Repost FIC: To Cross the River Styx (4e/?)

[PChazzman@xxxxxxx]

TITLE: To Cross the River Styx (4e/?)
AUTHOR: Chazzman
E-MAIL: Pchazzman@xxxxxxx 
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of the characters in this story. They all belong 
to Joss and the WB network. Please don't sue. 
SPOILERS: Open season on Season 4. 
SUMMERY: I'm re-inventing season 4.
RATED: PG
DISTRIBUTION: Just ask me, please...
FEEDBACK: Is very welcome.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thank you again to all the wonderful people who have sent me 
feedback saying they are interested in seeing more. 


To Cross the River Styx
Chap 4e


It was a markedly different Sunnydale that Buffy and Angel walked through 
that night. Gone were the aimless crowds of people wandering about and 
getting into fights. Now there were only empty streets to match the eerie 
silence that had fallen over the town. The murders had reminded people that 
while they may have lost their voice's, they could still lose more. So they 
hid in their houses, behind locked doors, huddling in groups for comfort and 
safety. Parents kept their children in their beds with them that night.

Buffy strode through the empty streets of Sunnydale as if she owned them. 
Angel found himself having to lengthen his own stride in order to keep pace. 
He had never seen Buffy concentrate so intently upon a hunt. 

The last few weeks had change her. In the same way that his own reversion to 
Angelus had stripped her of her innocence, Willow's disappearance had given 
Buffy a new grim determination in her job as a Slayer. He knew she was 
afraid that Willow was dead, and truthfully so was he. And he worried about 
how she would react if it were true. Doyle's death had made that possibility 
all the more tangible and alarming.

Floating above the two warriors, Willow was attempting to direct Buffy 
towards the clock tower, thus far without much success. Buffy's intense 
concentration on patrolling seemed to be blocking her efforts. At least she 
hoped that was it. This inability to communicate was really starting to get 
her angry.

Although it was only 11:30pm, the presence of a car on the street was strange 
enough for Buffy and Angel to stop and watch it slowly pass by. The fact 
that it was a large, black Humvee with tinted windows raised immediate 
suspicions in the Slayer. Tint implied a possible vampire, whereas the make 
of the vehicle gave Buffy the impression of military. Spike's story of the 
hidden lab facility had a secret government feel to it, and while she still 
did not trust Spike, last year's confrontation with the Mayor had given Buffy 
a 'once bitten, twice shy' attitude towards anything connected to the 
government. 

Inside the Humvee, Jude Law stared back at the couple standing alone on the 
sidewalk watching as he passed. While he knew that she could not see him, 
there was something about the expression on the girl's face as she turned her 
head to track the car. The man with her was watching the car go by as well; 
however, it was the girl who was triggering that little voice that he always 
listened to. 

Jude Law was very good at identifying unusual or surprising problems. 
Unusual or the surprising problems never bothered him. It was one of the 
reasons why he was so good at dealing with them. That, plus his ability to 
eliminate the problem which had not bothered him. 

So now as he rode past the girl he signaled for the driver to turn at the 
next corner and then had him stop. Turning around to watch out the back 
window he waited. Sure enough, a minute later, the girl appeared around the 
corner and stopped to watch the car. Turning around he was surprised when 
the driver handed him a note. 'Her name is Buffy Summers. I don't know the 
guy.' 

Buffy Summers. He recognized the name. Willow Rosenberg's roommate and best 
friend. Also, the leader of the hunt for the missing Miss Rosenberg. He 
knew she was persistent in her pushing the search, but for her to be out 
tonight... something was up.

He gestured for the driver to proceed and they started up again. After 
another block they turned down another street. When they were far enough out 
of sight, Jude indicated for the driver to stop and he got out. He gave the 
driver the command to return to the base while he slipped away into the dark. 


Sighing Graham started off in the car. Riley would have been pissed at him 
for pointing out Buffy but after today Graham knew who was in charge at the 
Initiative and it wasn't Riley and it certainly wasn't Dr. Walsh. Something 
had happened to Alpha team the night of Hostile 17's escape and everyone knew 
it had something to do with that girl Rosenberg. Her disappearance and the 
subsequent shutdown of activities had started a lot of rumors amongst the 
troops, but Riley, Forrest, Sanchez and Metz were hardly speaking with 
anyone. Personally, he was leaning towards the rumor that the chip in 
Hostile 17 had failed; Alpha team had interrupted him while he was killing 
the girl; Riley had recognized her and taken her to initiative HQ to get her 
medical attention but it had been too late. Jude Law was here because the 
chip had failed and Alpha team had compromised their cover and now everyone 
thought there was some group of wackos who were kidnapping people. 

