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Author's Chapter Notes:
same as before. I dont own these characters
"Buffy, are you alright?" Angel's bulky form lingered hesitatantly in the doorway, shocked at Buffy's crazed appearance."Willow sent me, you were taking a while..." he trailed off when he saw that her face was completely white, and she was trembling all over.

"That wasn't you, was it?" She asked, hesitantly.

"I don' know what you are referring to, but no sweetheart, it wasnt me. What happened?" He asked, still keeping a safe distance, not wishing to frighten her further.

"It was you, but then it wasn't..." she said, her voice trailing off into a whisper. "You were kissing me, and then it wasn't you, it was someone else...it wasn't you..."

"Buffy, I wasn't in your room at all, I've been with Xander the entire time, I swear. Maybe you fell asleep and had a nightmare." Angel shook his head, trying to rationalize his girlfriend's claims. "No one was in here with you." He stated quitely, and then waited for a reaction. "You were alone in here." Buffy stood, and faced him, pulling her towel tighter around her chest.

"It wasn't you. He looked like you, but only for a moment, and then the eyes changed..." Buffy's voice faltered, as she doubted her own memory. "I swear I saw it, I am not making this up!" Her pitch rose, and Angel could tell she was borderline hysterical, so he attempted to soothe her.

"It ok sweetheart, just tell me what you saw." He said, and then waited while she stood fidgeting. After a few moments of silence, Buffy looked back up and met his eyes with hers.

"YOu were kissing me, and then it wasn't you. He had blue eyes, but they weren't human." Buffy's eyes sank to the floor, as she could no longer bear the expression of disbelief coming from her boyfriend.

"I think we should head back to my room Buff, the other two are there waiting." He said slowly, recognizing the hurt in Buffy's eyes, but at the same time realizing that he simply could not buy into her far fetched story. Sure, he cared about her, but perhaps this was taking it a bit too far. Realizing that there was no way he would believe her, Buffy gave in.

"I guess I am just tired" she said flatly, still recognizing the feeling of unease that had not left her. "Lets go grab some dinner, so that I can get some sleep tonight. Satisfied with her response, Angel held the door open for her, and the two made the short trip back to the boys' room.

"OK, we can leave as soon as Willow gets back." Xander said, standing from his place on the edge of the bed, and turning off the television.

"Where did she go?" Angel asked flippantly, picking up his wallet from the dresser, and grabbing his coat.

"You mean you didn't see her?" Xander turned, facing the young couple. "She left a few minutes ago, she said she had to grab something from the room. You had to have passed her on the way here." Buffy's blood ran cold, as a feeling of dread settled over her.

"We didn't see her, are you sure she went back to the room?" Angel asked, still seemingly unconcerned.

"Oh my God..." Buffy interrupted. She gripped Angel's hand tightly in hers. "We have to find her...now!" Buffy said, attempting to keep her voice from sounding hysterical. Xander, still somewhat oblivious to the situation, grabbed his things and followed them out the door.

"Willow?!" Buffy yelled, her voice echoing down the hallway. Xander and Angel both called her name as well, although with significantly less worry present in their tones. "Willow, please answer us!" Buffy continued to yell, her voice sounding frantic now, running down the long hall. She skidded to a stop though, as a strange sound came from further down the long passage. Xander and Angel caught up to her, and began to talk, but silenced themselves as they too recognized an eerie sound coming from the depths of the building. From all around them, cries of pain, suffering, and desperation echoed. Chains rattled, and fire crackled as the voices grew louder. The three companions all covered their ears as the screams grew more intense, and the rattling seemed to shake the very floor they stood on. Amidst the sounds of purgatory, Buffy was able to discern a moan of pain that sounded vaguely familiar. Grabbing Angel by the arm, she raced off in the direction of the voice she recognized.
Angel and Xander, realizing that Buffy was heading down the long hallway, dropped their hands from their ears and took off at a sprint after her.

