Watcher, "Then we wandered around lost. We lost the front door, the stairs and each other."

"It's the house, Rupes. I smell fear and magic. There are humans on the top floor, I can smell them," said Spike. "Wolfboy indicated the stairs would be....there." When Spike turned around to indicate where the stairs were supposed to be, he stopped short with surprise. The staircase had reappeared. Spike and Buffy looked at each other before hurriedly starting towards the stairs, not wanting them to disappear on them. Anya and Giles followed closely behind.

~~~~~~~~

Riley was crawling around on the floor trying to avoid the demons that were attacking him. The voice of the dead boy continued to mock him mercilessly.

"No matter how hard you fight, you always end up in the same place...alone with the monsters. But you are a monster yourself, arent you? Allowing your commander to experiment on you." Riley moaned in terror.

Riley noticed a small door at the other end of the basement. It looked awfully small to him, but he hoped he could manage to squeeze himself through. Shaking off the demons that had a hold on him, Riley scrambled towards the door. He flung it open and was half way out of it when he got stuck.

Riley glanced around the room he was trying to escape into. It was large, had a strange pentagram painted on the floor and other college kids in costumes cowering against the walls.

"Help me," he pleaded, then he noticed one of the boys in the corner rocking himself back and forth was that boy....what was his name....right, Oz, "Oz, Oz, help me." Riley was relieved when the boy looked up at him.

Just then Willow ran into the room screaming, "Get them off, Get them off," as she waved her arms around her head. Willow continued to scream as Oz looked down at his hands. They were normal now, much to his astonishment. He grabbed Willow's arms and held her still.

"Willow, Willow, what's wrong?" he asked. Willow laid her head on his shoulder and sobbed.

"I couldn't get them off."

"It's okay. We're okay," replied Oz, comforting his girlfriend.

"It's not okay," whined Riley, "I am stuck in this door and there are demons after me. I command you to help me." Willow and Oz looked at each other; eyebrows raised, but helped Riley anyway. Once they had him unstuck and upright, his bravado came back.

"We need to get out of here," Riley ordered the other two, "Let's move out."

"What about these other people?" asked Willow unable to comprehend why Riley would want to leave the others trapped?

"There are always acceptable casualties in a mission," Riley stated, causing Willow to gasp. They hadn't noticed Xander sitting on an armchair close by until he jumped up to storm over, poking Riley in the chest.

"There are no acceptable casualties, you moron. I know my opinion don't count, because, hey I am not a college boy, but we never leave anyone behind if we can help it," he shouted.

"I agree with Xander. If you are so eager to find the way out, go find your demons again and have them lead you out," Willow shouted, too. Riley was really weirding her out now. She couldn't feel the wiggy vibes that Buffy and Spike could, but she knew something was off with this guy. Xander turned to her and smashed her to his chest in a big hug.

"You heard that! You can see me! Good. Oh God, good."

"The house separated us...it wanted to scare us. What happened to Spike and Buffy?" Oz informed the others.

"Buffy and Spike were fighting so Riley and I left them alone. Stupid, stupid us," said Xander, letting go of Willow finally. Riley nodded, not wanting to piss anyone else off.

"But....we got away, right?" asked Willow.

"No, we were brought here. We were all so scared we ended up here. Why?" said Oz.

"They were painting that. Remember Oz. They were copying it out of that book over there," Xander first pointed at the pentagram on the floor and then to a book, which he went over to pick up. Willow hurried to his side and took the book from him.

"I think it's Gaelic," she muttered, shaking her head, "I think I can....maybe....translate.." Willow trailed off with an unsure quality to her voice.

"RELEASE ME," rumbled through the house. The group looked around for the source of the voice but found nothing out of the ordinary in the room. "RELEASE ME!"

"Okay, Wills, give us something,"

"Um....Okay....Um....the icon's called the Mark of Gachnar. I think this is a summoning spell for something called...."

"Gachnar?" Xander asked, causing Willow to glance up with a look of concentration on her face.

"Well, yes. Somehow the beginning of the spell must of have been triggered. Um....Gachnar is trying to manifest itself....to come into being," Willow replied.

"How?" asked Oz.

"I-it feeds on fear," replied Willow, not looking up as she continued to try to translate the words in the book.

"Our fears are manifesting it," Oz thought out loud, "We're feeding it. We need to stop." Xander suddenly fell into hysteria.

"If we close our eyes and say it's a dream it'll stab us to death. These things are real," Xander's voice could be very shrill at times, especially times like this.

"At least they aren't trying to date you," said Willow. When Xander whirled to look at her, she had a look of innocence on her face. Before Xander could say anything the voice rumbled through the house again, this time louder and deeper.

"RELEASE ME!"

"Okay, I gotta plan, guys. Everyone grab someone and we will get out of here," replied Oz. This wasn't fun and games anymore, kiddies.

"Great plan. Let's go!" shouted Xander, moving towards a boy cowering near the doorway. The walls began to knock and shake. As Xander walked towards the door, it burst open revealing Giles, who was holding a running chainsaw, Spike, Buffy and Anya. Xander jumped a little but was soon engulfed by a hug from Anya. He turned to the others.

"Giles...Everyone, it's Giles. With a chainsaw. Glad you could make it. All of you," he said. He was happy to see that Anya was okay.

"The walls closed up behind us," replied Giles, as he turned off the chainsaw and put it down, "Spike helped us find you." The others, except Riley, nodded at Spike. Giles went to Willow to take the book out of her hand, "Ah, Gachnar, of course. Its presence affects the reality of the house, but it's not managed to achieve full manifestation. We can not allow this to come into being."

"But we can fight it, right?" asked Buffy, lifting her hand to cover the hand Spike had on her shoulder. Giles crossed the room to show them a picture in the book. It was a drawing of an ugly creature, big and bulky and all together scary looking.

"Guys, this is Gachnor."

"I don't want to fight that," said Buffy at the same time Spike said, "Slayer and I can handle that." Buffy looked back over her shoulder and shook her head, "I so don't feel like fighting in this costume, Spike. Can we break the spell?"

"Whatever we're going to do, can we do it fast? I wanna have some fun for a change," groused Xander. He was still hanging on to Anya for dear life. Xander had watched how his friends had included Anya in everything since they had recently started dating. It dawned on him that they were very accepting of Anya and so right then and there he decided that Anya was really his girl. He was going to treat her like his girl. Xander smiled down at the girl at his side and dropped a kiss on her forehead, in front of everyone.

Giles began consulting the book again. He rapidly turned the pages back and forth until he found what he was looking for.

"I have it, I have it. Um. The summoning spell for Gachnar can be shut down in one of two ways. Destroying the mark of Gachnar...." Giles trailed off as Riley strode across the room to punch a hole in the floorboards where the pentagram was painted. He looked around the room with a proud smile on his face. Maybe this would make the group accept him so he could continue the mission that Professor Walsh assigned him. Giles raised his eyebrow at the boy before continuing, "Is not one of them and will in fact immediately bring forth the fear demon itself."

The others made faces at Riley before looking at the painted pentagram which began to glow. Someone shouted, "Look," as the floor rumbled. All the group could do was look at the floor in horror. Gachnar is ugly, uglier than his picture, but in a few seconds horror turned to mirth as the Scoobies realized that the fear demon was only about 6 inches tall.

"This is Gachnar," asked Buffy trying not to laugh. She turned to press her face into Spike's shoulder, muffling her laughter.

"Big overture. Little show. Wish all our demons were like this," quipped Xander. He and Anya were trying not to laugh. They hung on each other, giggling.

"I am the dark lord of nightmares! The bringer of terror! Tremble before me! Fear me!" screamed the little demon in his now diminished voice.

"He's so cute," giggled Willow. She bent over as if she was going to pet the little demon.

"Tremble!" it shouted again.

"I'll show you something to fear," said Spike, bending over to get in the demon's face. Then he switched from vamp to human to vamp again. The little demon screamed in terror. Then of course Xander had to put in his two cents worth.

"Who's a little fear demon? Come on. Who's a little fear demon?" he asked, then he looked up at the others, "This is kinda fun."

"Don't taunt the fear demon," demanded Giles. He was shaking his head at Xander's and Spike's antics. Xander was only just 19, but what was Spike's excuse? How old was Spike anyway?

"Why, he can't hurt us," said Xander.

"No, it's just tacky...."

"But Spike started it," whined Xander. Spike rolled his eyes as the Watcher continued as if he didn't hear Xander.

"Buffy, when it comes to slaying..." Giles broke off when Buffy interrupted him. She glanced at Spike giving him a little 'I'm sorry' look.

"Size doesn't matter?" Buffy questioned.

"He doesn't really love you, you know," the fear demon tried once again to gain the upper hand.

"Yeah, yeah," groused Buffy as she lifted one booted foot to stomp and squish the fear demon. She lifted her boot from the slime and wrinkled her nose.

"Love ya, kitten," Spike swept her into his arms and kissed her. The scoobies chuckled at the uncomfortable Watcher as they waited for the blonde couple to stop kissing. Riley wondered how they could let their friend kiss the hostile, until he remembered that he had called her slayer. Riley couldn't wait to report in to Professor Walsh.

