EPILOGUE
It was too much for her. Her mind was full of thoughts about what her best friend had gone through during that horrible summer. What she must have been forced to endure!
She sat there and listened to both Giles' and Angel's version of what had happened. When Xander came out of the office, she listened to his version as well. Oz and Cordelia listened to each man's story as it was told to Buffy. They were also able to tell Spenser's tale as he had told it to them.
And when it was all said and done, Buffy Summers put her face in her hands and she wept. "I-I didn't know!" she sobbed. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"
For a moment, no one moved. All eyes focused on Buffy as she sat at the table and cried into her hands. Her body shook with emotion. Her best friend had been in serious danger and she hadn't been there for her.
Angel glanced at Giles, then moved over beside Buffy, and wrapped his arms around her. "Buffy," he said softly, "It's all right. Willow's safe. She wasn't alone."
Buffy lowered her hands to look at Angel, her face streaked with tears, the expression of grief changing to one of anger. "Why didn't you tell me?" she glared at Giles and Xander. "Why didn't ANY of you tell me about this?! How could you keep this from me?"
"It wasn't for us t-to decide, Buffy," Giles told her. "We-we didn't want to put Willow through any more pain until she was ready."
"Oh, and you think she's ready now?" Buffy got up from the table and moved away from Angel. She was so angry and hurt; betrayed. "Willow is my friend! I should have been told about this! I could have--"
"There was nothing you could have done, Buffy," Angel said, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. "We needed to give Willow time, and that's what we did. Now that you know, you can help her by just being there for her."
Buffy continued to glare. Then she turned to look hard at Xander. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
Xander hesitated. "It's not like you haven't kept secrets either." He looked knowingly at Angel.
Buffy knew what he was referring to and her eyes softened, but an old wound had resurfaced. "I did what I had to do."
Xander took a step toward her. "All right. And so did we." He stepped up in front of her and looked into her eyes. "So can we stop playing the blame game and just let Willow know how much we love her?"
Buffy put her arms around him and cried. Xander returned the hug as tears came into his own eyes.
Oz felt his throat tighten with emotion. He cleared his throat. "Uh, guys..."
Everyone turned to look at him.
He leaned his head toward the door to Giles office. There in the doorway stood Willow. She had her arms crossed over herself as she leaned in the doorway, watching the people she loved. She looked weary and sad, a look no one liked to see on her. When she saw Angel standing there with Buffy and Xander, she brightened a little.
"A-Angel?" she inquired, as if she couldn't believe he was there. "Y- you're really here?"
Angel smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm really here."
Willow crossed the room and hugged him. Angel returned the hug, even though he seemed a bit bewildered. While he hugged Willow, Buffy fidgeted beside him because she wanted to wrap her arms around her best friend and never let her go.
"You've done so much for me," Willow sobbed into Angel's chest. "I-I never really thanked you!"
"Hey," Angel said, getting choked up, "you don't have to thank me. I did what Giles and Xander did. I--"
She looked up at him. "Y-you rode to Boston in a chest."
"Well, yeah..."
"Th-they put me in a chest."
Angel looked at her. He understood what he had done was something he had to, and Willow could relate in a way no one else could.
"Uh, I just got off the phone w-with Spenser a-and he told me you and Giles saw what..." she closed her eyes and trembled. The images were there in her mind and she couldn't make them go away.
Angel brushed her hair away from her face. "You don't have to say it. I know."
"Spenser said you saw what was in the basement," Willow said in a hushed whisper.
"Yes. We did."
She hesitated. "D-did Xander see it?" She was still talking in a whisper.
Angel glanced over at Xander, who, like Buffy, was also holding himself back from hugging Willow. Angel looked down at Willow. "No. Xander didn't see anything."
"Angel wouldn't let me, Will," Xander said with a forced grin. "He picked me right up and carried me outside. Like I was just this great big baby." He made the motion of rocking a baby in his arms. "I thought he was going to rock me a lullaby." He was trying to break the uneasy tension that everyone was feeling.
