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Chapter 23 Halloween (Part 2 of 3)

"What did Mrs. Davis give you?" Buffy asked the kids she had been forced by Principle Snyder to escort as they went Trick-or-Treating.

They all pulled out toothbrushes.

"She must be stopped. Let's hit one more house." She got from where she'd knelt down to examine the kids loot. Her tight sausage curls bounced as she did so. "We still have a few more minutes before I need to get you back."

As the children went to ring the doorbell of the last house, a wind began to blow. Buffy looked up; something wasn't quite right. But both Giles and Spike had told her nothing happened on Halloween, so she didn't worry too much about it. Besides, she had more important things to worry about, like meeting Spike at her house for their date.

They were going to the Bronze and after th. . .

She blinked her eyes. Where was she? She'd never seen houses like these before. And strange box like things sat on wheels all along the street.

She had only a moment to wonder about all these things before a small red devil leapt out at her. She screamed and ran down the street, away from the horrible monster. What was going on? How had she gotten here? And where were her sheep?

Suddenly a strangely dressed girl stepped out in front of her. The girl had bright red hair and her clothes - well, they were barley clothes at all. Bo Peep wondered how she could go out in public like that.

"Buffy! Are you okay?" the woman asked.

Before she could reply, two more monsters came roaring toward them.

A young man lifted a strange looking gun to his shoulder and took aim.

"This could be a situation," said the calm, collected young man.

He too was dressed strangely, but his manner suggested that he was some sort of solider. He was also very good-looking thought Bo Peep.

"Buffy, what do we do?" the red-head asked. She seemed to be addressing Bo Peep, but what sort of silly name was Buffy?

The young man fired off several rounds from his strange gun. All without reloading! Then he lowered the rifle and looked back at the two girls.

"Buffy, are you alright?" the girl asked her.

"What?" was all she could think of to say.

"Are you hurt?" the young man asked.

"Buffy, are you hurt?" asked the girl getting more and more concerned.

"Buffy?" she asked. "I think you have me confused with someone else. My name is Bo Peep. I don't suppose you've seen any sheep around here, have you?"

The crazy girl turned to the soldier, "She's not Buffy.'

"Who's Buffy?" he asked.

"Oh, this is fun," complained the girl.

"Who are you?" Bo Peep asked.

"We're friends," the girl told her.

"Friends of whom? Everything is strange! How did I come to be here?" Bo Peep asked them.

The girl gave her a week smile, then asked the soldier, "How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayer?"

"What's a Slayer?" he asked.

A monster came around the tree behind Bo Peep and roared, fangs bared and claws raised to attack. Bo Peep screamed at the top of her lungs, and whacked it with her crook knocking it down and out.

"Not bad," appraised the soldier. "I suggest we get inside before we come across anything else."

"I agree. These things are much tougher than wolves; who knows what they are doing to my sheep."

"Come on," the strange girl said. "I know a place. A friend's."

The girl led them to one of the strange houses. Along the way she introduced herself as Willow, and she claimed that the soldier was Xander, although he didn't seem to think that was his name. Not that he offered another.

When they got to the house the soldier, Xander, threw the door open and looked inside, pointing his gun into all the corners.

"All clear!" he called out to them.

Willow walked in. "Hello? Mrs. Summers?" No one answered. "Good, she's gone."

Xander closed the door.

Bo Peep smiled at him and walked over to him.

"I want to thank you for being so brave. I don't know what I would have done if. . ." coyly she let the sentence trail off.

"No problem, ma'am. Just doing my job."

Suddenly there was a banging at the front door. Xander went to investigate, and the two girls followed.

"Don't open it!" screamed Willow.

"Could be a civilian," he said.

"Or a mini demon," Willow insisted.

"Oh! Maybe it's one of my sheep." The other two looked at her skeptically. "Well, it could be. You'd be surprised how often they find their way back on their own."

Xander was scanning the outside through one of the small windows in the door. He jerked back just as a monster punched through the glass and reached for him. It pulled its hand back as Xander raised his rifle.

"Not a civilian!" screamed Willow.

"Affirmative!" agreed Xander as he took aim through the broken window.

"Hey! What did we say?!" shouted Willow.

Xander let loose a volley of bullets. Willow winced at the noise. Bo Peep covered her ears. Xander rolled away from the door when he finished his burst.

"Big noise scare monster, remember?" he said.

"Got it," Willow agreed.

Outside a woman screamed. Xander looked back out the window.

"Damn it!" he yelled.

He opened the door and went out to rescue the stranger, pulling the door closed behind him. Moments later he came back, pulling in another oddly dressed girl by the arm. This one at least was covered from head to toe, but her clothing was skin tight, and covered with strange spots. On her head she wore something that appeared to be animal ears.

"Cordelia!" called Willow. Evidently she knew her.

"Wait a... What's going on?" Cordelia demanded.

"Okay, your name is Cordelia, you're not a cat, you're in high school, and we're your friends. Well, sort of," explained Willow.

"That's nice, Willow. And you went mental when?" responded Cordelia in a condescending tone of voice.