The irony that it was Riley's almost girlfriend who was now leading the 
crusade against the Initiative only proved to Graham how fallible Riley could 
be. 

*****

Buffy and Angel walked up to look down the street where the Humvee had turned 
and saw a now empty street. Buffy was about to proceed down the street when 
Angel grabbed her shoulder. She looked at him and he indicated for her to 
listen. At first she heard nothing but then she caught a faints hint of the 
sound of something jingling back down from where she had just come. In a 
flash she was running down the street, sticking to the shadows, dodging 
behind trees and leaping hedges and fences. Angel was hard pressed to keep 
up and, further back, Jude Law watched in surprise as the girl rapidly flew 
down the street in a stealthy hunting pattern.

Reaching Main Street, Buffy paused to listen, turning her head this way and 
that. Angel had just reached her when she darted off down the street again. 
She caught sight of something white disappearing around a corner and she 
streaked down the alley that connected to Elm Street. 

Peering out from the alley, Buffy spotted a shambling figure wearing a 
straightjacket as it scuttled down the street. She was about to follow it 
when she suddenly caught sight of the clock tower and something within her 
gave a shout. All day she had been receiving vague impressions relating to a 
clock face, and she had thought it was some kind of Slayer instinct telling 
her that time was running out. Now, she realized that it was actually an 
image of this clock tower that she had been seeing.

Angel finally caught up, saw the figure in the straight jacket and looked at 
Buffy with an arched eyebrow, as if to ask why she was just standing there. 
Buffy pointed at the clock tower just as a shadow of two people passed by the 
window. Somebody was inside. Buffy and Angel looked at each other and 
nodded in agreement before walking out of the ally and moving purposefully 
towards the clock tower as they readied their weapons for battle.

Jude Law was out of breath by the time he reached the alley. Holding his gun 
at the ready he had proceeded cautiously down the alley, alert for any signs 
of a trap. The couple was nowhere in sight, and he wondered if he had lost 
them. Reaching the end of the alley he spotted them outside the clock tower. 
To Jude's surprise, it was the girl who walked forward first and kicked open 
the door. He was even more intrigued when she raised her hands and fired 
what looked like a crossbow before leaping forward into the building, closely 
followed by the man. He moved forward to watch and was startled when a 
figure in a straightjacket crashed headfirst through the boarded up lower 
window. 

Peering through the broken window, Jude could see the couple was engaged in 
an all out brawl against four more figures wearing unfastened straightjackets 
while three lay on the floor, dead or unconscious he didn't know. Jude was 
more than a little amazed when Buffy kicked one figure and he flew across the 
room, snapping a support beam as he crashed into it. Although she showed an 
impressive fighting ability, she should not be able to do that. The girl 
could not have weighed that much and she certainly didn't look to be that 
muscular. Next he caught sight of the man who had accompanied Buffy and was 
astounded to see the now familiar vampiric ridges on his face that Jude had 
seen on a number of the hostiles in the Initiative's containment facilities.

Jude would have been content to watch the remainder of the fight through the 
window, however he was interrupted when someone tackled him from behind.

Rolling across the grass he lashed out with his feet and was rewarded with a 
satisfying thump. Looking around quickly he found himself facing four more 
of the straightjacket fiends and some type of grinning floating cadaverous 
man wearing a suit from the turn of the century.

*****

Willow was again on the second floor of the clock tower looking at the blobby 
thing that hung near the ceiling where the two lines of power seemed to meet. 
She knew that she should have been feeling somewhat frightened or possibly 
even sick from the sight of hearts sitting inside three of the jars on the 
table with the box. Instead, however, she felt calm and determined, almost 
as if she was looking forward to the battle. 'I feel the way I imagine Buffy 
does when she's about to face down a big bad,' she thought to herself. 'I 
wonder if I'm getting affected by Buffy's slayer side.' 