Willow moved from Angel and went to Xander. "Same old Xander." She favored him with a half smile. "Always cracking jokes." She put her arms around him and they hugged each other.
Buffy pouted. "If I don't get a hug here soon, I'm really going to hurt someone."
Willow looked at Buffy, and she looked guilty. "A-are you mad, Buffy?"
Buffy swallowed back a new flood of tears. "Yes, I'm mad, but not at you. Willow, I wasn't there for you! I feel like I let you down."
"You w-weren't there for me, Buffy," Willow said, "b-but you're here now. Besides, you're only one girl. It's n-not like you can be, you know, at two places at once."
They hugged each other. Cordelia and Giles made their approach.
Cordelia put her hand on Willow's shoulder and Willow turned her head to look at her.
The Queen of C hesitated. "Is this the line for hugs? Because I sure could use one."
Willow hugged her. And then she hugged Giles who awkwardly returned the hug. His face was a mixture of emotions.
"Giles?"
"Er, yes, Willow?"
"I-I don't have to talk about it...do I?"
Giles hesitated. "P-perhaps you should, Willow. It might help you deal with it. Sometimes it is best to let it out."
Willow closed her eyes. "I-it was so horrible. Th-they put me in a b- birdcage and-and made me watch." She couldn't go on. She cried against Giles and he held onto her. After a moment, Willow said, "I-I couldn't sit still. The-the cage w-would hurt me every time I s-stopped moving."
Giles looked puzzled.
Angel suddenly understood. When he had been in the basement, he saw the cage Willow had been put in. The bars had wires all around them. He imagined they were used to shock her if she stopped moving. In other words, her captors had not allowed her to rest.
"I can't...I can't..." Willow said softly.
"You don't have to," Giles said, gently stroking her hair. "M-maybe later, if it helps, you could talk to just Angel and myself." They were the only ones who truly knew what had happened to Kali. Willow saw everything her captors had done to her, and Giles and Angel discovered the results. In a way, it connected the three together with a special bond. Giles thought that maybe it would be best if Willow didn't have to talk about it to her friends, at least at the present.
She nodded.
Willow stepped back from him, sniffed, and slowly turned around.
Oz was standing there watching her.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he said right back at her.
They both took a step toward each other.
"I was thinking..." Oz began as he took another step toward her.
Willow also took another step toward him. "Wh-what about?"
"Well, I've been kinda pushing you away, and I thought that maybe you could help me find a way for me to draw you closer."
She looked at him. "Uh, well...if-if you take another step, a-and I take another step, we'll be like right in front of each other." She paused. "Will that help?"
"You know, I think that might."
They both took another step, and Willow had been right. Willow hesitated. "Well, uh, here we are, in huggable reach."
Oz put his arms around her and she returned the embrace fiercely. She felt like crying again because she had begun to believe he would never hold her after what she and Xander had done.
"I'm sorry, Oz!" she said into his neck.
Oz held her. "Hey, it's all right. I understand why you did it. I'm okay with that."
"You are? Does this mean--?" She looked at him closely. "Are we still, you know, an item?"
"We're definitely an item."
She hugged him again.
Xander watched Oz hug Willow and he frowned. It bothered him that he couldn't hug Willow like that. He watched them and unknown to him, he was also being watched by Angel and Cordelia.
Cordelia began to leave, and Xander asked her to wait up. When they were out in the hall, Cordelia looked at her ex-boyfriend and waited. Her face showed no expression.
"Cordy," Xander began, trying to bring on the charm, "you know, it looks like there is such a thing as second chances. I mean, Willow and Oz are back together, so I was hoping that you would give me a second chance. What do you say? Would you even consider it?"
Cordelia shook her head. "No."
Xander's mouth dropped open. "No?"
"That's what I said. At least there's nothing wrong with your hearing."
"Cordy, didn't you hear what happened in there? There was a reason Willow and I did what we did."
"I know. And that's really the sad thing about it, Xander." She looked at him with concern. "You did it for a reason, alright. But you just don't get it. Love hurts, and until you understand the real reason behind your actions with Willow, you're in for a whole world of pain."
