SquidgeWorld Archive

Prolog

"Okay, come on, Willow, spill," Xander commanded imperatively. "How am I doing in your little computer studies course?"

"You know I can't tell you that," Willow replied with a prim smile, sticking her arm through Oz's. "It would be a violation of school regulations."

"I'm flunkin' out, aren't I?" Xander moaned. "It's not enough that I flunked last year, I'm gonna take a zip-all on summer school and get held back as a Junior. I can't TAKE it!"

Cordelia Chase ran a hand comfortingly across Xander's shoulders. "Breathe, honey," she murmured snidely.

"You're doing *fine*, Xander," Willow answered him hastily. "Well, maybe not 'fine' for any normal student, but you're not in any danger of failing. Not much, anyways," she added, remembering the final test scheduled for the next morning.

"And we'll have, what, a week before school starts again for the fall?" Buffy griped happily. "That is so harsh." The five friends (taking the term loosely,) continued walking down the street, the warmth of the night surrounding them.

"So, are we going to the Bronze or not?" Cordelia pressed. "I think Xander deserves a little early celebration for almost passing computer studies."

"Cordy..." Xander shot at her.

"Almost, as in," she smoothly interrupted his outburst after the first word, "almost there and will probably make it there tomorrow!" She smiled at her boyfriend as if *almost* unaware that she had left a tiny bit of backhand in her compliment.

"I dunno," Buffy offered, "The Bronze is seeming kind of dull these days." Cordelia frowned at that almost as if she felt some loyalty to her place of part-time employment. "Why can't we just walk around a little, maybe hang out at the park?"

"Because a vampire'll show up at the park, and you'll have to slay him," Cordelia objected.

"Oh, yeah," Willow argued back. "And there's never been a vampire sighting at the Bronze, has there?"

"If I might make a suggestion," Oz interposed, "the ice cream bar has in my limited experience developed a reputation as a mostly vampire-free zone..."

They walked past a sign reading BLACKSOM BEACH without noticing it...

* * * *

Past that sign, down a grassy hillslope, and about 200 meters offshore, a small rowboat drifted in the gentle surf.

"Oh, this is so beautiful," Dawn Whitby said, staring out over the ocean. "I'm so glad my parents dragged me back from St. Croix early, Devon."

"Well then I'm glad too," Devon Hamblin replied, smiling at her. He got up from his seat in the boat and sat beside Dawn on hers. "There isn't anything I'd rather do than make you happy, Dawn."

They kissed, passionately. The water on the side of the rowboat further from shore began to glow with a pale golden radiance. A slight whistling whine became audible.

"What *is* that?" Dawn said, breaking off the kiss. She looked around, and noticed the glow from the water. "Ohmigod, Devon, what IS that?"

Devon carefully stood, gazing out at the water. "I don't know babe," he whispered as Dawn stood to join him.

Suddenly, just where the glow had been brightest, an image formed, shining clearly up at them from the water; a handsome young man, brown-haired, with non-descript but pleasant clothes. His hands were brought together in front of him, holding an antique candleholder, and the flame from the candle seemed to be the source of the yellow light.

Neither Dawn nor Devon said a word. Dawn leaned forward and jumped from the boat into the water, setting it rocking violently; Devon moved slightly to keep his balance but otherwise did not react. Slowly Dawn slipped beneath the water and disappeared. The yellow radiance and the whistling sound slowly faded out. When they were gone, Devon suddenly jerked back into responsiveness. He looked around in utter shock.

Finding nothing but the empty boat, Devon called out "Dawn! DAWN!!" He waited many seconds, but nothing answered him beyond the sound of the surf. He quickly scanned the water around the boat. There was nothing there to indicate her fate. With a haunted look on his face Devon sat down in the center seat of the boat and began rowing back towards shore.

Act One

There was a hushed silence in the library as Willow worked on grading the computer studies final exams. She took her hands away from the keyboard and pulled her chair away from the computer a bit.

"Well?" Xander asked naggingly.

Buffy elbowed Xander in the side. "Don't bug her, she may just be taking a break."

"Oh, no. I'm done with the marking," Willow commented absently.

"And?" Xander prompted.

Willow paused dramatically for just a few seconds before calling out delightedly, "You all passed!" She continued, "Xander, you got a C minus, Buffy, a B. Cordelia, you got a C plus, and Oz..." She got up to stare into Oz's eyes. "You, mister, are on your way to community college with a B minus!"