The creature abruptly lashed out with several tendrils at Willow. Willow 
flinched back but did not retreat as she held up a hand and the tendrils 
impacted upon her shield. Relived at the success of her shield, Willow 
slashed back at the tendrils with a sword. The tendrils eluded her sword 
thrust by retracting back towards the creature. Willow pursued the tendrils, 
hacking and slashing with her swords. All of a sudden, the creature dropped 
from the ceiling and seemed to spread out to envelop her. Her swords doing 
no noticeable harm, the creature surrounded her like some type of jellyfish. 
She could feel thousands of probing tendrils as the creature tried to get 
through her shields. 

As little as a day ago Willow might have panic and lost control of her 
shields, however today the creature was facing a more resolute and determined 
Willow than she had ever been before. She would not give one inch to this 
monster that had violated her and Buffy. Yes, it was disgusting, but so 
what? It was evil, and it was going to die tonight.

If she could just figure out how to harm it.

Four of the ghoulish grinning Gentlemen moved to stand in a circle around her 
and she could hear a faint whispering from them as if they were chanting 
something, but their mouths never moved. 

They were casting a spell. 

Inside the jars, one of the hearts began to glow and slowly disappear. The 
creature surrounding her suddenly seemed to grow stronger and pressed harder 
upon her shields. Constricting upon her. Crushing down upon her with an 
ever-increasing pressure.

Ever so slowly, Willow felt herself beginning to succumb to the pressure.

*****

Buffy followed one of the demons as it fled upstairs and got her first look 
at four of the gentlemen just before she was tackled by another one of their 
lackeys. The Gentlemen had been standing in a circle staring at nothing when 
Buffy crashed their party. 

Spinning about Buffy sent one of the footmen crashing into the group of 
Gentlemen.

However, three more were upon her. Clutching at her; restraining her; holding 
her up for the advancing Gentleman with the scalpel.

***** 

Angel charged upstairs to find Buffy being held by three of the footmen as 
one of the Gentlemen moved in with a scalpel. With an inaudible growl, Angel 
leapt onto the Gentleman, in the process knocking off balance the group 
trying to hold Buffy and setting her free. Buffy scramble to her feet, leapt 
to grab an overhead beam and kicked out at the charging footmen, sending them 
crashing back over some crates.

She turned to see Angel grappling with another couple of footmen, the 
Gentlemen hovering back away as if afraid. 

Something in her head was screaming for her attention and when she looked and 
saw the table with the jars and the small box she realized what it was.

The box on the table was the same as the box from her dream.

She took a step forward only to be grabbed from behind by two more footmen. 
They grappled with her as she struggled to reach the box. Pressed against a 
large wooden cable spool, Buffy extended her hand towards the box on the 
table in a futile attempt to reach it.

Then the amulet on Buffy's chest began to glow.

*****

Outside Jude Law had put up a hard fight. He knew over a dozen different 
forms of martial arts and had done his share of hand to hand combat when he 
had been outnumbered before. However, when your opponents could get back up 
after having a bullet pass through their chest or head, and you were out 
numbered... well, the outcome had been simply a matter of time. He was 
beginning to think it had been a mistake to put the silencer on the gun as he 
could really use some help right now from either the girl or the vampire 
inside. 

Jude was being firmly held down by the four bastards in straightjackets as 
the tall floating ghoul who had stayed out of the fight, now approached him 
with a scalpel in hand.

*****

Willow had been resisting the crushing pressure from creature that was 
surrounding her when Buffy disrupted the Gentlemen's spell casting. She had 
felt the creature lose some of its increased strength, but it was not enough 
for her to free herself. As she had begun to feel her strength ebb, Willow 
attempted to get Buffy to notice the box on the table and was relieved when 
she finally did. However, that relief was short lived as Buffy was again set 
upon by several of the Gentlemen's henchmen. However, as they grappled with 
Buffy they moved her into the light/power stream that flowed up from in front 
of the clock tower, and suddenly the light began to flow into the amulet 
around Buffy's neck. 

Willow could feel her strength increasing and she gathered herself together 
to free herself, when suddenly she found herself sliding back through the 
link that connected her with Buffy. Abruptly, Willow was inside Buffy's 
body. Willow could feel power flowing though her, the likes of which she had 
never before experienced. Power being fed into her from the amulet. Power 
that needed a release. Willow extended her hand alongside Buffy's and urged 
her to release the power.

