By Nicole
Author's Note: Please feedback is really a need here. I am getting the dreaded writer's block. Please tell me how you liked if so far. I would also like to say thanks to Pixie for posting my story and I would like to say Thanks to everyone who sent me feedback. I luv you guys!!!!!
Part 5: Back at Sunnydale Library:
"So that's it? After all this time wondering and hoping for a chance, this was all we had to do. It was right here looking us in the faces every single day and..."
"Buffy, please calm down!" Giles said trying to control Buffy's emotions before she went to her usual methods of violence.
"But Giles..."
"Buffy, PLEASE!"
"Giles, how can it be completed?" Cordy asked confused.
"Well, this restoration spell is more complicated than the last one. This one will fully restore his soul, allowing him to be full human again. There are more complicated parts to it and more dangerous methods to perform it. Of course, Willow will have to perform it with all our help."
"And if it all works out?" Xander asked from his chair next to Cordelia.
"Then Angel will be human, permanently."
"YESSSS!" Buffy screamed from her seat and started to bounce up and down.
"I can't wait till he gets here so I can tell him. Oh, the major happiness of this day!!!" Xander and Cordelia looked at each other and smiled, as did Giles. Things were finally looking up for the Scooby Gang. The large amount of crime lately had caused some tension and uneasiness, but this news definitely relieved a lot of it. While they all sat in the library rejoicing and discussing when the spell should be done, the doors of the library burst open and a crazed Oz came running through.
"GILES! GILES! It's Willow, she's in trouble!" Oz yelled as he reached them.
"What are you talking about, Oz? Sit down." Xander pulled out a seat for his friend, and Cordelia ran to get him a drink of water.
"What happened to Willow, Oz?" Buffy asked with a frightened tone.
"I... I don't know. I went to her house like I was supposed to this morning, and no one answered the door. I busted the door in and she wasn't inside. I... I looked all over the house for her but she wasn't there Buffy she...." Oz put down his head and started sobbing. Cordelia ran into the room with a cup of water and handed it to Oz. He took and drank it all in one gulp.
"I just... I don't know what to do. I can't do this without her... I can't I live without her, Buffy.. I can't... I..." Oz started to cry again, and Buffy pulled him into a hug glancing up into Giles' face who gave her a defeated look.
"Well, did you see anything when you were there? We can't just sit around here and do nothing! Willow is somewhere out there and she could be in real serious danger! She could be..."
"XANDER!" Cordelia yelled abruptly, which quieted him and everyone else immediately. "Xander, calm down."
"Oz, is there anything you saw that could lead us to finding her?" Giles asked with anticipation in his voice. Oz controlled himself a little.
"I found this on her night stand next to the bed and this was on the bedroom floor." Oz handed Giles the note and piece of cloth. Giles read over the note and then handed it to Xander, who read it and walked away with tears in his eyes. Cordelia handed the note to Buffy and ran after him.
"'Your little ghost' what the hell does that mean?" Buffy asked after reading the note.
"I have no idea. Giles smell the cloth there is some funky smell on it, like Patches." Oz said still being able to make a joke in his state. Giles brought the cloth up to his nose and smelled it. He pulled it away quickly.
"Oh my, its ether."
"ETHER! Then that means... Oh my God! Oh my God, WILLOW! Oh God!" Oz yelled rocking back and forth in his chair, as fresh new tears fell from his eyes.
"Giles what are we gonna do? We don't even have a good lead. We have ether and a 'Your a little ghost...' note. Where is that gonna lead us?" Buffy asked trying to remain calm for Oz's sake.
"I'll tell you where it leads us ... to the wonderful land of NOWHERE!" Xander yelled, very pissed off.
"I gotta agree with Xander on this one, we really don't have any leads, but that is no reason to lose hope." Cordelia said as she and Xander walked back inside.