~~~~~~~

Buffy was sitting on Spike's lap in one of Giles' armchairs sharing bites of the candy. Xander and Anya were sprawled on the couch while Oz and Willow sat in the hard back chairs at the table.

"Some quality treats here, Giles," said Oz, as he grabbed another piece out of the bowl. He ripped the wrapper off before tossing it in his mouth.

"Please, finish them," Giles muttered distractedly. He was still attempting to translate the book the pentagram came from.

"Mmm, there is no problem that can not be solved by chocolate," groaned Buffy as she ate another piece of candy, "Anyone want to hit the Bronze? I am so ready for some after-slayage partying."

Hands slowly rose up into the air, indicating everyone else was ready for some partying, too. As they all rose to get ready to go, Giles exclaimed loudly, "Oh bloody hell. The inscription."

"What's the matter?" asked Buffy with a concerned voice. Giles moved over to her and handed her the book.

"I should have translated the Gaelic inscription under the illustration of Gachnor..." Giles continued to shake his head at himself.

"What does it say?" Buffy looked down at the picture. Spike came over to look at the book. He chuckled.

"It says actual size," he informed the Slayer. She just shrugged her shoulders and closed the book. She handed the book back to Giles, grabbed Spike's hand and dragged him out of the apartment on her quest for post-slayage fun.