-----
Sunnydale, California. Half
an hour later
The
werewolf known as Daniel Osborne (or Oz) finally tracked down Willow by
her scent, as Faith, Buffy and Giles tagged along. They found her
unconscious, but luckily the gang was able to quickly revive her.
“What
happened here, Red?” Faith asked in confusion.
Willow
came to, and quickly remembered all that had happened. “How long have I
been out?” she asked urgently.
“Don’t
know,” “No idea,” came the various responses.
Giles
said uncertainly, “Probably not that long. We only noticed you were
missing, a few hours ago...”
Willow
exclaimed, “Oh my God!” As quickly as she could, the teenager explained
what had happened, as she started to set up for another ritual. “I, I’m
gonna do a reversal spell, and get Xander back...”
“Well,
hurry up!” Faith shrieked as the others stared at her. The brunette
Slayer didn’t care – she just wanted her lover back, safe and sound.
“I’m
hurrying, I’m hurrying...”
Buffy
looked at her Watcher, “Why the hell would the undead version of Mickey
and Minnie Mouse do something like this? They have to know that
we’ll eventually dust their asses for it!”
Giles
was confused, “I don’t know, Buffy – haven’t a clue...”
Willow
then finished the ritual, but nothing happened. No portal, no Xander, no
nothing.
“NO!”
she yelled and tried it again. Again, there was no response.
A
third time, it was once again unsuccessful.
A
fourth time, it still didn’t work.
Willow
then broke down, sobbing. “What’s happened?” Oz asked carefully.
She
explained through the tears, “I, I tried to bring Xander back from
whatever hell dimension Drusilla made me create a portal to. But, but it
didn’t work! I can’t bring him back...”
Buffy
was still stunned, and horrified over what had happened to her former
friend. The memories of Acathla still fresh in memory, she asked, “So
what does that mean?”
Willow
was still sobbing, “I guess...there’s, there’s gotta be nothing to bring
back? Xander...he’s, he’s dead...”
Faith
couldn’t deal with that, and simply ran out of the factory into the
night.
“Xander’s dead...” the words echoed throughout the ruined industrial
district.
Chapter 8