Disclaimer: Joss & Co. owns all these people, demons, creatures, etc. You know the drill.

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Chapter Nine - Predator Meets Prey

Buffy fought hard but her attacker had her pinned. He had caught her off-guard, as it wasn't vampires she had been running after, but Willow. She was sure she'd seen the redhead walking through the graveyard mere moments ago. The longer she struggled with this vampire, the less likely she was going to be able to pick up her friend's trail. Buffy froze in disbelief when her attacker began poking her hard in the back, speaking in frustrated tones.

"Quit fighting me, you silly bint! Shoulda known you weren't working right. Where the hell is the damn off switch?" Buffy renewed her efforts and tossed the vampire on to his back. She flipped herself to her feet and looked down at him, eyes blazing.

"What the hell is going on, Spike?" To her surprise, the vampire just grinned.

"Lord, that's good. That's the best you've done yet...I almost believe you're actually her." Understanding dawned in Buffy's eyes, followed a moment later by disgust.

"I can't believe it. You repaired the robot?" she shrieked. Before Spike could recover himself, Buffy shook her head. "Never mind. I don't want to hear it. Which way did Willow go?"

"What?" Spike asked, dazed. "You're...you're saying you're...it can't be."

"I don't have time for this..." Buffy growled. "Willow. Did you see her?" Spike nodded, still reeling. "Which way did she go?"

Spike pointed mutely, and Buffy took off running again. A moment later Giles and Dawn came running up.

"Spike?" Giles asked doubtfully, the blank expression on the vampire's face quite unlike any he'd ever seen there before. A vampire in shock just wasn't something one saw everyday.

"Spike!" Dawn cried joyfully. "Did you see Buffy?"

Spike wordlessly pointed in the same direction, and Giles and Dawn dashed after the Slayer. Spike closed his eyes and took a deep unneeded breath that turned into a sob.

"She's alive," he murmured, still not quite believing it. "Buffy's alive." A sudden jolt ran through him and he jumped to his feet. "Buffy's alive and you just let her run off, you wanker!" he reproached himself as he took off running in the same direction.

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Willow was humming and dancing as she reached the edge of the graveyard. She wandered up onto the street and began to do a strange half-skip step down the sidewalk. Suddenly a shadow blocked her path, and she looked up with a frown.

"You ruined my dance," she said. The youth who had stepped in front of her, a hulking football player from the UC-Sunnydale squad, smiled down at the girl.

"Sorry, beautiful," he said, his eyes grazing her body lustfully. Ostara had wanted to make certain Willow was noticed, and had conjured her into an outfit that was not dissimilar to the one she had worn one infamous Halloween. The main difference was the skirt of this outfit was long, down to her ankles, but slit on both sides all the way up to the top of her thighs. The bustier, skirt and boots were all jet black, emphasizing the pallor of her skin. Her hair was in tangles, but this only made her look more alluring, like she had recently tumbled out of bed. "Let me make it up to you."

"Will there be dancing?" Willow asked, grabbing his hand as it reached for her and tracing a pattern on his palm. Mistaking her strange behavior for heavy flirting, the jock smiled.

"Whatever you want, baby," he said, leaning in closer. "I'm Josh, by the way. I didn't catch your name." Willow looked up at him and smiled.

"Whatever you want," she echoed languidly, and Josh wasted no time steering her towards the Bronze. He didn't know what he had done to get this lucky, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. First he'd dance with her at the Bronze, just to make all his buddies jealous, then they'd get down to dancing of the horizontal kind. Willow laughed, and Josh laughed along, not sure what was so funny, but happy to laugh with her just the same. They vanished around the corner seconds before Buffy arrived on the street, looking around in frantic desperation.

"Willow!" she shouted, but received no answer. She threw up her hands in frustration, pacing up and down the walk until Giles, Dawn and Spike emerged. She immediately turned to Giles.

"I saw her, Giles! Willow! She was here. She was right here!" Buffy was overcome, and the three of them eyed her nervously. Rarely had they seen her get this upset.

"Ah, I think we should return to the Magic Box," Giles said finally. "The others don't know that you're...back...Buffy, and they might have an idea where Willow was headed."

"Okay," Buffy said nervously. "But I hope Xander's there. We've got to keep him away from her."

"Whatever for?" Spike asked softly, still marveling at the fact that he was talking to her again. She glared at him.

"You!" she spit. "Find Willow. It's your fault I lost her. And you'd better do something about your robot girlfriend, too, or I will." She relented slightly at his hurt expression, and added softly. "I had a vision...Willow's going to kill Xander if we can't stop her. And there's something else, some other kind of threat..." Buffy's eyes clouded and she seemed no longer aware of the other's presence. Dawn's concerned hand on her arm brought her back to the present.

"Let's go," Dawn said softly. She and Giles gently stirred Buffy back towards the car.

"I'll find your witch for you. And if I see the whelp, I'll keep him away from her," Spike called after them, wincing at the sound of his voice. *Back to being the Slayer's lapdog,* he thought. *Not like I ever really stopped, was it?* Spike turned and headed into the darkness, following a trail that only a vampire could, noting that something about the witch felt a bit off. And that she most definitely wasn't alone.