Buffy had no idea what was going on. She just suddenly felt as if her skin 
was three times too small, and she was a balloon about to burst. A tingling 
suddenly filled her whole body and moved down her arms to her finger tips. 
With an almost orgasmic pleasure of release, Buffy found herself amazed as 
what looked like a massive lighting bolt suddenly shot out from her extended 
hands. The bolt not only destroyed the box but also the jars, the table, 
three packing crates and about a two foot section of the wall opposite her. 
The destruction of the box released a brief magical windstorm that blew her 
and the footmen who were holding her backwards towards the other wall.

With a sharp intake of breath, Buffy threw her head back and screamed.

*****

Willow flinched as the heads of the 'Gentlemen' exploded. The creature 
convulsed and thrashed in agony as each of its servants died. 

Several black tendrils shot out toward Buffy only to recoil as they impacted 
upon her shield.

'Kill it now!' screamed a voice in her mind and Willow lunged forward and 
pierced the monster with two lances that suddenly shot forth from her palms. 
The lances sliced through the creature's defenses as if they were tissue 
paper. Waves of hatred poured into her from the creature along her arms and 
she realized that the monster was attempting to invade her through her own 
contact with the beast. 

Images began to flood her mind. He had once been a sorcerer. Templar 
knights had come to kill him and he had known. But instead of running, he 
had allowed them to kill him, because he had cast a spell transforming his 
conscience into this monstrosity by which he had seized control of the 
knights and their squires. He had proceeded to direct the knights to their 
homes where they had slaughter their families, their friends and their 
villages. All the while, the evil sorcerer had feasted upon the misery and 
suffering of the knights' souls still trapped within their bodies. Willow 
received a flood of information about the many dark magics and spells that 
the demon knew, and she was sickened by it.

Willow didn't hesitate as she transformed her lances into a thousand barbed 
hooks that she suddenly yanked out of the beast. The monster screamed and 
wailed as each hook ripped a piece from it. The creature backed away but 
Willow was all over it, hacking and slashing, first with an axe then with a 
machete. As it tried to flee out of the clock tower, she transformed her 
fingers into steel claws that she used to dig into the beast and rip out 
chucks from it. With a grim determination, Willow savagely ripped piece 
after piece off of the wailing monster until it suddenly collapsed in upon 
itself and faded from existence.

Panting in exhaustion, Willow failed to notice the figure of Jude Law 
scrambling to hide in the nearby bushes. 

His relief at being saved was tempered by his bafflement over how it had 
happened. One moment, the scalpel-wielding ghoul had been about to cut into 
him, the next there was an explosion in the clock tower. The ghoul had 
suddenly looked up as if in fear and then he had heard a girl's scream. The 
demonic henchmen released him as they had begun to writhe on the ground in 
agony, and, as Jude had scrambled to his feet, the surgeon ghoul's head had 
suddenly exploded. 

As he recovered his breath while hiding in the bushes, he watched as Buffy 
Summers and her vampire companion emerged from the clock tower.

"Well that was possibly one of the most disgusting demon deaths I think I 
have ever seen," grumbled Buffy as she stepped out of the tower. She was 
wiping her clothes with her hands, trying to make certain that she had gotten 
all of the bits of brain matter off of her.

"I don't know, at least it didn't smell," said Angel. "I had a Zichae demon 
a few weeks ago that exploded on me. Cordelia practically had me bathing in 
Lysol to get the smell out." 

"Ok part of me is thinking I should maybe be jealous, whereas another part is 
saying 'blech'," Buffy said lightly. 

"Yeah well..." the rest of whatever the man said was lost to Jude as he lay 
in the bushes and thought about what he had just seen.

The 'Girl' who just happened to be the roommate and best friend to Willow 
Rosenberg, had just taken out a group of demons with the help of a vampire. 
The question of 'Why had Hostile 17 gone to their room?' was suddenly 
prominent in his mind. Buffy Summers was not a vampire, but she was friends 
with them apparently, and her strength marked her as definitely inhuman. The 
little voice inside his head that usually warned him about trouble was now 
wide-awake and shouting for his attention.

When he stood up he lit a cigar and smoked for a few minutes as he continued 
to think. Slowly at first, but with an increasing stride, he began to walk 
back towards the Initiative. He had a number of questions that needed 
answering yesterday.

*****

It was in a much happier mood than she had been in for weeks that Buffy met 
Tara for breakfast before heading over to Giles the next morning. 

"Y-You think that the amulet was the reason for w-what happened to you last 
night?" Tara asked.