"YAH!" Xander screamed at all of them.

"It would seem a celebration is in order?" Mister Tojo said mildly, heading out of the library office carrying a six-pack of soda and a cylinder of reconstituted potato chips. "In honor of four students successfully completing summer school, and two teachers assisting them in that task?"

"I'll munch to that," Cordelia shot back, snatching some pressed potato wafers and a can of cola.

About ten minutes later, Buffy noticed that Willow had gone back to the library's desktop computer. "Hey, teach, come on, it's a party!" she called out, coming over to sit beside her. "Get off that thing and celebrate!"

"I am celebrating," Willow said calmly as she ate a chip from a neat stack piled next to the machine and sipped from her soda. "Watch me revel."

"Okay, I'll bite," Buffy replied, peering at the computer screen. "What's so fascinating this time?"

"Oh, I was just checking out the police server to see if there was anything weird going on. Seems to be a quiet... Whoa! That's weird!"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"Three teenager have been reported missing over the last seventy-two hours, each of them last seen at or heading to Blacksom beach. Early this morning, the body of Sarah Gibson, the one who was reported missing three nights ago, was found by a coast guard ship. Sunnydale town coroner described it as being 'recently drowned.'"

"Which begs the question," Buffy said uncomfortably, "Where was Sarah between Monday night, when she disappeared, and last night, when she drowned?"

"Yeah," Willow agreed, equally uncomfortably.

Xander spoke up, startling both Buffy and Willow. "It seems to me that we five teenagers should go down to the beach and do some asking around. Somebody there may know something."

"Um, okay," Buffy agreed pensively. "Sounds like a plan."

"So..." Xander continued, "We head to our respective places to change into swimsuits and meet at the beach in an hour?"

* * * *

Backsom beach was quite a popular teen hangout through the warm summer months, and it was at least as busy as ever, despite the mild turn the weather was taking as August drew to a close and the fresh breeze in the air that day. Perhaps it was the realization that there was only a week left until school began that drew in the adolescent crowds in their beachwear...

Xander and Cordelia were the first to make it to the lamppost that Xander had suggested as a meeting spot. Xander, perhaps remembering the embarassment of wearing a very brief speedo while serving as a secret security guard on the swim team last spring, was wearing stylishly roomy swim shorts, a thin hawaiian-style shirt, unbuttoned, and comfortable sandals. Cordelia, contrastingly, was wearing a sporty and sexy black spandex two-piece swimsuit, with no cover-up, and black heels that seemed far more precarious on the sand than they were. Xander's eyes bugged out when he saw her.

"That's good," she told him, laughing. "I was starting to wonder if you were noticing me anymore, honey. Maybe, after we've done some asking around about disappearing people, we can find an abandoned lifeguard tower or something? Huh?" She smiled as Xander's head nodded almost involuntarily.

Buffy was approaching the lamppost while Cordelia said that. She paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing appreciatively as she watched Cordelia flirt with Xander. Then she drew off the wraparound coverup she was wearing over her light blue, one-piece, scoop-backed bathing suit, and hurried over to join them.

"Hey, there," Buffy said. "Willow and Oz haven't shown up yet?"

Xander swung around to face her. "Uh..." he said, momentarily brain-dead. Cordelia swatted him on the side of his head, and he jumped and shook his head.

"No, no sign of them yet... wait; there they are!" Cordelia said, pointing back the way Buffy had come. Sure enough, the two young people were walking towards them, holding hands. Oz was wearing a moderately revealing purple swimsuit, and Willow was in a cute green bikini and a thin lime robe-like coverup. Both wore sandals.

"Hey, Will." Buffy said. "By the way, were there any names of witnesses in the police reports? That would help for knowing who we should try to find to talk to."

"Um, yeah," Willow replied, drawing her face close in mild concentration. "Well, last night's incident was reported by a Devon Hamblin."

"Devon?" Cordelia asked, seeming slightly shocked. "Who was it?"

"Hmm... Dawn Whitby?" Willow responded.

"What? What was he doing with her?" Cordelia muttered witheringly.

"A moonlight boat ride," Willow told Cordy smugly.

"Come on, come on," Oz said, "I know where to find Devon."

