Fic: Graduation Daze (1/?)

[ladyvyxen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Graduation Daze, Part One.
Comments/Flames/Etc. to: ladyvyxen@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Anne-Lise chewed her fingernails, a habit she'd been unable to kick 
since childhood. "What if," she mused, "Graduation Day had gone a 
little differently..."

--

The vampires attacked swiftly, and without mercy. With the Mayor's 
ascension into a giant snake, the student population had only one 
place to run, away, and that's where the vampires were waiting.
"Go." Buffy had said.
"Good luck!" Willow fled.
Angel fought, in full game face, against his own demonic species. 
Yet not even he came out unscathed, for numerous cuts and welts 
marred his otherwise sultry good looks, although most were already 
starting to close and heal. Then he saw Willow fall beneath the press 
of vampires.
"No!" With a startled cry Angel pulled away the vampire pinning 
Willow down. Not knowing what else to do, Angel bit deep into 
Willow's neck, draining just enough blood to pale her beautiful face.
"Stay down," he whispered. "Play dead." He turned, abruptly, and 
moved away to join Key-Guy Xander and the other students in hand-to-
hand.
On the floor, Willow lay unmoving. Everything felt strange. She'd 
hit her head on the floor, and suddenly Angel was there, and he'd 
been hurt. Blood had seeped from his face and spattered onto hers. 
She could still taste it, a coppery taste that had made her choke and 
swallow convulsively. And then things had seemed stranger still.
For a start, her mouth hurt, and her heart was beating wildly, 
erratically. She'd tried to clear her head, and had just managed to 
get shakily to her feet when the school exploded and bowled her over 
once more. Things seemed a little blurry after that. She saw Angel 
leave into the night, and had spotted Giles staring forlornly at the 
wrecked building that had once housed the library. She'd pulled her 
yellow cardigan tighter around her to ward off the cold, and joined 
Oz and Buffy, Xander and Cordelia, as they shared a moment of quiet 
reflection before leaving for home.
And then...?

*

Willow woke just after sunrise to blinding pain. Agony, fiery in 
its torment, caused her to fall out of bed into the blissful coolness 
of the shadows.
She lay there, breathing heavily, the pain fading as quickly as it 
had come. She tried to stand up again, but another shaft of pure 
agony burned her face as she tried to stand, causing her to fall back 
down to the floor. Dimly, she remembered the events of last night. 
The Mayor's ascension, firing a crossbow at the giant snake that had 
once been Richard Wilkens III. She remembered being overwhelmed by 
the vampire posse, and then being... rescued... by Angel?
Rescued, or bitten? Her recollections seemed hazy. She put a hand 
to her neck, but there was nothing there. Or at least no wounds she 
could feel. Worriedly, she pushed her hand harder against her neck 
and there! She felt her own pulse.
"I'm not dead," she whispered. Tentatively, she lifted her hand into 
the shaft of sunlight from her window, and her hand immediately began 
to hurt, and smoke. Something had happened, that's for sure.
She wormed her way around her bed and managed to shut the curtains 
in a quick sweep, dimming the room, allowing her to finally stand up. 
Stretching, she turned to look at her reflection in the mirror over 
her dresser, and that's when everything fell into place. Her 
reflection was translucent! She could clearly, well, almost clearly, 
see the Dingoes poster on the wall behind her, through her.
"No," she whispered. "No!" As anger replaced fear, unbidden, her 
reflection altered. She saw her eyes become more yellow, more alien. 
Ridges formed across her brow, and then her reflection faded 
altogether.
Willow drew back in fear, and the transparent reflection of herself 
formed in the glass once more as her face changed to become her own.
"Oh god, no." She needed help, needed... No, not Buffy. If Buffy saw 
her like this, she'd... she'd wig out completely. Angel! She needed 
Angel. But he'd left last night, and she didn't know where he'd head 
for. That left either Giles, or Xander, and she couldn't face Giles, 
not yet.

*

Xander slept the sleep of the irresponsible. Graduation being now 
just a painful memory, he could finally get down to some serious 
Grade-A snoozing. His beauty sleep was interrupted by insistent 
knocking on the door to his basement apartment.
Finally roused, he shrugged into a sweater and jeans and answered 
the door. Willow rushed through, a blanket held above her head, and 
fell into his arms, bowling them both down the basement steps.
Xander lay on his back, looking up into Willow's stunningly 
beautiful face, and smiled. "You really miss me that much?"

*

"Time early, phone loud." Buffy complained into the receiver as she 
answered, half-asleep.
"Buffy, its Xander. I need you to get Giles, Oz, and an exorcist 
priest and meet me in my basement, like, ten minutes ago."
Buffy tried to make sense of what Xander was talking about. "What 
are you talking about," she asked.
"Willow's here. I tied her up!" Xander sounded like he was seriously 
wigging.
"You want me to bring Giles and Oz to your basement because that's 
where you've tied up Willow," she said. She suddenly woke up 
completely. "Why?"
"Lets just say she has a serious problem with daylight and garlic 
all of a sudden," Xander replied.
Buffy wigged, predictably. "I'll get Giles. We'll be right there." 
She hung up.

*

End Part 1.