Xander looked at her, puzzled.
She turned and walked away.
Someone was standing behind him and when he turned, he saw that it was Angel. He hesitated. "You...heard that?"
Angel nodded.
"Do you have any idea what she was talking about?"
He let out a sigh. "We both know what she was talking about."
Xander remained quiet as he looked at Angel.
"Love is a strange beast. It devours the very heart of a person. It strips us of who we are and melts us down into sobbing fools."
Xander tried to crack a smile. "Are you getting Shakespearean on me?"
Angel paused. "Let me give you some advice. There will come a time when you'll realize where your heart is going, and you'll have to make a choice. You'll have to either follow your heart, or resist where it leads. My advice to you is to follow your heart."
"How am I supposed to know where my heart is leading?"
"I know."
"You do?" Xander regarded him. "Where is it leading?"
"It's leading you to where your heart has always been."
"Where?" Xander asked desperately.
"To Willow." With that, Angel turned and he went back into the Library.
Xander stood there with his thoughts.
***
Willow believed that her nightmare was over. She had been taken to Boston against her will. Xander, Giles, and Angel had gone after her-because they loved her. They went after her and they saved her.
But there was something they didn't know.
That day when Hawk pushed Alyssia off the rooftop of the warehouse, and she plunged through a pier into the water, something happened.
Alyssia crashed through the rotten wood, plunging deeply into the fetid water. Her hands still gripping the rod, which was still through her. She knew that she was dying, sinking slowly into the water, the current carrying her deeper and deeper, away from the light, away from life. She blacked out.
To Alyssia's surprise, she regained consciousness lying on a hard stone floor of an old subway tunnel- which she recognized as the haunt of David and his "Lost Boys". She tried to rise, but couldn't- feeling her wounded stomach, she realized Death would soon come for her, as her life's blood continued to flow from the wound, faster than before, as the rod had been removed.
Then she saw him. He was standing off to the side, his face hidden in shadow.
"We both know you're dying," he told her.
S'ushi remained silent, unwilling to use up her remaining strength to agree with the obvious. She waited.
"I can save you."
"Then...do it..." she whispered.
There was a pause. "You'll no longer be human."
"...don't care..." she wheezed.
The shadowed form detached from the dark, peering at her with a furrowed brow and bright yellow eyes. He grinned, revealing razor sharp fangs as he approached. Wordlessly, he lowered himself and sank his teeth into S'ushi's nearly lifeless throat. She involuntarily arched her back, closing her eyes and moaning. The pain was great, but paled in comparison to the ecstasy of feeling him feeding on her life's blood.
Suddenly, he stopped. He sat up and he bit into his wrists. He smiled at her. "Your turn."
As he brought his dripping wrist up to her gaping mouth, S'ushi felt the nectar of his veins dripping on her tongue. Slowly at first, then with a frenzied lust, she drank from his wrist.
It was then the creature who was known as S'ushi Alyssia died. But another creature was born in that moment, one far worse and born with only one all- consuming desire:
To find Willow Rosenberg.
And make her pay.
*******************
This story continues in the third part of The Brotherhood Trilogy yet to be titled.
Promo.
They've been around for hundreds of years. They've walked amongst us during the day, but have allied themselves with evil. The Father who had brought them into being...leads thembut he was not the only Founder.
There was another.
"The Brotherhood is as much mine as it is yours. I, too, am the Father of the Order, and I, too, can make use of it!"
The Father shook his head. "The Brotherhood is no longer yours, Heinrich. It has always been mine. I am the Father."
As Buffy begins to answer her call to become the Vampire Slayer in Sunnydale California, the Brotherhood begin to work behind the scenes of "Welcome To The Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" to do their Father's bidding.
The Father needs a girl for a ritual...and he has his eyes on Willow Rosenberg.
The Brotherhood Trilogy Book One-The Order of The Brotherhood
Coming Soon
It was too much for her. Her mind was full of thoughts about what her best friend had gone through during that horrible summer. What she must have been forced to endure!