Xander was quiet again and then finally piped up trying his best to put on a happy face. "Listen. Willow is out there somewhere alone and afraid. We have to find her before it is too late. I mean come on, we got a wedding in two weeks right, Oz?"
Oz looked up from his chair his eyes red and badly swollen. "Let's go." he said quietly. "We gotta find my baby." he said. With those last words of confidence, the Scooby Gang (minus their beloved hacker) went to work.
******************************** Somewhere in Sunnydale, not far from the highschool:
Willow shook herself awake lightly. She was trying to lift her head up, but stopped herself when she felt immense pain. "OHHHH..." she moaned quietly.
< Oww! My head! >
She tried to move her arms to rub her head in an attempt to relieve some pain, but found them held down by something. < What the heck? >
Willow slowly opened her eyes and shut the again trying to adjust to the shine from the lights hitting her pupils. When her eyes finally adjusted,she was frightened by what she saw.
"What the...where am I?" She looked at her body. She was attached to a long table and her arms and legs were held down by chains and stuff. She tried to remember how she got to this place, but all she remembered was saying goodnight to Oz and going to sleep in her... OZ!!
< Oz! Oh my God! Where is he? >
As all these thoughts were coming to pass a figure slowly emerged from the shadows. "Well, well, look who has decided to join us." the man said.
"Who are you and what do you want from me?" Willow asked, trying not to allow the fear to rise in her voice.
"You should know who I am, Willow?" The man was tall and thin and had a mask covering his face, so Willow had no idea what he was talking about or who he was.
"What do you want with me?"
< Who is this guy? His voice sounds so familiar. >
"It's simple really. I kidnap you and the Slayer, and her vampire comes to find you. I shoot her in the head with 35mm and I stake him. He goes POOF, and everyone is happy. Esp. me and my wonderful mounds of money."
< Okay, if he thinks a 35mm is gonna stop Buffy and he is gonna stake Angel, I am as good as saved. >
"So, this is about Buffy, and as you already stated money?" "Yes, among other things. I also have a nit-pic with the Ripper or her Watcher rather."
< The Ripper? > Willow stared at the mask man as memories of the years before came rushing back to her. She knew who this man was for he was the only one who ever called Rupert Giles "Ripper".
"Oh my God, E..." The man fastly walked over to her and covered her mouth with his hand.
"Sorry my little ghost, talking time is over. You're quite the detective aren't you, but you see I don't want anyone who doesn't have to knowing who I am, after all that's why I am wearing a mask. So, I think it's time for you to get some shut eye."And with that he punched her in the face which forced her to black out again. The man smiled.
"There was no part of that that wasn't fun. I could get to like this whole kidnapper thing." He walked away and left Willow there lying limply.
******************************* Back at Sunnydale Highschool's Library-The same day many hours later:The left over tension in the room was unbearable. The whole Scooby Gang had been full of emotions of fright and sorrow for their missing member. A whole afternoon and half of night had passed and there was still no lead to the where abouts of Willow. Angel had came by later that night and was very disturbed to find out the news about Willow. Buffy and him left late in the night and he promised to return the next evening. Buffy would come as soon as she awoke in the morning. Cordelia drove around for hours hoping to find Willow wandering the streets somewhere. Xander and Giles looked through the books thoroughly, searching in them for anything they could possibly find to give them a lead about the strange note. At about two in the morning, Giles retreated to his office and shut the door behind him, leaving Xander and Oz alone at the table. They just stared at the door for a few seconds and then with sad and tired eyes they returned to their work
Xander put his book down silently, and walked away from the table, retreating to the many stalls of books. He walked into the farthest aisle and crumbled to the floor in a fit of sobs. He tired to muffle them, so Oz would not hear them. That was the last thing Oz needed right now, more loss of hope. Xander sat there tears slowly making their way down his cheek bone onto his clothes. He thought about Willow, his best friend, Willow, his companion, and Willow, who was supposed to marry the man she loved in a few days. He sat on the floor remembering all the times they had spent together and all the times they had fought demons and vampires. He thought about how she never let anyone give up hope too easily and how without her here that was exactly what they were all doing slowly. He thought until one very sad memory came to his mind.....
