For Want Of A Sheet
Part Two
Buffy waved her kids in close to her and crouched down to their level.
"Okay, what did Mrs. Davis give you?"
The kids all pulled out toothbrushes.
Buffy shook her head sadly. "She must be stopped. Let's hit one more house." She stood up. "We still have a few minutes before I need to get you back."
*****
In the back room of his costume shop, Ethan chanted. He drew the magic into himself, reveling in it. The taste, like the finest scotch. The texture, like sharkskin rubbing against his nerves. Sheer, unadulterated power that filled every fiber of his being and begged, yearned, demanded to be set loose onto an unsuspecting world.
He smiled as he felt the spell come to a climax.
"Showtime!"
*****
"I could've sworn I had more candy," the old lady said.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Monster. Maybe I..."
The child in the green mask morphed into a demon and grabbed her throat, viciously choking her. The other kids screamed and ran.
"No!" Willow cried, frozen in shock. "Let her go!"
Another demon child, this one red, attacked the green one. The old lady managed to wrench herself free and fled screaming into her house, slamming the door behind her.
"Stop!" Willow screamed, trying to pull the demons apart. "Hey!"
She shuddered as she felt something pass through her. It felt like an electric jolt through her entire body. She shook off the feeling and looked around frantically.
"What the hell was that?"
She spun when she heard the sound of bullets tearing through the night.
"Xander?"
Fleeing from the still fighting demons, Willow ran into the street and searched for her friend. She caught sight of him and started running, coming up from behind.
She slowed down before she reached him and looked him over. He looked good. Very good. The fatigues seemed to fit him better than they had earlier. Or maybe he fit the fatigues better.
<Damn,> she thought. <Tear me off a piece of that.>
"Xander!" she cried, shaking off the thought and moving towards him.
Xander spun and pointed his rifle at her face.
Willow skidded to a stop and flung her hands out. "It's me, Willow!"
Xander didn't seem to recognize her. "I don't know any Willow," he said.
"Xander, quit screwing around. This is no time for jokes."
Xander looked at her blankly, then slowly brought his rifle down to his side. "What the hell's going on here?"
"You don't know me?" Willow asked fearfully.
Xander hefted his rifle to a ready position. "Lady, I suggest you find cover." He moved to walk past her.
Willow stepped in front of him. "No, wait!"
Xander couldn't stop in time and walked right into her, knocking her to the ground.
"Ow!" she cried, bringing her hands down to rub at her butt.
Xander stopped and looked at her for a moment. Then he sighed and held his hand out to her. "I'm sorry," he said, as he pulled her to her feet.
"Don't worry about it," Willow said. "You can bump me anytime." Her skin tingled where his body had touched hers.
Xander stared at her strangely, then said, "What is going on here?"
"I don't know," Willow said. "Listen, I'm on your side, I swear! Something weird is happening. People are turning into their costumes. There were some kids back there, dressed as monsters, and now they're really monsters! And you were supposed to be a solider, and now, I, I guess you're a real soldier."
"You expect me to believe that?" Xander asked, then spun to point his rifle at a monster that appeared across the street.
The monster ran away as Willow threw herself in front of Xander's gun. "No!" she screamed. "No guns! That's still a little kid in there!"
"Step out of the way!"
"No guns! That's an order, damn it!"
Xander slowly lowered the rifle.
Willow breathed a sigh of relief, then said, "We just need to find... Buffy!" Seeing the Slayer, Willow ran off down the street. Xander followed.
"Buffy!" Willow said. "Are you okay?"
Xander heard something behind them. He turned to see that the monster was back, and it had brought a friend. He brought his rifle to bear on them. "This could be a situation," he said to Willow.
Willow nodded. "Buffy," she asked frantically. "What do we do?"
Buffy fainted.
***
End
***