Where Darkness Leads

Chapter 7

Giles sat in his office reading the journals of William Hatsford. He appreciated the journals because it was like looking back into history. The words acted like a doorway to the past. The role of a Watcher was never an easy job as he read his entries.

June 20, 1675

I buried Catherine today. She was laid to rest in a Boston churchyard. Since Boston was the place of her home before the time of her calling I felt she would've liked the spot I'd chosen for her. I was never prepared to watch her die though I'd always understood the life of a Slayer took a grave amount of risk. We both understood the danger but it still pains to feel that I have failed her somehow. I was too late to stop it from happening. By the time I had arrived the house was in ashes. All that was left was her lifeless body on the cold slab and Joshua's Miller scorched carcass. However, she died gratefully not in vein and it is that which gives me comfort. She was a true fighter and a loyal dear friend. I will love and miss her always.

William Hatsford Esq. "Xander!" Willow said meeting him at the door to the library quickly noticing the big bruises on his arms. "What happened to you?"

"Ah, it's nothing, I'm fine."

His tone was the beefy one he sometimes took to show he was tough but on the inside he was hurting.

"Don't tell me it's nothing," she said upset. "You were hurt somehow."

"Alright, somebody last night decided to body slam my body around my room."

"Who was it?"

"That is just it, Willow. No one was in the room except me."

Buffy walked towards them and saw the same bruises on his arm.

"Xander! What....?"

"Not again," he said cutting her off. "I'm a wimp. Let us get beyond this, okay?"

Buffy developed a puzzled looked on her face as they entered the library.

"Giles, anything to report?" she asked.

"Not entirely yet. I've been reading the journals. She was quite a formidable Slayer. He gave her a fitting burial."

Giles noticed Xander and grew concerned.

"Xander, what happened to....?"

"Okay, I was slammed against the walls of my room by somebody who wasn't there."

"You mean you were levitated?"

"Yes, if u want to put it that way."

Buffy and Giles exchanged knowing glances.

"Okay, what secret have you two been keeping from us?"

"Last night Buffy was almost attacked by the spirit of a warlock."

"Who has suddenly decided to play with my friends," Buffy said.

"A warlock?!" Willow said surprisingly.

"Remember Amy's mother?"

Willow simply nodded.

"This guy makes her look like Pee-Wee Herman."

Amy Madison's mother was known affectionately as Catherine the Great. She was called that from her years in high school having become a great cheerleader taking her squad to the state championship. She in her powers of dark magic switched bodies with her daughter to relive the glory days she once had. Buffy gave her an untimely end becoming trapped in the same trophy she had always coveted and cherished.