"Oh, yeah, that's right," Cordelia said as the group started to follow Oz. "He's in your band, right? Did he say anything about Dawn?"

"Jealous much?" Xander said in Cordy's direction, but she ignored him.

"Actually, Devon's not in Dingos anymore," Oz remarked absently. "He left the band about a month ago."

"Oh. Bad split?" Buffy asked absently.

"Hey, Devon!" Oz called out.

The singer was sitting silently on a folding chair, looking dispiritedly out at the ocean. He was wearing loosely fitting blue jeans and a t-shirt. "Hey, Oz," he replied unenthusiastically, making a slight wave.

"Hi, Devon," Buffy said, walking straight in front of him and squatting down to about his eye-level. "We heard about what happened with you and Dawn last night."

"Really?" he asked, focusing on her face. "What did you hear?"

"Um..." Buffy stalled. "That you took a boat ride together, and she disappeared," she finished lamely.

"And who told you?" he pressed.

"Well, uh, the police computer," Buffy reluctantly admitted.

"Ah, I see. I'm the one being investigated now."

"What?" Buffy said forcefully, surprised.

"You know. You and your friends are always poking your noses into anything weird that happens in this town; interrogating people, snooping around."

"Uh, well, I..." Buffy sputtered.

"Don't be offended, *I* don't mind," he told her with a short laugh. "Everyone needs something to do, and this is kinda your thing. It's cute," Devon smiled a warm and somewhat sad smile.

"Um, so, can you tell me anything more about what happened to Dawn?"

"No." Seeing a brief flash of aggravation cloud over Buffy's face, he hastened to explain. "I don't *remember* what happened. We were just out there, kinda... you know." Buffy nodded. "And then, the next thing I knew, I was standing there in the boat, and there was no sign of her. I don't even remember when or why I stood up! I looked in the water for any sign of her breath rising, but there wasn't any. That's all I could tell the police, and that's all I can tell you."

"Okay. Thanks, Devon," Buffy said, giving his shoulder a reassuring shake before she stood back up and turned away.

"Buffy?" Devon's voice called back to her.

"Yes?" she said, turning around.

"Do you... think there's any chance she'll be okay?"

Buffy looked over at Willow, remembering what Willow had said about Sarah Gibson, and the forensic evidence being that she didn't die until two nights after she disappeared. "Yeah, there's a chance. And if I can find her, I will."

* * * *

As evening turned into night, Buffy hurried back to the beach in a lovely new bikini -- it had a snakeskin print in forest-olive green, rich dark gray, and bronze. Further investigations during the day had revealed that Sarah and Lishanne, the other victim, had each last been seen heading for late-night swims down at the beach, on successive nights; and Mister Tojo had found something in the computer searches Willow had set up. They were to meet at a small dock, where Tojo had rented a boat for them to go out into the water off the beach and wait for something weird to hapen, in -- well, she was supposed to be there right now, as it happened.

Buffy began to rush more quickly down the alley, and ran right into the suddenly outstretched elbow of a figure who had been hidden in the shadows. The impact knocked her to the ground.

Act Two

Before she even hit the ground, it seemed, Buffy was reorienting and taking in the situation. Her attacker was now visible in the diffused streetlight, a tall, slender vampire with moderately dark brown skin and wearing an exotic-looking robe. A knife scappard hung from the belted robe around his waist.

A cursory check over her shoulder revealed that a vamp who looked very much like the one who struck her was standing about twenty feet behind her. This one carried a small but vicious-looking cudgel in his right hand. Buffy tumbled to her feet, mentally cursing the fact that she didn't have a stake with her.

But that would change, Buffy realized, seeing a trashed segment of picket fence lying against the wall just beyond knife-vamp. She charged at him, feinting as if to grab at his right arm before ducking down and body-checking him in the left ribs. But the vamp didn't even grunt, and he grabbed her shoulders tightly as she tried to brush past him to claim her weapon.

That was his big mistake. Using one of the techniques Akira Tojo had recently taught her, Buffy swiveled her torso around, using an aikido principle to magnify Vampy's momentum against him. The vampire lost his grip on her and stumbled across the alley unsteadily.

Buffy turned to the fence and broke off a short length of picket that should be suitable as a stake. Unfortunately, she had forgotten to account for the whereabouts of the second vampire. A sharp impact caught her low in her right side, taking the breath out of her. A slight whistle behind her told her that the cudgel was being swung again, and if it made solid contact again, she could be in big trouble.

