Chapter 4

Xander and Willow climbed the stairs holding hands.  Xander laughed on the inside.  Willow was so easy to manipulate.  She was the perfect girlfriend.  So much better than Cordelia ever hoped to be.

At the top of the stairs, Xander opened the first door of the corridor.  It was a bedroom with a big queen-sized bed sitting in the very middle of the room.

Xander leaned down to whisper into Willow’s ear.  “You know the others will be knocking around downstairs for a while, and I’m sure that Captain Forehead is just hamming it up anyway to get sympathy from Faith and Buffy.”  He wiggled his eyebrows at the red-haired woman.  “Let’s make use of the bed over there.  I could use a quickie.”

Clearly, Xander forgot one of the rules for surviving a horror story.

“Um … “  Willow glanced at the bed.  It did look soft and inviting.  “I guess we could be quick.”  She let Xander pull her further into the room.

They were too busy to notice the door slam behind them and lock itself.

Sometime later, Xander and Willow were interrupted by the door knob twisting and the door rattling slightly in its frame.  When it didn’t swing open, they let out a sigh of relief.

“We better get going,” Xander said, pulling away from Willow’s body.  “They have to be done exploring downstairs by now.

The pair rearranged their clothes to look presentable enough not to raise suspicion.  Riley was such a snotty fuck that he’d admonished them for making out while on guard duty the week before.  Xander scoffed to himself.   Like the soldier boy wouldn’t do the same with Faith in the same situation, ignoring the fact that Riley, in fact, hadn’t in the same situation.

Xander eased the door open.  He saw the Slayers and their boytoys down the hallway, checking the other doors.  He ignored Amy’s presence.  Willow was the better witch anyway.

Xander stepped out into the hallway with Willow behind him.  He watched for a few moments while the Slayers’ group opened doors and checked inside the rooms.  Spike looked in their direction, and Xander was surprised when the vampire didn’t see him or Willow.

“They can’t see us,” Xander chortled.  “This is fantastic.”

“So, let’s get upstairs and rescue Angel.  That way we’re the heroes and the Slayers are too late.”  Willow pulled Xander towards a set of stairs that ascended upwards.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Buffy stared up into the darkness.  Slowly, the lights started to flicker on, casting eerie shadows up the staircase.

“Well, that’s not creepy at all,” Riley muttered. 

“I’m not sure that Peaches is worth this much effort,” Spike grumbled.  “We could leave right now and just tell the green demon that we were too late.”

Buffy slapped Spike’s arm.  “That might be your morbid opera andi but it’s not mine.  Now come on.”

“I think you mean modus operandi, pet,” Spike chuckled.  Thankfully, he’d had time to understand Buffy’s language mangling.  “I suppose you’re right.”

“In normal cases, I’d say ‘let’s split up’, but somehow I don’t think that’s a good idea in this place,” Faith commented.  “We’ve already lost Xander and Willow.”

Buffy nodded.  “You’re probably right.  Everybody stick close together.”  She started up the staircase.  Spike and Amy followed behind her with Riley and Faith bringing up the rear.

At the top of the stairs, they found themselves staring down a long hallway lined with paintings and doors.  The wallpaper was blood red, giving the whole narrow passage a distinctive disturbing vibe.

Another scream reverberated through the air.  It sounded like it came from above them somewhere in the depths of the house.

“That is going to get old fast,” Riley said.  “I should have brought my rifle.”

Amy swallowed with nervousness.  “It looks like we need to look for more stairs.”  She glanced behind her towards the stairs … only …  “Where the hell did the stairs going down go?”

The group turned to look behind them, only to see that the hallway stretched out behind them.

“I don’t like this,” Spike said.  “I don’t like this at all. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Faith cleared her throat.  “Well, when the vamp says he’s got a bad feeling, you know we’re in trouble.  So, which way do you want to go, B?”

Buffy looked both ways.  “Let’s keep going in the direction we would be going if the stairs were still there.  I’d hate to go backwards and find out it was an illusion and fall down those suckers.”

“Onward then.  Should we check a few of the rooms?” Amy asked.  She grasped a door handle and jiggled the door.  “This one is locked.”

Spike spun around to check the door behind him.  The door opened with ease.  “This one isn’t.”  He peered inside.  “It looks like a sitting room.   No blood dripping off the walls though.”  He closed the door.

The group moved down the hallway to the next set of doors.  Riley opened one while Amy opened the other.  They both peered into the rooms while telling the others that they were bedrooms.

Another of Angel’s pain filled screams echoed through the house.

“We better hurry up before he’s completely sacrificed,” Buffy said.  “It’s not May and I have no desire to deal with an apocalypse right now.”

Amy snorted.  “Would it really be an apocalypse?”

Buffy gave the witch a pointed look.  “With our luck?”

“Don’t jinx us,” Spike muttered.  He glanced backwards to check on the stairwell, but it was still hidden.  “Let’s pick up the pace.  Everyone check a door.”

All five of them opened a door to look inside.

“I found stairs going up,” Amy announced.  They crowded in behind the witch and ascended upwards.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Tara tapped on the door of the room where Alonna had taken her bath.  “Are you decent?” she asked in a quiet voice.

There was no answer.

“Alonna?”  Tara tapped on the door again.  Then, she heard incoherent mumbling.  “I’m coming in, Alonna.”

Once Tara was inside the room, she realized the lights were turned down.  She waited for a few moments for her eyes to adjust.

On the bed, Alonna lay under the covers, her face covered with a fine sheen of sweat.  She mumbled during her restless sleep.

Tara decided to let Alonna sleep.  She was sure the other young woman needed it.  Tara would check on Alonna later.  With that, she slipped out of the room and returned downstairs.

Wesley looked up from where he was placing the food into bowls on the table.  “Where’s Alonna?”

“Sleeping,” Tara said.  “I think we save the dumpling soup for her.  There’s plenty of other food for the rest of us.”

“I agree.  I’ll put it in the refrigerator until she wakes up.”  Wesley set the container of soup to the side.  “Could you let everyone know the food is ready?”  He smiled at Tara.

Tara ducked her head with a blush.  “Of course.”