< "Come on Will...Look you don't have a choice here. You gotta wake up. I need you Will. How am I gonna pass trig? Who am I gonna call every night to talk about what we did all day. You're my best friend, you've always... I love you." >
That was that was the night that Buffy was forced to send Angel to hell. The night that Kendra was killed by the hands of the vampiress Druscilla and Willow was hit with the book stall. The very stall where he was wallowing in his misery right now. He had almost lost her once and he was determined for it not to happen again.
This thought crossed Xander's mind but he couldn't force himself to move. He was frozen to the floor, only allowed to cry. Xander laid on the floor and rested his head on his arms. He sat there thinking, and finally falling asleep, as the last tear rolled down his face, off the bridge of his nose and onto the floor.
< There goes Xander. > Oz thought.
He knew Xander was crying the minute he went into the stalls and didn't return.
< Everyone is giving up. She hasn't been gone a day and everyone is going crazy thinking the worst. No! > Oz had already been at that point many times through the night. He was now at the point of total determination.
< Willow is fine. We are gonna find her just like Xander said, and then we are gonna get married. She is fine. >
Oz had been telling himself that since he found the note. From the moment he found the note, his emotions ranged from fright, to sadness, to loss, and back to fright appearing over and over again. The whole night he had watched one by one as his friends... < Willow's friends. > walked out of the library doors. He played over the event of the afternoon and night in his head.
He had watched Buffy walk out with a hopeful smile on her face, but just as she reached the door Oz saw her put her hand over her mouth and heard a small sob come from her. Then she was gone. Angel was next to follow. He glanced at Oz as he passed, but quickly turned and walked away looking at the floor the rest of the way out. Cordelia had spent most of the afternoon looking through books. There were circles forming under her eyes, and he knew she had to get out of the library. He had lost track of time.
At one point of the night, Cordelia rose from her chair, whispering something to Xander, who gave her a small kiss on the lips. Oz didn't try to make it out what she had said to Xander, but he knew she too, was leaving as she grabbed her car keys. She walked around the table and gave his shoulders a tight squeeze. Oz looked up at her and found something he would have never expected from Cordelia Chase. She had tears in her eyes and there was something about them, as if she was trying to tell him everything would be fine. He tried to smile at her, but he knew the smile he had attempted hadn't turned out right and he returned to the books he was looking through. She stood there one more moment and then turned and left the room with only thesound of the clicking of her heels hitting the ground as she left. Giles had went into his office a couple of hours ago and never came back out, and now Xander was gone.
The library had become so quiet. Oz rubbed his swollen eyes and looked at his watch.
< Five o'clock in the morning.` > It was dawn. He laughed inspite of himself.
< Willow would have been on her computer right now. > A tear rolled down his cheek, as he thought about the first time he and his beautiful fiancee had decided to pursue their relationship. It was the day after the whole Scooby Gang, including himself had found out he was a werewolf ...
< "I don't know, it think it might be better if I stayed out of your way for a while." "Well, I kinda like having you in my way." "You mean...you'd still." "Well, I like you. You're nice, and you're funny and you don't smoke, and okay, werewolf, but that's not all the time. I mean, three days out of the month I'm not much fun to be around, either." "You are quite the human." "So'd I still if you'd still." "I'd still... I'd very still." "Okay, but no biting though." "Agreed" > Then she had walked away leaving him smiling after her. To his confusion and soon joy she had turned around and initiated what had become their first kiss.
He wiped his fresh tears away and resumed to his book. He was going to find her. He was sure of it. He wasn't letting go this easily. He sat there hearing no sound except for the soft ticking of the clock on the wall, as the sun rose up of the horizion and shone through the library window.
Continues
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