Buffy didn't have the wind for any great acrobatic counter, but she knew what she *could* do. She tightened her grip on the stake, which she would need if things went as she planned, and began a gentle tumble to the left. Just as she had fairly begun, she felt the vampire's club strike her in the head, as she had anticipated, but the impact wasn't great, because she was already rolling with it. She'd have a goose bump in the morning, that was the worst of it.

More confident now, Buffy came out of the tumble on her feet, and swung around to face the vampire. He was surprised, but didn't say anything. Buffy didn't give him the time to put his thoughts together; she launced a crescent kick that caught him in the head and sent him sprawling, then charged forward with her makeshift stake.

Something whizzed through the air, brushing against her bare arm, and she instinctively recoiled away from it. Turning, she saw Giles, wearing a torn shirt and leather pants, pointing a triple-action crossbow directly at her heart. It had two bolts left in it. "Leave the alley, this way," he said to the vampires, who had already picked themselves up and were lurching unsteadily past him.

Buffy swallowed slightly and brought her hands up as if prepared to catch any other bolt that might fly towards her. "What's up, Rupert?" she asked.

"I hope you don't mind being a part of that object lesson, Buffy," Giles said. "Those are the Ganges brothers; old henchmen of Kaliya's. They'd been a bit restless at her delicate handling of you, so I brought them out to see how tough you were. They're nice guys, though they haven't spoken in three hundred years."

"Cute," Buffy griped. "So, what happens now?"

"You turn around and leave for your fishing expedition. I make sure you aren't coming after me or the Ganges, then I put the crossbow down and go home."

"How do you know about that?" Buffy asked, suddenly suspicious. "Does Kaliya have something to do with those disappearances? A little psychic manipulation maybe?"

Giles smiled. "No, nothing like that. But she figured out what it was last night, with my help. It should be interesting to see if you solve it."

Buffy glared at him for a second, then turned and walked away.

* * * *

Tojo, Willow, Xander, and Oz were already in the motorboat when Buffy got there. Cordelia, of course, was even later than she was.

"Life preserver. Wear it," Tojo said, tossing it onto the bench near Buffy. "This is not an occasion to be taking chances with safety."

"Aww, do I have to?" Buffy joked. Reluctantly, she zipped the orange jacket over the top half of her sexy new bikini.

"Hey, sorry I'm late," Cordy called out as she calmly walked up the dock and the boat. "Did I miss... probably not," she decided as she came up to the boat and climbed awkwardly in.

"Life jacket, Cordelia?" Buffy inquired, handing one towards her.

"Um, no thanks, I can't," she said, gesturing down at her outfit. She was wearing a tight white short-sleeved chiffon blouse that let a sliver of her flat stomach and the outline of her bra show, and stylish shorts. "That's wet; it could ruin the fabric..."

"Just put it on," Buff ordered her. With a pained shrug, Cordelia strapped the bulky red vest on.

"So, any thoughts on what this thing could be?" Buffy inquired. "Have the swim team's fishmen gone on a rampage? Is it a sea serpent? Or a wereshark?"

"Probably not," Willow said gently. "Seeing that Sarah's body wasn't eaten or raped or anything... just drowned."

"There are some worrying facts that Willow's computer searches have turned up," Tojo said. "About this time last year, there were several disappearances and strange drownings in this area. Also one incident of a young woman who disappeared at sea and was picked up alive by a coast guard ship two days later. She didn't remember anything."

"Really?" Xander asked. "I don't remember anything like that?"

"We weren't really looking for mysterious deaths this time last year," Willow pointed out. "Just being bored and waiting for Buffy to come back."

"Two years ago, there was a single drowning reported at this beach."

"So it's a special time of year or something?" Buffy asked.

"Weirdness ho!" Oz called out suddenly. Sure enough, there was a patch of water lit by pale yellow light directly to the bow of the boat. Tojo cut the motor, but the strange glow seemed to approach them.

"The chant of Aramis would be appropriate, Willow," Tojo said quietly, and the two of them started to mutter together in a foreign language. This seemed to have some effect on the yellow glow and the slight whispering whine that slowly developed, but no-one could tell for certain the effect of the chanting. One by one they each stood up to get a better look at the strangely lit water.