"Willow?" Buffy screamed,"Willow, we are coming!" Behind her, Xander stumbled and fell to his knees. Angel stopped, and grabbed onto his friend's arm, pulling him to his feet. Without even so much as a glance behind her, Buffy raced up some stairs, and into a large room. A cold blast of air pummeled her as she stood in the doorway, which brought her to a skidding halt. Silence fell upon the building almost simultaneously, the strange noises suddenly stopped. She took a deep breath as she glanced around the room. Clearly a chapel at one time, the the pews were scattered throughout the room, their broken edges charred. The stained glass windows were half-covered in soot, and the rich tapestries that adorned the walls were ragged and half-burned. All around the room, tables and candlesticks lay in disarray. Whatever wasn't completely destroyed was greatly damaged. As Buffy looked around in horror, something shiny caught her eye. A small cross lay at her feet, the ribbon that had once held it around the wearer's neck was merely ash, but the cross itself appeared unharmed. As she picked it up to study it closer, Buffy heard a moan from the darkened pulpit. Shoving the cross into her jeans, she raced towards her friend, who sat in front of the stone altar with her back to the room.

"Willow, are you all right?" Buffy said softly, as she approached her friend.

"Willow!" Xander yelled, as he and Angel entered the chapel and saw the two girls. The guys aproached quickly at first, but then slowed up when they saw that Willow wasn't moving. She was sitting perfectly straight, her back rigid. She did not move when Buffy laid a hand on her shoulder. Buffy, still deeply concerned, knelt down next to the redhead.

"Willow, sweetie, what happened?" Buffy whispered, rubbing her friend's back. Willow, finally noticing her, turned slowly to face the petite blonde.

"They killed him. He tried to fight back, but they killed him." She said, her voice eerily calm.

"You're scaring me, Wills." Buffy said, stealing a glance back at the boys, who stood with puzzled looks on their faces. "They killed who?"

"He didn't do anything, but they killed him." A lone tear dripped down Willow's pale face, and Buffy reached out to brush it away when Willow's hand came up and grasped Buffy's arm.

"They damned him!" She yelled, her voice breaking. Buffy was no longer paying attention to Willow's words though; she saw blood on her hands. Buffy grabbed Willow's arms, and turned them so that the undersides were exposed. Blood trickled onto Buffy's jeans, from the numerous cuts that marred Willow's skin. Her wrists had been slashed, and her hands were rubbed raw to the point where they too bled.

"Oh my God" was all Buffy could manage to say. Xander and Angel, snapping out of their shock with the sight of Willow's blood, immediately scooped up the bleeding girl.

"We have to get her to a doctor" Angel said, his brow furrowed with worry.

"We dont even know where a doctor is!" Xander pointed out, deeply disturbed. He wrung his shaking hands, and then reached out to brush a strand of hair out of Willow's face. Willow's eyes opened wide, and a look of complete and total surpise came over her face.

"Where am I?" She asked, before looking down at her arms. "I...what happened?" She asked, starting to panic.

"Willow, you are gonna be just fine. We need to get you back to the room and then we will take care of this. Everything is going to be ok" Buffy said, attempting to keep the hysteria out of her voice. She needed to remain calm for Willow's sake, so she nodded at her boyfriend, who began carrying Willow back to the bedroom.

"Our room is closer, I will take her there" He readjusted the girl in his arms, and then began striding purposefully out of the chapel. "Xander, why don't you go see if you can track down the innkeeper. There must be somebody here that can help." He called over his shoulder. Xander nodded mutely, and took off at a run towards the front entrance. Buffy stood in silence for a moment, completely overwhelmed by the current circumstances. As she gathered her emotions in check, and began to exit the chapel, she remembered the small silver cross in her pocket. She pulled it out to examine it once more, when the all too familiar chill crept over her again.

"Soon..." came a low male voice from behind her. When she spun around in the direction of the sound, her eyes locked upon the altar, but there was no one there. Shaking off the fear and telling herself she imagined it, Buffy ran out of the room and towards her friends.





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