"Well, I've never been able to do it before," Buffy briefly looked at her 
fingers before lowering her voice to a more conspiratorial tone. "I tried to 
test it out a few more times last night but nothing happen. I don't know, 
maybe it was a one-time thing. It doesn't matter anyway; you should take it 
back. Your Grandmother gave it to you to protect you," Buffy said as she 
handed the amulet over to Tara. "It's way too valuable for you to just hand 
over to someone you hardly know."

Tara shook her head and pushed it back. "I've never been able to do anything 
with it. Y-You should keep it. Besides, I can't think of a better way for 
it to protect me than by giving it to the Slayer. And I think Gran would 
have liked you," she added with a smile.

"Alright," Buffy said, only slightly reluctantly, "but if you ever want it 
back..."

"I know who to come to."

"Right. Now let's get over the Giles' and you can work your mojo."

"Mojo?"

*****

The last of the Havalich, along with the other spell components were 
assembled and ready as Tara prepared to begin the casting. 'Third times the 
charm right?' she thought to herself as she began to mix in the first of the 
components.

Spike was over in Xander's basement, while Angel had opted to stay the day at 
the mansion as the CDC's travel restrictions would not be lifted until they 
had given the 'All Clear'.

Olivia sat next to Giles on the sofa. It had not been much of a relaxing 
stopover for her, but she had hopes that things would improve. Her eyes had 
been opened to a number of things over the last 48 hours and she needed some 
time alone with Rupert to talk about things. 

Anya sat on a stool by the kitchen waiting for Xander to return from his 
donut run and thinking about last night. He had been so passionate with her 
last night after beating up Spike when he thought that Spike had killed her. 
It must have been some sort of male macho thing. Maybe she should get Xander 
to beat up on Spike more often before they had sex.

Willow sat next to Buffy as she watched Tara begin. She was trouble by what 
had happened last night. It had been totally unlike her. However, it was 
very Slayerish in a cold ruthless and determined fashion. She wondered if 
maybe her connection to Buffy was impacting upon the way that she thought. 
Certainly that voice in her head telling her to 'Kill it Now!' couldn't have 
been hers. Could it? And what had gone on when she had seemed to merge with 
Buffy's body? Had Buffy somehow unconsciously tapped into her magic 
abilities? The lighting bolt blast had her totally stumped as to how they 
had managed it. The only sure thing that she knew was that the amulet had 
somehow directed power from that magical-light line into Buffy, who had 
stored it like a capacitor until she had finally discharged it.

Tara began her incantation. "Diana, Goddess of the hunt. To you we-"

Suddenly Xander burst into the apartment. "TV...Now!" He gasped out of 
breath as he snapped his fingers and pointed at the TV in the corner.

Giles turned on the TV.

"Repeating this breaking new story," said the announcer. "Willow Rosenberg, 
missing since November 16th, was found this morning by police. She was taken 
to Sunnydale General where doctors are checking out her condition. We have 
this statement from Chief of Police Dale Huber."

The screen switched to show the bald Police Captain standing in front of a 
podium. "Miss. Rosenberg was found at approximately 6:30AM this morning in 
fair condition although she appeared to have sustained some recent head 
trauma. She was discovered wandering in a dazed state along Key Creek Road 
by Deputy Terry Farley."

Buffy was out the door and sprinting for the hospital. Xander was close 
behind her dragging Anya behind him. "Hey! Ouch. Xander! Where's my 
donut?"

Giles stood up eager to see Willow as well but tempered by the desire not to 
appear to be running out on guests at his home.

Olivia looked at him and waved her hand, "Go. I'll be here when you get 
back."

With an almost gleeful delight on his face Rupert dashed out of the 
apartment. Ten seconds later he dashed back into the apartment to grab his 
car keys and wallet before running back out.


Tara thumped her head against the table. "I'm cursed. That's the only 
explanation." She was definitely feeling some uncast spell tension. She 
made a note that she might have to do something special for Diana after 
disturbing her 3 times with the incomplete spell.

She looked up at Olivia. "I can do magic. Honest."

Olivia just smiled and moved to get out Giles Scotch. "After what I've seen 
the last 48 hours, I believe you." She held out a glass towards the girl. 
"Join me?"

Tara just shook her head and began to clean up the magic components, 
carefully placing the still usable ingredients back into jars or plastic 
baggies.