Suddenly, the water shifted, and an image appeared in it. A handsome, muscular man could be seen down within the water. He had brown hair with highlights around the edges; he was wearing a dark cloaklike robe, and his hands were together in front of him, holding a tall candle, shining brightly. Although his face was different, the similarity between him and the one known as Angel was remarkable.

Suddenly the three girls, Buffy, Cordelia, and Willow were getting ready to jump off of the boat. Tojo and Oz were standing motionless, but Xander shuddered violently and realized what was going on. He moved, as carefully as he could without overturning the boat, but Buffy and Cordelia were already out of the boat. Xander caught onto Willow's leg, dragging her down into the hull of the boat. Out of the corner of his eye, Xander saw the heads of Buffy and Cordelia sink below the golden-lit waves, despite the life jackets they had been wearing.

Tojo and Oz were still standing mesmerized. Oz was out of Xander's easy reach, but he yanked Tojo off balance as he had Willow, making him fall down onto a bench. Tojo scrambled over to the engine, swung the motorboat around in a hard 180, and sped towards the shore.

"What are you doing?" Xander called out. "We've got to go back for them... they're gonna drown!"

"Not immediately," Tojo answered him. "I'll explain once we've gotten to shore.

Suddenly Oz shook his head and seemed to come back to life. "Whoa! What happened?"

* * * *

Buffy found herself suddenly in the Bronze, up on stage, wearing a different outfit; blue high-heeled leather shoes, pantyhose, a blue silk miniskirt, and a blue fuzzy cashmere sweater that was short enough to leave about half of her stomach showing. She wasn't wearing any underwear, and to judge by the view of herself in the mirror across the room, that fact was embarassingly obvious. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a blue ribbon. Cordelia was standing beside her, in an outfit that was completely identical to the one she found herself in, excepting allowances for her different proportions, and the color, which was red.

"Well well now!" Buffy followed the voice to a gawky young man with orange-brown hair, sitting at a table. He whistled. "I think I'll keep you here for a while... no matter how hard it is holding you under water with those damn life jackets!"

Act Three

Buffy jumped down off the stage and was at the guy in a second, closing her hand around his throat. "What do you mean, 'keep us here?' Where is here?"

He blinked his eyes, and suddenly Buffy was several feet away from him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't move closer. "Where does it look like? The Bronze nightclub. Or, more precisely, *my* hallucinatory recreation of the Bronze."

"Why? Why have you brought us here. Why are you 'keeping' us here? And *what* the hell is with these trampy clothes?"

"Well, if you wanna take them off, cutie, I got no problems with that!" He grinned lewdly at her. "Okay, I think that's enough questions for now. By the way, I'm Donny, and these," he gestured to two girls standing nearby, in similar getups to their own, in purple and yellow, "are Lishanne and Dawn. You are?"

"Cordelia," Cordelia muttered submissively.

"I oughta tear your heart out!" Buffy growled menacingly.

"Now, now," Donny held up a hand warningly at her. "I will not have any of that, sweetie. And, just to satisfy your natural curiosity, I *can* enforce my wishes, in here." Donny cocked his head suddenly, "Speaking of which, Lishanne, it's almost time for you to leave us now. And I'm afraid that you aren't doing too well in my evaluation. Really, you've only got one chance to redeem yourself." He walked over to the girl in yellow, who didn't say a word. "Will you pay my price, Lishanne?" Donny asked. "Your love for one hour, that you won't even remember once I let you go, in exchange for your life?"

"Uh, no! No!!" Lishanne burst out, vigorously shaking her head.

"Then die, bitch!" Donny growled. Suddenly Lishanne disappeared from the Bronze.

* * * *

A few feet beneath the surface of the sea, Lishanne's body suddenly came to life. Her eyes opened, and her mouth strained to draw breath, but she couldn't get back up to the surface. After a number of seconds her struggling stopped. Only after that did her body slowly float up to the surface, bobbing listlessly.

Over on the shore, Tojo was quickly briefing Willow, Xander, and Oz. "I recognize this entity, now," he said. "I probably should have identified the signs earlier. It is an undersea ghost, the dead spirit of a drowning victim, known as a Colonach Candle. It manifests as a glowing yellow light beneath the waves, but can convert that to an illusion of a human figure, holding a candle. The sight of its illusions enables the spirit to make psychic contact, to lure victims into the water, or to drive others away. Once victims are submerged, they are put into a kind of suspended animation that can keep them alive for 48 hours without air, and brought into a shared hallucination controlled by the spirit."

