Dance With the Dead (BTVS, Book Six)

chapter 21 - Two to Go

Anya, Xander, Buffy and I were running through the woods that night in an attempt to find Willow.

Xander stopped, leaning against a tree. "I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Again?" Anya asked.

"Xander, we don't have time," I told him.

"I know, it's just..." Xander trailed off, breathing heavily. "What happened back there, the sounds of it... the smell..."

Anya looked patient.

"I know," Buffy told us.

"Willow did that," Xander told us.

"That's why we have to keep moving," Buffy told us.

I put a hand on Xander's shoudler, coaxing him back into motion. "You heard what she said, 'one down'."

"So, we're talking about 'two to go', right?" Anya asked. "Jonathan and what's-his-face, the other guy?"

"Andrew," Buffy answered. "They're sitting at county jail without a clue Willow's coming."

"You don't think she's gonna kill them, too?" Xander asked. "She wouldn't. It doesn't make sense."

"Willow's got an addictive personality, and she just tasted blood," I told them. "She could be there already."

"No, she couldn't, a witch at her level," Anya told us. "She can only go airborne." We stopped walking, looking at her in confusion. "It's a thing. More flashy, impresses the locals, but it does take longer."

"Longer than what?" Xander asked.

"Teleporting," Anya answered, disappearing in a swirl of magic.

"Right," Xander told us. "Vengeance demon." He sighed sarcastically. "Well, at least she'll get there first."

"I'm counting the ways that could go wrong," Buffy told us.

We kept walking.

"Well, Anya can handle herself," I told them.

"Against Willow?" Buffy asked. "Tonight? Don't be too sure."

"Well, she should be coming at some point, shouldn't she?" Xander asked. "I mean, back there, she was out of her head, running on grief and magics."

"Doesn't matter," Buffy told us. "Willow just killed someone. Killing people changes you. Believe me, I know."

"Warren was a cold-blooded killer of women, just warming up," Xander told us. "You ask me, that bastard had it coming to him."

"Maybe," I told them. "Andrew and Jonathan don't."

"This is still Willow we're dealing with, right?" Xander asked.

"I hope so," Buffy told us. "Whatever she's going through, we have to stop her. And maybe we can actually do that if we can get to your..." We stopped walking when we reached Xander's car, seeing that it was half-hidden by bushes, with smoke coming out of the hood, and that there was also a large hole in the windshield. "Car."

"Willow," I told them. "I guess she wants to finish the job without us tagging along." I looked at Xander. "Meet us at the jail."

"Sure," Xander told us. "How are you gonna..." Buffy and I started running as fast as we could, leaping over the car and surrounding bushes, running off at Slayer-speed. Xander called after us. "Okay, then. I'll just... catch up."

  ••••••  

Buffy and I ran up to the police station, peering around the corner at the scene where Willow was using magic to start and tear the building apart, while several officers were aiming guns at her but couldn't shoot them. Buffy pulled me into the building through a door right behind us. I kicked in another door, so that both of us could run in, jump over a divider wall, and run upstairs to the cells.