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The cave reminded him of something...something old, almost ancient. Another cave, another fire, another sacrifice. He shouldn't have that memory, but he did. Thanks to her, he was reliving the past, using dark magicks never-transcribed and long-forgotten, reaching out to them, bending their will to his own. Correction, to his own. He was only the vessel, created to be used. He understood that now. He understood everything now. And while part of him cried out in protest as his mouth formed the ancient commands and his hands traced the forbidden symbols, another part of him couldn't resist the exhilarating feeling of the power as it filled him. He heard the rustling and whispering that surrounded him quiet, and when Cas Harvey spoke, those he spoke to had no choice but to hear and obey.

"We honor our mother by reclaiming this land for her glory. Sunnydale will be our garden, and Ostara will govern over all. Go forth, my brethren. The power of Ostara is upon you, and none shall be able to stand against you, not man nor demon. Those who try shall perish, and their blood will salt our earth. Our mother must be avenged, the wicked must be punished. I will lead you to Anyanka and..." Cas swallowed, the words sticking in his throat momentarily, "and your force will make her pay. Make her bleed. She will be the first!"

As one, Ostara's army turned and proceeded from the cave, their numbers swelling as the magic reached out towards all corners of the woods and more and more joined them from all different directions. Sunnydale had faced many horrors over centuries, but none they had faced till now could prepare them for this menace. They covered the roads and passages like a huge moving blanket, their teeth and eyes glistening with magic. The first people to see them reacted first with wonder and even laughter, then nonplussed astonishment, then finally terror. Those who escaped that first onslaught would later wake up screaming from nightmares about something that they would never adequately be able to explain to anyone who hadn't been there. The horror of watching creatures that seemed so harmless bring such unimaginable carnage.

The bunnies decimated all life in their path. Sunnydale would never find them cute again.

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"He wouldn't just leave! Not in the middle of all this!" Anya wailed anxiously. As Tara had filled Xander in about what the warlock had told her about Willow's condition, Anya had realized that Cas was missing. She had searched the shop for him and found no trace, and now she was near panic. Amy was ostensibly helping her look, but the skittish girl was mostly just jumping when Anya spoke too loudly.

"But w-we've looked everywhere," Amy said faltering. "H-he's not h-here."

"I know he's not here," Anya snapped. "Someone must have taken him...oh my God! Some demon's got Cas and he's gonna die!" Tara came over to her and lay a calming hand on her arm.

"I just did a locator spell for Xander...he's on his way to Willow," Tara said. Anya started, she hadn't even noticed her ex-boyfriend leave. "I can do one for you to find Cas." Anya's eyes shone at Tara's offer, but before she could accept The Magic Box door was slammed open and Dawn entered.

"Oh my God, Dawnie!" Tara cried, enveloping the girl in a hug. Anya was distracted by the two people who had come in behind Dawn. Giles was expected, of course, but...

"Xander said she was dead," Amy muttered, her eyes open wide in shock. Her nose twitched rapidly. “She doesn’t look dead...or smell dead, either.”

"She was dead last time I checked, but this is Sunnydale. Things don‘t always stay dead around here," Anya shrugged. Buffy's eyes were searching the room frantically, and clearly she wasn't finding that for which she was hoping.

"Goddess," Tara softly swore as she realized Buffy was there. "Buffy..."

"Where's Xander?" Buffy demanded.

"He just left...to go find Willow...Buffy, you're alive?" Tara exclaimed joyously, moving to hug her friend, who adroitly stepped back. Tara stopped, faltering at Buffy’s intensely focused expression. It was almost as if she couldn’t even see the rest of them.

"I brought her back," Dawn said wearily. "She's okay, really, she's just freaking over Willow-"

"Xander left how long ago?" Buffy asked, acting as if her sister hadn’t even spoken. Tara frowned as she noticed she wasn’t wearing her watch.

"It hasn't been long..." she said, growing more alarmed by the minute at Buffy's visible frustration.

"Ten, maybe fifteen minutes, I think," Amy murmured, twitching noticeably when their attention turned to her. Tara put a quick comforting arm around the girl. Buffy nodded, grabbed a sword from behind the counter and ran from the shop.

"Buffy!" Dawn called after her, to no avail. "Wait," she finished sadly. “Giles,” the girl moaned quietly, but the Watcher was still staring at the recently deratted witch.

"Amy? Is that you?" Giles asked softly. The girl nodded, and he looked to Tara questioningly.

"Willow," Tara said simply. Anya grabbed Giles' arm, frustrated that her problem was no longer receiving attention.

"Giles, Cas has disappeared...and no, not like his little vanishing tricks. Something's happened to him, I can feel it."

"Anyanka has feelings? How very new and different. And might I add, delicious." The voice caused them all to jump. Out of nowhere a glistening silver lady had appeared, half-floating like some kind of fairy made of ice. She was beautiful, but so cold and cruel that they all instinctively moved away from her. Giles automatically pushed Dawn behind him, trying to make sure it was he that faced the stranger. Anya peaked out from behind Giles as well, as Amy cringed against Tara’s shoulder. "I hope one of them is pain."

Anya gasped and clutched Giles’ shoulder tighter. Amy whimpered.

"Who are you? And what do you want with Anya?" Giles demanded. The woman smiled chillingly.

"Anyanka knows, don't you dear?" she asked the frightened former demon. Anya appeared to be trying hard to remember something. She swayed in shocked recollection when it finally clicked for her.

"N-no, you c-can't be..." she stammered. "I wished you gone."

"Yes, you did. I spent a millennia in oblivion. Do you have any idea how unpleasant that can be?" The woman laughed, the sound of discordant bells. "Well, the important thing is I'm back. Back to finish what I started. And guess what, dear? I'll be beginning with you."

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