"Okay," Xander said. "How do we stop it?"

"I can not remember. But the details of how a Slayer and watcher defeated one are on record in the Watcher diaries. I will have to look them up at the library to know how to proceed."

"Good," Willow said. "You'll research, and we have forty-eight hours to save Buffy, right?"

"No," Tojo said seriously. "The Coronach candle can only manifest for four consecutive nights a year, and according to your research, Willow, this is the fourth. It will either release or kill its victims, as its whim dictates, before sunrise."

* * * *

"Okay, now," Donny said as Buffy and Cordelia stared open-mouthed at the spot Lishanne had been. "Let's start working on the two of you." He stared intently at them. "Cordelia and... Buffy, right?" He shot a triumphant glance at Buffy. "A vampire slayer and an out-of-control witch, that'll be interesting." Donny blinked. "And, whoa now! Both in love with the same guy!"

Cordelia whirled around to look accusingly at Buffy. "You... and Xander?"

"Afraid so, Cordy, honey," Donny said... in Xander's voice! "Buffy and your boyfriend have been hot on each other for a few weeks now, but your teacher didn't want him to break up with you, so they've been keeping it secret. Didn't you wonder why Buff was strutting around in that skimpy bikini tonight? She didn't like the fact that Xander was actually paying attention to you, so she set out to catch his eye back!"

"NOO!" Cordelia cried out, pointing an arm towards Buffy, but nothing happened, so she charged down off the stage to catch Buffy with a ringing slap in the face.

"I took away your powers, Cordelia," Donny murmured absently. "They're a little over the top for this setting."

Meanwhile Cordelia had grabbed ahold of Buffy's curly dark brown hear, and kicked her in the shin before Buffy had quite figured out what to do. Quickly she pryed Cordelia's hands out of her tressed and started parrying Cordelia's graceless attacks easily.

"Oh, that's no fun, Buffy!" Donny called out. "Why don't you go Slayer on her? Come on... wouldn't you just love to kick three shades of pain into her snobby butt?" Buffy ignored him and kept on just parrying. "Okay, this isn't too fun like this," Donny repeated. "You can have some of your magic back, Cordelia," he said, and blinked. A slight breeze tugged at Cordelia's ridiculous outfit.

Cordelia started another punch at Buffy, and she parried it, but the impact of the punch struck her anyway, knocking her down. Cordelia dived after her, raining punches on Buffy's head and body, oblivious of Donny's focused leering at her read end.

Buffy lost it. She struck back at Cordelia with a roundhouse punch, lurched to her feet, and dealt Cordy a twist kick to the face that sent her flying.

"The winner and still champion, Buffy Summers!" Donny called out. Buffy whirled and charged at him, but was brought up short again by Donny's blink. "I told you there'd be none of that." He blinked again, and suddenly Buffy was caught by the vise-like grip of a vampire. He brought his fanged mouth to Buffy's neck, and bit. Buffy screamed.

* * * *

Back in the library, Mister Tojo called out "Yes!" and rushed back to the main table with a volume of the Watcher Diaries. "An account of a 12th century slayer and watcher using an intricate ritual to banish a Coronach candle spirit to the etheric spirit world, thus freeing all the spirit's captives."

"Great," Xander muttered.

"What's involved?" Willow asked.

"Um, chanting an invocation to drive the dead one away by name..."

"But we don't *know* its name," Oz said.

"Yes we do. It's in Willow's computer search; the one drowning victim who didn't fit the pattern of the ghostly attacks."

"What?" Willow said, reaching for the printout. "Right... Donny Leevs, the one who drowned about this time two years ago. All the other victims were girls, and Donny is the only one who was found dead without having disappeared for a day or more first. You're sure this is our ghost?"

"It fits. The ritual also requires casting blessed salts into the water, and... oh."

"What?" Willow prompted.

"The other half of the ritual must be done from within the spirit's hallucination world. The spirit's hallucinatory avatar must be tricked into admitting that it is dead, and then one of the victims must chant the invocation from within the hallucinatory world."

"But... Buffy and Cordelia don't know what they have to do," Xander said, the awful truth dawning. "One of us has to go in after them."