She sat there and listened to both Giles' and Angel's version of what had happened. When Xander came out of the office, she listened to his version as well. Oz and Cordelia listened to each man's story as it was told to Buffy. They were also able to tell Spenser's tale as he had told it to them.
And when it was all said and done, Buffy Summers put her face in her hands and she wept. "I-I didn't know!" she sobbed. "I-I'm so sorry, I didn't know!"
For a moment, no one moved. All eyes focused on Buffy as she sat at the table and cried into her hands. Her body shook with emotion. Her best friend had been in serious danger and she hadn't been there for her.
Angel glanced at Giles, then moved over beside Buffy, and wrapped his arms around her. "Buffy," he said softly, "It's all right. Willow's safe. She wasn't alone."
Buffy lowered her hands to look at Angel, her face streaked with tears, the expression of grief changing to one of anger. "Why didn't you tell me?" she glared at Giles and Xander. "Why didn't ANY of you tell me about this?! How could you keep this from me?"
"It wasn't for us t-to decide, Buffy," Giles told her. "We-we didn't want to put Willow through any more pain until she was ready."
"Oh, and you think she's ready now?" Buffy got up from the table and moved away from Angel. She was so angry and hurt; betrayed. "Willow is my friend! I should have been told about this! I could have--"
"There was nothing you could have done, Buffy," Angel said, pleading with his eyes for her to understand. "We needed to give Willow time, and that's what we did. Now that you know, you can help her by just being there for her."
Buffy continued to glare. Then she turned to look hard at Xander. "I can't believe you didn't tell me."
Xander hesitated. "It's not like you haven't kept secrets either." He looked knowingly at Angel.
Buffy knew what he was referring to and her eyes softened, but an old wound had resurfaced. "I did what I had to do."
Xander took a step toward her. "All right. And so did we." He stepped up in front of her and looked into her eyes. "So can we stop playing the blame game and just let Willow know how much we love her?"
Buffy put her arms around him and cried. Xander returned the hug as tears came into his own eyes.
Oz felt his throat tighten with emotion. He cleared his throat. "Uh, guys..."
Everyone turned to look at him.
He leaned his head toward the door to Giles office. There in the doorway stood Willow. She had her arms crossed over herself as she leaned in the doorway, watching the people she loved. She looked weary and sad, a look no one liked to see on her. When she saw Angel standing there with Buffy and Xander, she brightened a little.
"A-Angel?" she inquired, as if she couldn't believe he was there. "Y- you're really here?"
Angel smiled reassuringly at her. "I'm really here."
Willow crossed the room and hugged him. Angel returned the hug, even though he seemed a bit bewildered. While he hugged Willow, Buffy fidgeted beside him because she wanted to wrap her arms around her best friend and never let her go.
"You've done so much for me," Willow sobbed into Angel's chest. "I-I never really thanked you!"
"Hey," Angel said, getting choked up, "you don't have to thank me. I did what Giles and Xander did. I--"
She looked up at him. "Y-you rode to Boston in a chest."
"Well, yeah..."
"Th-they put me in a chest."
Angel looked at her. He understood what he had done was something he had to, and Willow could relate in a way no one else could.
"Uh, I just got off the phone w-with Spenser a-and he told me you and Giles saw what..." she closed her eyes and trembled. The images were there in her mind and she couldn't make them go away.
Angel brushed her hair away from her face. "You don't have to say it. I know."
"Spenser said you saw what was in the basement," Willow said in a hushed whisper.
"Yes. We did."
She hesitated. "D-did Xander see it?" She was still talking in a whisper.
Angel glanced over at Xander, who, like Buffy, was also holding himself back from hugging Willow. Angel looked down at Willow. "No. Xander didn't see anything."
"Angel wouldn't let me, Will," Xander said with a forced grin. "He picked me right up and carried me outside. Like I was just this great big baby." He made the motion of rocking a baby in his arms. "I thought he was going to rock me a lullaby." He was trying to break the uneasy tension that everyone was feeling.