"You know us?" asked a surprised Willow.

"Yeah. Lucky me. What's with the name game?" Cordelia asked.

"A lot's going on," Willow said.

"No kidding," Cordelia began. "I was just attacked by Jo-Jo, the Dog-Faced Boy. Look at my costume!" She showed them a torn sleeve. "Do you really think that Party Town's gonna give me my deposit back? Not on the likely."

Xander took his shirt off and put it around her shoulders. Bo Peep was horribly jealous. He hadn't given her his shirt. Of course she was dressed and this Cordelia girl wasn't.

"Here," he said.

"Thanks," Cordelia replied insincerely.

"Okay. You guys stay here while I get some help. If something tries to get in, just fight it off," suggested Willow.

"Let me know if you see any of my sheep while you are out there."

Cordelia looked at her strangely. "What's that riff?"

"I-it's like amnesia, okay?" Willow explained. "They don't know who they are. Just sit tight."

"Who died and made her the boss?" asked Cordelia.

Willow walked straight through the wall behind Cordelia. Bo Peep couldn't believe her eyes.

Xander, however, set to work immediately barricading the door. He upturned a table and set it against the window.

He pointed to Cordelia. "You! Check upstairs. Make sure everything's locked up."

"Do you think my sheep will be all right?" she worried.

"Lady, I'm sure they're fine. Now help me with. . ." he bent down to pick a picture up off the floor. "Whoa!"

Bo Peep peered at it over his shoulder. It appeared to be her, Xander and Willow.

"She must be right. We must have some kind of amnesia," the soldier said.

"I don't think so. I don't even know what that is, so how could I have it."

"It's memory loss," explained Xander.

"I remember things just fine," said Bo Peep.

"Okay, answer me this then: Where are your sheep?"

He had her there. She had no idea what had become of them.

Just then a man all in black entered from the back of the house. He might have been good looking, thought Bo Peep, if his hair hadn't been almost white. Not that he looked like he was all that old.

"Thanks god!" the stranger said. "You guys are alright. It's total chaos out there."

Both Bo Peep and Xander looked at the new comer in confusion.

"Who are you?" they asked in unison.

"Spike, you know, we had a date tonight. . ." said the man in black.

"I don't think so. You look very strange. I'm much more likely to be dating the soldier here," Bo Peep told him.

"Him?" he cried with outrage.

"Do you live here?" interrupted Xander.

"No, and you know that. Buffy, what the devil is going on here?"

At the moment Cordelia came back in. "They don't know who they are," she explained. "Everyone's turned into a monster, it's a whole big thing." She smiled flirtatiously with the man in black. "How are you?"

The lights went out.

Xander addressed the newcomer. "You take sheep lady and secure the kitchen. Catwoman, you're with me."

Cordelia followed Xander as Spike headed back the way he came.

"But I don't wanna go with you! I like the man with the musket!"

"C'mon," he said, pulling her by the arm.

"Do you have a musket?" she asked. "I have my crook, but it's really only good against wolves. Oh! Have you seen any sheep?"

He glared at her, and then he noticed the door to the outside was open.

"I didn't leave that open," he said.

Quietly he moved toward the door, looking around for an intruder. He closed the door. Another door behind Bo Peep opened, and a vampire leapt out at her. She tried to push the door closed on him. The man in black grabbed the vampire and wrestled him to the floor.

"A stake!" he commanded.

"A what?" she asked, confused.

"Get me a stake!" he growled.

She looked around but all she saw was a large knife on the counter. She picked it up, and hurried over to the man.

"Hurry up!" he called.

He turned to look at her and his face had become distorted like the vampire's. His eyes glowed yellow, and his mouth was full of teeth worthy of the most vicious wolf Bo Peep had ever seen. She screamed at the top of her lungs and ran for the door.

"Buffy, no!" he called after her.

She ran outside into the night. In the distance she could hear yelling and screaming, but the street she was on seemed deserted for the moment. At least until she ran head long into a large chest.

"Ooof!" she grunted as she nearly went over backwards, but a strong hand steadied her.

"Here now, m'lady," said the voice that she supposed must belong to the chest she'd run into.

She looked up into what she thought might have been the most beautiful face she'd ever seen. As she composed herself she took in the gentleman she'd run into. And she was sure he was a gentleman. His dark suit was strange, but she was sure it must be expensive. His hair stuck up in a funny way, but she could forgive him that. After all, his face, his chest, his arms - he was possibly the most gorgeous man she had ever seen.

'And he called me m'lady!' she thought. How polite he is. Not like all those other people.

"I'm so sorry," she apologized.

"Tis no problem at all. And where might a little lost lamb like yourself be goin' on such an evenin'?" he asked.

"Oh! Lamb! I almost forgot my sheep. Have you seen them? I've lost them and I don't know where to find them."

"Why ya know, I did see some sheep earlier."

"Really? I'd be forever in your debt, sir, if you could take me to them." She smiled coyly at him.

"Call me Angelus. T'would be my pleasure."

With that he offered her his arm, and lead her off into the night.





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