"Not just 'one of us,' Xander," Willow said. "You saw the printouts. Donny is only bringing in girls." Willow swallowed hard and shivered in terror. "It's gonna have to be me."

Act Four

They set out again in the motorboat a little after midnight, prepared with the blessed salts and the chant they would need to banish the spirit. Willow stood in the bow of the boat, directing them out, while Tojo, Xander, and Oz sat in a circle at the stern, avoiding looking out at the water.

"Okay, I see it. A few degrees to port, Mister Tojo," Willow called out. A shiver passed through her that wasn't entirely due to the cool wind or the green bikini she was still wearing. She was about to take a risk that could easily mean her death. But could she do anything less for her best friend?

The image of the handome, Angel-like young man appeared in the water, and Willow didn't even wait for the mesmeric compulsion. She stepped off the prow of the boat into the chill ocean water...

* * * *

Buffy sat up and checked her neck. It was whole... no sign of a bite mark. She looked around and saw Donny grinning maliciously down at her.

"I told you I could enforce my wishes in here, sugar," he said severely. "That was a demonstration of the kind of fear, and pain, that I can put you through. It was also your last warning. Cross me again, Buffy, and you're gonna wish you were dead for about four hours before I make that wish come true."

"Um, understood," Buffy groaned.

"So glad to hear it. Now gimme a kiss, dear."

"What?" Buffy stared for a second, then realized he was probably serious. So she stood up, walked over to Donny, and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. Ghost or not, he was a terrible kisser.

Buffy broke off and looked around the room. Music was playing, and Cordelia and Dawn were dancing by themselves out on the dance floor, casting nervous glances over at Donny - presumably this was something they had been 'ordered' to do... Buffy sighed. Donny was obviously worse than just a ghost... he was a 100% insensitive male jerk with ghostly powers... a bad combination.

"Well, how about that?" Donny said aloud, looking up towards the stage. "We have another visitor this evening. Cordelia, Dawn, come here!" They did, and Buffy waited near Donny uncertainly. After a short wait, a figure appeared on the stage. It was Willow, dressed in the same sort of outfit as the rest of the girls, (and how deeply creepy was that, Buffy thought to herself,) with the high heels, the miniskirt, the fuzzy sweater, and the ribboned ponytail... all in green.

A thought flashed through Buffy's mind suddenly; if Willow was here, it was possible that she had come up with a plan that could free them all; one that could only work from within Donny's fantasy world. If that was so, Buffy would have to make sure that Donny didn't get a good chance to read Willow's mind, or they could all be in serious trouble. As an afterthought, Buffy pushed that thought back into her own mind... it was at least as dangerous for Donny to read as any plan of Willow's.

"I'm bored," she announced before she really realized what she was saying. "Donny, think of something for me to do."

"Um," Donny said, taken somewhat off guard. "We've got a new person to meet, Buffy..."

"I don't *want* to play with a new person, and I don't want *you* to play with the new person. I want you to play with me!" She said the words suggestively, running her tongue over her lips after she had finished.

"Okay, let's play," Donny crowed enthusiastically. "How about a little raquetball?" He blinked his eyes. Suddenly they were in the high-school gymnasium, with racquets. Donny carried a ball and was now dressed in sweats, but Buffy's outfit hadn't changed. Buffy smiled in Donny's direction, but she wasn't really smiling at him. With herself and Donny in their own scenario, Willow should be able to brief Cordelia and Dawn on whatever her plan was, and hopefully they would be able to put it into effect when she and Donny returned to the Bronze.

"After the game, we'll play a different way, okay Buffy?" Donny said, leering at her as he served. Buffy groaned.

* * * *

"Whew," Donny puffed. "Okay; I know when I'm beaten."

"You know you're beaten, I know you're beaten, and the scoreboard says you're beaten," Buffy pointed out teasingly. Inside, she hated acting this way with such a jerk, but she knew she had to do whatever she could to keep Donny pleased with her and off his guard. "Shouldn't we be getting back to the Bronze now?"

"Why? I could just send us right now to a nice, private, setting."

"Oh, no. Come on; romantic nightspot, slow dancing, whispered nothings over drinks... what do you say?" Donny blinked his eyes, and just like that they were in the Bronze.

"Hi, welcome back!" Cordelia called cheerily back to them from where she was sitting at the bar.

"Hi, Cordy," Donny said brusquely. "Could you be a doll and get us some drinks? You do work here in real life, don't you?"