Willow moved from Angel and went to Xander. "Same old Xander." She favored him with a half smile. "Always cracking jokes." She put her arms around him and they hugged each other.
Buffy pouted. "If I don't get a hug here soon, I'm really going to hurt someone."
Willow looked at Buffy, and she looked guilty. "A-are you mad, Buffy?"
Buffy swallowed back a new flood of tears. "Yes, I'm mad, but not at you. Willow, I wasn't there for you! I feel like I let you down."
"You w-weren't there for me, Buffy," Willow said, "b-but you're here now. Besides, you're only one girl. It's n-not like you can be, you know, at two places at once."
They hugged each other. Cordelia and Giles made their approach.
Cordelia put her hand on Willow's shoulder and Willow turned her head to look at her.
The Queen of C hesitated. "Is this the line for hugs? Because I sure could use one."
Willow hugged her. And then she hugged Giles who awkwardly returned the hug. His face was a mixture of emotions.
"Giles?"
"Er, yes, Willow?"
"I-I don't have to talk about it...do I?"
Giles hesitated. "P-perhaps you should, Willow. It might help you deal with it. Sometimes it is best to let it out."
Willow closed her eyes. "I-it was so horrible. Th-they put me in a b- birdcage and-and made me watch." She couldn't go on. She cried against Giles and he held onto her. After a moment, Willow said, "I-I couldn't sit still. The-the cage w-would hurt me every time I s-stopped moving."
Giles looked puzzled.
Angel suddenly understood. When he had been in the basement, he saw the cage Willow had been put in. The bars had wires all around them. He imagined they were used to shock her if she stopped moving. In other words, her captors had not allowed her to rest.
"I can't...I can't..." Willow said softly.
"You don't have to," Giles said, gently stroking her hair. "M-maybe later, if it helps, you could talk to just Angel and myself." They were the only ones who truly knew what had happened to Kali. Willow saw everything her captors had done to her, and Giles and Angel discovered the results. In a way, it connected the three together with a special bond. Giles thought that maybe it would be best if Willow didn't have to talk about it to her friends, at least at the present.
She nodded.
Willow stepped back from him, sniffed, and slowly turned around.
Oz was standing there watching her.
"Hey," she said.
"Hey," he said right back at her.
They both took a step toward each other.
"I was thinking..." Oz began as he took another step toward her.
Willow also took another step toward him. "Wh-what about?"
"Well, I've been kinda pushing you away, and I thought that maybe you could help me find a way for me to draw you closer."
She looked at him. "Uh, well...if-if you take another step, a-and I take another step, we'll be like right in front of each other." She paused. "Will that help?"
"You know, I think that might."
They both took another step, and Willow had been right. Willow hesitated. "Well, uh, here we are, in huggable reach."
Oz put his arms around her and she returned the embrace fiercely. She felt like crying again because she had begun to believe he would never hold her after what she and Xander had done.
"I'm sorry, Oz!" she said into his neck.
Oz held her. "Hey, it's all right. I understand why you did it. I'm okay with that."
"You are? Does this mean--?" She looked at him closely. "Are we still, you know, an item?"
"We're definitely an item."
She hugged him again.
Xander watched Oz hug Willow and he frowned. It bothered him that he couldn't hug Willow like that. He watched them and unknown to him, he was also being watched by Angel and Cordelia.
Cordelia began to leave, and Xander asked her to wait up. When they were out in the hall, Cordelia looked at her ex-boyfriend and waited. Her face showed no expression.
"Cordy," Xander began, trying to bring on the charm, "you know, it looks like there is such a thing as second chances. I mean, Willow and Oz are back together, so I was hoping that you would give me a second chance. What do you say? Would you even consider it?"
Cordelia shook her head. "No."
Xander's mouth dropped open. "No?"
"That's what I said. At least there's nothing wrong with your hearing."
"Cordy, didn't you hear what happened in there? There was a reason Willow and I did what we did."
