Disclaimer: The characters of Buffy Willow Giles and any others from BTVS are the property of Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy etc. No infringement of any kind intended.

Part 1

<<Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump>>

The heartbeat was steady and strong. Its echoes reverberating around the large cavern, bouncing off of one jagged wall only to be deflected by another. The source of the sound was as elusive as the sound itself. As the beating continued on in its constant fashion, a shadow flitted around the enclosure to finally settle, moments later, in the middle of the room. The torches placed haphazardly around the cave barely illuminated the figure. A dark cloak wrapped around a skinny frame hid all but its hands from the light.

If one dared to look closer, the cloak resembled more of a living fog than a piece of clothing for it swirled around, never settling in one place for more than a moment. Its ends trailed off until one couldn't distinguish where the darkness began and the shroud ended.

The hands that peeked out were blistered and decaying. Ribbons of flesh were either missing or hanging on by only the slimmest of margins.

<<Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump>>

The heartbeat continued on unabated. Its owner, blissfully unaware of either the figure or the cavern where dark magic hung like a moldering perfume.

A soft chanting could be heard coming from the figure, growing exponentially louder with each passing minute until it rivaled that of the heartbeat. As the chanting rose in volume, the heart started beating faster and faster and faster until everything stopped . . .

No chanting, no beating.

For the space of time that it takes a normal heart to beat once, there was absolute silence. . . silence everywhere except in the breast of the dark figure where there was a beat so faint, it would have been missed were it not for the absolute hush that had fallen.

Just as suddenly as the beating had stopped, it started again, albeit sounding weaker than it had before. In contrast, there was now only silence coming from the figure's chest. Without seeming to move, the shrouded body began melting into the surrounding darkness, leaving nothing to mark its passage save for a slightly sickening smell in the air.

<<Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump>>

Part 2

15 minutes before:

Buffy Summers, the chosen one of her generation to battle the forces of evil, the protector of the innocent, the only one that stood between hell on earth and a . . .a not so hellish earth, stood on the raised dais with tears of joy running down her face. Holding a large bouquet of roses that was threatening to burst from its plastic confines, she gracefully accepted the gold medal presented to her by the judge.

"Thank you, thank you. This is the happiest moment of my life. I feel so proud to win this figure skating medal on behalf of the United States."

As the crowd roared its approval, Buffy's eyes scanned the crowd, finally settling on a familiar figure dressed in a fuzzy blue ski bunny outfit that hugged every curve of her delicious body. <<Wait...did I just say delicious??? No, not delicious. This is Willow we're talking about. She's "Best Friend Girl", not "I'm so sexy, now kiss me Grrl"...right?>>

As Buffy examined this new facet to her emotions, she failed to notice that her surroundings were beginning to disappear, melting into a darkness that was fast approaching her from all sides. By the time she did notice that not everything was kosher, there was nothing left save an inky void which lay on all sides.

"H..Hello?" This isn't fair, I wasn't done with that dream yet. I want my stadium...I want my fans...I want my Willow!

Not getting any type of response, Buffy decided a more proactive approach was necessary.

"HEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

If I can't get back to my dream, I'm going to, at least get out of this nightmare.

Deciding that there was only one sure-fire method to waking up, she started to pinch herself only to cry out in agitation a split second later.

"Owww. What kind of messed up dream..."

<<Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump, Tha-Thump>>

"Oooooh. How very TellTale Heart of me to dream this up. Well there's no reason, I should be standing here like some brain dead idiot when there's explorin' to be done. "

Picking a direction at random, she'd hardly taken one step before a stabbing pain in her chest doubled her over like a soft pretzel. It was as if someone were jamming their hand down her throat and squeezing her heart for all it was worth...only worse. As if that weren't enough, Buffy began losing all feeling in her arms, legs, torso, head, and even her ears felt numb. Juxtapose the numbness to the excruciating pain and you'd get what she was feeling at the time, which was to say, she'd had better days. The beating became thunderous as it matched Buffy's heartbeat. For long, agonizing seconds, the torture continued until everything suddenly stopped, leaving total silence.

Part 3

Buffy awoke with a start, her hands clutching at her chest. That wasn't the best way to wake up. In fact, on the all time list of worse ways to wake up, that was down there with waking up in bed next to...Spike.

"Ewwww!" That was not a good visual. She was having all kinds of weird thoughts tonight. For the hundredth time, she promised herself that she would stop with the sugary snacks before bed. Flopping back down on the bed, she wiped a hand across her sweaty forehead and realized something wasn't quite right. Aside from the late night fright-fest, she noticed that this was definitely not her dorm room.

"Willow?" Buffy called out to her best friend but received no response. She turned on the lamp next to the bed and her heart almost stopped once again for the second time that night. She was in her OLD bed, in her OLD house, with all her OLD stuff exactly where it had been when she was still in high school. Either she was dreaming or there was something fishy going on. Considering that the town was situated over a hellmouth, the latter reason stood more than a fifty/fifty chance of being true.

Getting out of bed, she noted that it was 4:01 AM and the date was exactly as she remembered it. She really wanted to talk to Giles about the dream as well as the question of how she found herself in her house without knowing how she got there. These, and more questions, would have to wait however since calling her watcher at four in the morning would no doubt result in a stern lecture on how inappropriate it was to call someone at four in the morning. So she opted to go downstairs instead and spend some quality time in front of the TV.

Four Hours Later...

"Buffy. Buffy, wake up. It's time for school. You'll be late...again."

Buffy rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand and looked up at her mother with a confused expression..

"Mom? What are you doing here?" "Well this is still my house Buffy. The more important question is what are you still doing here? You might be the slayer young lady but you're still a high school student. Now go get ready. Breakfast will be waiting when you get down." Joyce left a speechless Buffy half-lyng on the couch where she had fallen asleep last night. "HIGH SCHOOL??! I really need to speak to Giles."

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