"Guys, I've got news," Buffy said as she rushed into the library. Letting the doors swing shut behind her, she waved the envelope at the occupants.

Oz looked at Buffy. "About Willow?" When the Slayer nodded, he went closer to Buffy. "What is it?"

Buffy looked down at the envelope, looked at Oz, then looked at Giles. Handing the letter over to the librarian, she went and sat down in a chair.

Giles looked at the envelope carefully, turned it over, and removed the piece of paper inside. He read it over once, wiped his brow, and looked at the back of the paper. He looked at it again, then sat down on the table next to Buffy.

"It's not good news, is it?" Xander said. When Giles looked at him, Xander just shrunk back.

At that moment, Cordelia came out from behind the stacks. "So you're killing us with the tension, book guy, just tell us what's got Willow and you guys can go save her already!" Cordelia's cluelessness was obvious in her voice.

Once again, Giles shook his head in defeat. Sighing, he read the letter out loud. "Beloved Slayer - I have your little witch. And if you want her to live to see another day, come by my house tomorrow night, at nine...and prepare to see sparks fly. See you in Hell, Slayer." Giles paused. "Sincerely, Angelus."

Xander was enraged and speechless at the same time, sending out little squeaks as a form of communication. He sat there, still and quiet, as his mind processed the letter. "He's gonna kill her."

Buffy shook her head defiantly. "No he won't. Not if I have anything to say about it." Turning to Giles, she started to get her information. "Number one -where's this house of his? It can't be his apartment, that's for sure."

Taking another look at the letter, Giles shook his head. "It has an address here...I recognize the road name. I believe it may be an old run-down mansion...it's known for a few murders committed inside."

"A serial killer's temple," Cordelia noted. Xander took her hand in worry for his best friend's safety.

"Number two - why would he take willow? I mean, she's a good friend to us and all, and that would make sense for the kidnapping, but why her? Why not Xander or Cordelia, or you, Giles?" Buffy's concern was for her friends, but it sounded of a demand made of fools. In other words, they had no idea.

"I don't know, Buffy...perhaps he wished Willow to perform a spell for him." Giles rubbed his head again, and took his glasses off the clean them.

Oz stood up. "Xander," he said, looking at the teenager, "when we were at Willy's...he said something about a big demon." He looked at Xander for support.

Xander began to understand. "Yeah," he said slowly. "He said something about the world going to Hell...I believe it was literal."

"Yeah. Some demon or thing or whatever was going to do the big Hellmouthy thing," Oz added.

"You mean, open the Hellmouth?" Giles asked. He ran to the bookcases. "There aren't that many demons who possess such power...oh my." Worried he rushed into his office, and Slayerettes could hear him tearing through his files on his desk. Soon after he came back out, holding up a folder.

"Acathla."

***

The world seemed to swirl around her as she tried to clear the cobwebs from her brain. First the air seemed of smoke, then mist, then finally she could see the dark gray stone clearly. Unfortunately, she had no idea where that was.

Willow realized that she was on the floor. That was a new concept to her, for ever since she had been abducted, she had been hanging on the wall. She reached to rub her sore wrists, but soon noticed that she was still chained. Just not hanging.

Slowly, she began to stand up. Looking around her, Willow took in her surroundings. Gray walls, stone floor, broken glass and pottery on the stone floor, and a huge statue of a demon in the middle of the room.

She took another look at the demon statue. Its mouth was shut, and a sword was protruding from its chest. The demon's eyes seemed to glow almost, but seemed dimmed by something unnatural. Perhaps it was the stone it was encased in.

Willow finally turned back to her current predicament. She was still chained. The chains connected her wrists to the wall behind her, but they were at least three feet long. She found that she could stand up and see the room from there, for her ankles were no longer chained.

The hacker changed her mind and sat back down, rubbing her chafed ankles. So she was chained in a room with a giant stone demon, after passing out from God-knows-what, and knowing that she was going to die within twenty-four hours.

As her mind began to drift back to what knocked her out, a voice poked into her thoughts.

"I see you're awake, hacker...that's good, because I'm relying on your screams to bring the Slayer here."

Willow gritted her teeth. "Angelus."

The vampire revealed himself from the shadows. "C'est moi, ma chère. How can I resist such a wonderful woman such as you?"

Willow tried her best to shoot daggers at him with her eyes.

Unfortunately, she failed miserably.