"Um, hi?" Willow said, tapping Donny on the shoulder from behind. "Is that you, Donny?"

Donny spun around to face her.

"Who's asking?"

"Only a girl who had a big crush on Donny Leevs during my freshman year," Willow said cutely.

"Really? I don't remember you."

"Are you him," Willow pressed him sadly. "He didn't even know I was alive, but I was *so* head over heels for him."

"Yes, it's me," Donny said quietly.

"But, then, are you dead? I remember Donny dying... it was in the paper. I went to his memorial service."

"Yeah, I'm dead," he agreed. "But that doesn't matter..."

"Cum de la Psychis da'morte absiscci!" Willow called out suddenly. "Abestere Donny Leevs, ad etheris immedians!"

"NOO!" Donny called, bending over in sudden pain. Willow continued chanting, in words that Buffy couldn't make out. Something black seemed to encircle Donny, like a vortex or a black hole, swirling around him and starting to suck him in. Suddenly he was gone, and the vortex was growing, as if to swallow the entire Bronze. Willow was falling into it, and Buffy, and chairs and tables. Buffy fell, but didn't seem to fall all the way into it; instead the vortex seemed to fling her out, so that she was spinning ever outwards...

Suddenly she was back in the water, craving a lungful of air desperately, but realizing that she couldn't try to breathe yet. A few seconds later, her head broke the water, and she gratefully breathed, and looked around. There were dozens of little gritty things in the water about her. "What are these?" she said out loud.

"Blessed salts... part of the reason you're back in the real world," Xander said. Buffy spun around to find where his voice was coming from. Mister Tojo's motorboat was right there, Oz and Xander helping Willow and Dawn, respectively, aboard. Cordelia was treading water a few feet away from Buffy, water that was relievingly dark except for glinting reflections of the moon and stars.

"Thank you; thank you all," Dawn muttered as Xander helped Cordelia clamber into the boat, her wet blouse clinging embarassingly to her body. "I owe you my life; I'm sure of that," Dawn said.

"Hey, no big," Buffy said as Xander gave her a hand up. "I know somebody who is going to be *very* glad to see you..."

* * * *

"So, she was kidnapped by a ghost?" Devon said, as the seven of them walked down the beach early the next morning.

"Yup," Willow said, nodding vigourously, making her soft red tresses caress the shoulder straps of her peach swimdress. "The ghost of one very messed-up teenaged guy named Donny Leevs."

"Donny? You serious?"

"Yeah; why?" Buffy asked. "Did you know him?"

"A little; he was on the baseball team with my brother. Nice guy, but kind of a creep around girls. He was always pestering... what was her name? Lianne Caraway - for a date. At the poor guy's funeral she said that last time she had seen him... the last time *anyone* had seen him alive, she really laid down the law to him; told him to quit bothering her... she was really broken up about it. She moved up to Portland that winter."

"Buffy," Cordelia began, walking at the left end of their broad line, wearing a pink tank suit and rose chiffon wrap unfastened, with her hand in Xander's. "Did you really fight me, in Donny's whatever-it-was? I don't remember."

"Uh, yeah, we did," Buffy allowed, realizing what had happened. Donny's accusations about Buffy and Xander had triggered Cordelia's witchly temper, despite the fact that Donny had blocked her powers in the hallucination. And what happened to Cordelia in her witch-identity, she didn't remember at other times.

"What did he say to make you attack me?" Cordelia pressed.

"Um, you hit me first, Cordy," Buffy said, causing Cordy's eyebrows to raise in surprise.

"Thank you, Buffy," Devon said. "You said you'd bring Dawn back to me, and you did."

"Hey, no big. Right Xander?" Buffy said, turning to him, but Xander and Cordelia were locked in a passionate kiss.

"Huh?" Xander said, breaking it off.

"Never mind. Come on, guys... I've had enough of the beach for now... we can go hang at the Bronze," Buffy said, leading the way away from the beach. She shot a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that her friends were following her, and realized that Xander's eyes were fixed on her butt in the tiny snakeskin bikini. Well, that was for the good too. Whatever the story was between her and Xander, it was far from over yet.

"Just what is the deal with those guys?" Dawn idly asked Devon as Buffy and her friends walked away.

"I dunno babe," he admitted. "But I'm glad they were here when they were."