"I know. And that's really the sad thing about it, Xander." She looked at him with concern. "You did it for a reason, alright. But you just don't get it. Love hurts, and until you understand the real reason behind your actions with Willow, you're in for a whole world of pain."
Xander looked at her, puzzled.
She turned and walked away.
Someone was standing behind him and when he turned, he saw that it was Angel. He hesitated. "You...heard that?"
Angel nodded.
"Do you have any idea what she was talking about?"
He let out a sigh. "We both know what she was talking about."
Xander remained quiet as he looked at Angel.
"Love is a strange beast. It devours the very heart of a person. It strips us of who we are and melts us down into sobbing fools."
Xander tried to crack a smile. "Are you getting Shakespearean on me?"
Angel paused. "Let me give you some advice. There will come a time when you'll realize where your heart is going, and you'll have to make a choice. You'll have to either follow your heart, or resist where it leads. My advice to you is to follow your heart."
"How am I supposed to know where my heart is leading?"
"I know."
"You do?" Xander regarded him. "Where is it leading?"
"It's leading you to where your heart has always been."
"Where?" Xander asked desperately.
"To Willow." With that, Angel turned and he went back into the Library.
Xander stood there with his thoughts.
***
Willow believed that her nightmare was over. She had been taken to Boston against her will. Xander, Giles, and Angel had gone after her-because they loved her. They went after her and they saved her.
But there was something they didn't know.
That day when Hawk pushed Alyssia off the rooftop of the warehouse, and she plunged through a pier into the water, something happened.
Alyssia crashed through the rotten wood, plunging deeply into the fetid water. Her hands still gripping the rod, which was still through her. She knew that she was dying, sinking slowly into the water, the current carrying her deeper and deeper, away from the light, away from life. She blacked out.
To Alyssia's surprise, she regained consciousness lying on a hard stone floor of an old subway tunnel- which she recognized as the haunt of David and his "Lost Boys". She tried to rise, but couldn't- feeling her wounded stomach, she realized Death would soon come for her, as her life's blood continued to flow from the wound, faster than before, as the rod had been removed.
Then she saw him. He was standing off to the side, his face hidden in shadow.
"We both know you're dying," he told her.
S'ushi remained silent, unwilling to use up her remaining strength to agree with the obvious. She waited.
"I can save you."
"Then...do it..." she whispered.
There was a pause. "You'll no longer be human."
"...don't care..." she wheezed.
The shadowed form detached from the dark, peering at her with a furrowed brow and bright yellow eyes. He grinned, revealing razor sharp fangs as he approached. Wordlessly, he lowered himself and sank his teeth into S'ushi's nearly lifeless throat. She involuntarily arched her back, closing her eyes and moaning. The pain was great, but paled in comparison to the ecstasy of feeling him feeding on her life's blood.
Suddenly, he stopped. He sat up and he bit into his wrists. He smiled at her. "Your turn."
As he brought his dripping wrist up to her gaping mouth, S'ushi felt the nectar of his veins dripping on her tongue. Slowly at first, then with a frenzied lust, she drank from his wrist.
It was then the creature who was known as S'ushi Alyssia died. But another creature was born in that moment, one far worse and born with only one all- consuming desire:
To find Willow Rosenberg.
And make her pay.
*******************
This story continues in the third part of The Brotherhood Trilogy yet to be titled.
Promo.
They've been around for hundreds of years. They've walked amongst us during the day, but have allied themselves with evil. The Father who had brought them into being...leads thembut he was not the only Founder.
There was another.
"The Brotherhood is as much mine as it is yours. I, too, am the Father of the Order, and I, too, can make use of it!"
The Father shook his head. "The Brotherhood is no longer yours, Heinrich. It has always been mine. I am the Father."
As Buffy begins to answer her call to become the Vampire Slayer in Sunnydale California, the Brotherhood begin to work behind the scenes of "Welcome To The Hellmouth" and "The Harvest" to do their Father's bidding.
The Father needs a girl for a ritual...and he has his eyes on Willow Rosenberg.
The Brotherhood Trilogy Book One-The Order of The Brotherhood
Coming Soon