"It's OK. R-Really. I'm glad she's been found and is alive and all. I just 
think that maybe I should go."

*****

When Buffy arrived at the hospital she was surprised to find a mob of 
reporters crowding in the front entryway. "Where the hell did they come 
from?" she wondered.

By the time Xander, Anya & Giles got to the hospital, Buffy had been told 
that only Willow's parents could give permission for her to see Willow and 
they were at that moment in the doctor's office just being appraised 
regarding Willow's condition. However, they did allow her to wait in another 
room away from the TV reporters who had tried to latch onto her for a sound 
bite.

When Sheila and Ira finally appeared, Sheila hugged Buffy and Xander while 
Ira shook hands with Giles. 

"She's OK. We just saw her. She's alive!" Sheila said haltingly. She was 
so happy about Willow's return that she couldn't stop crying. "Th-This is 
Dr. Ackerman. He-he says Willow has some sort of amnesia."

Buffy looked at the doctor, but Giles was the one who got in the question 
first. "What do you mean some sort of amnesia."

Dr. Ackerman looked a little nervous as the group stared at him. "Well Miss 
Rosenberg has apparently no memory of what has happened to her for the past 
few weeks. She also appears to have sustained some sort of head trauma 
recently. We are not certain, therefor, whether the amnesia is from physical 
or psychological trauma. She is, right now, under going an MRI and we hope 
to know more in a few hours."

"Can we see her?" Buffy asked with a pleading tone.

"With the Rosenberg's permission, I will authorize short visits for one 
person at a time..." 

****

It was over an hour later when an agitated Buffy was finally allowed to see 
Willow. Something was wrong, her spider-sense was working overtime and she 
didn't know why. When Buffy got to Willow's room, she paused at the door for 
just a moment to look at her friend. She was laying in the bed with a 
forlorn expression on her face as she looked out the window. A gauze bandage 
was fixed to her left temple.

"Will?" Buffy asked hesitantly

"Buffy?" Willow held up her arms and Buffy immediately moved forward to climb 
on the side of the bed and hug her.

"Oh God, Will," Buffy sobbed as she buried her face into her hair. "I'm so 
glad you're safe. I-I've been so afraid that you were... you know. But 
you're not so we won't talk about that because you're here and you're OK." 
Tears were streaming down Buffy's face as she held onto Willow as tightly as 
she dared to without hurting her.

"Buffy," sobbed the red headed girl as she clutched the Slayer tightly to 
her. She moved her mouth close to whisper into Buffy's ear. "They...they 
did...s-s-s-s-some t-t-t-thing t-t-to me."

Buffy pulled back to look with concern into the sad green eyes before her. 
She reached up to touch Willow's face and wipe away some of the tears. "What 
is it? What did they do?" 

Leaning forward to move her lips right next to the Slayer's ear, she 
whispered something that sent an icy chill through Buffy's spine in a way 
that nothing had ever before.

"They cut into my brain and took away my magic."

******

Unseen as usual, the spirit of Willow Rosenberg stood in shock as she stared 
at the imposter in her body hugging her best friend. 'Buffy,' she whimpered. 
'That's not me. I'm here. They killed me. That's...I... oh please Buffy 
you have to hear me!' 

But Buffy did not hear her, anymore than she had over the past month. 

Horrible realizations began to sink in. She could not communicate with 
Buffy, and now they wouldn't even be looking for her because this...thing was 
walking around in her body. Her body which had been taken from her. Because 
she'd been murdered. By whoever had sent this thing in her place. Probably 
to hurt Buffy!

'Get a way from her, you bitch!' she screamed at her body as it continued to 
hold onto Buffy. Angrily, Willow lashed out at it with a hand that 
transformed into steel tipped claws; but her claws encountered nothing and 
past right through the body. Again and again, she slashed at her body in a 
futile effort to destroy it, until finally she staggered away, shaking with 
rage and frustration.

Buffy continued to hold Willow's body, stroking her hair and whispering into 
her ear that she would do whatever she could to 'make it better'. Within her 
mind, however, she was in turmoil. Seething with anger and fury at whoever 
had done this to her Willow. Someone was going to pay.

Raging inside, she failed to hear the wail of pain and anguish as Willow 
slumped to the floor and began to cry.

~~~~~~~

End Chapter 4

To Be Continued...

Next up... 'Doomed'