Chapter 5

Xander and Willow looked down the hallway of the third floor of Ravenhurst.  What they didn’t know was that the house had put them in another wing, completely on the other side of the house from where they had started.

“So where do you want to look first,” Willow asked.

“Why don’t you use a spell to find Angel?  After all, you put his soul back in him, you should be able to find it.”

Willow pulled a worried grimace.  “I don’t know,” she said in a hesitant tone.

“Come on, Wills.  Just get it done.  I’m tired of your wishy-washy bullshit,” Xander growled.  “Now, let’s show those stupid Slayers how really smart people go about doing things.”

Willow felt a little bit of hurt at Xander’s harsh words, but she loved him.  She mustered up her magic, and she uttered a few words in Latin.

A golden light blinked into existence by a door half way down the hall.

“Gotcha!”  Xander grabbed Willow’s hand, and he dragged her towards the light.

Xander pushed the door open.  The room was dark, but he wasn’t deterred.

Angel was in the room.

Xander would be the one to rescue the stupid vampire.  Then, the Slayers would see his true worth.

Xander pulled Willow inside the room, while he groped the walls for a light switch.   He lost his grip on Willow’s hand just before the door slammed shut.  The room was uttered void of light.

The fireplace roared to life, casting shadows throughout the room.  Spider webs covered all of the furniture, the ceiling, and the floor.

“Welcome to my lair.  My, my, you are a sweet treat.”

That’s when Xander noticed the fire reflecting off hundreds of little eyes in one corner of the room near the ceiling.  He backed up towards the door, now groping for the knob with one hand.

But it wasn’t there!

The knob was missing.  Hell, the whole door was gone.

“Willow, kill it!”

There was no answer.  Xander realized that Willow was no longer in the room.

He was alone with …

A spider the size of a Great Dane crawled down from the upper corner of the room.

“I’m so hungry.  It’s been so very long since I’ve had a sweet treat,” the spider cooed.

“No! No! No!  I am not a sweet treat.  I am not a nummy treat,” Xander screamed.  He turned his back on the creature to search for the door.  He missed the spider leaping towards him, but he felt its fangs enter the back of his neck.  Its venom burned through his veins.  He fell to the floor, paralyzed but aware.

As the arachnoid spun him into a cocoon, it talked to him.  “If I’m not greedy, I can keep you alive for a very long time.  I can’t be greedy.  Thank you, Ravenhurst for providing me with sustenance.”

Xander felt himself be hoisted into the air.  He whirled around and around until he was dizzy.  When he stopped spinning, he found himself staring into the mummified face of a red-haired woman who appeared to have been split in half.  She wore the broken, dangling necklace of …

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

RAVENHURST DEFIES TIME 

Willow let Xander pull her into the dark room.  He let go of her hand just before the fireplace roared into life.

Willow could see a woman in a long negligee gown and robe sitting in front of a vanity mirror where she looked at herself.  She brushed her long red hair.

“Hello?” Willow said in a soft voice.

The woman’s head swung around to look at Willow.  Her eyes were completely back with no iris or what in them at all.  Willow took a step while she thought the lady was creepy.

“Um, I’m a little lost,” Willow said.  She looked around the room, taking in the bed, closed closet door, and bedside table.  “I seem to have lost my boyfriend.”

The woman continued with the creepy, black-eyed stare, not saying a word.

“Okay, well, um, I’ll just be going then.  Willow glanced behind her for the door back to the hallway.  She edged towards it.

The woman rasped, “I know what you want.”

“W-what?”

“You want power.  The power to show them all what you’re worth,” the woman said.

“I suppose so.  I mean who doesn’t,” Willow replied.  If she had more power, she could show the Slayer … and Xander … who was boss.

Who was the best!

The woman smiled.  “First you must discard this shell.  It hinders your growth.”

Tattered wings burst through the woman’s back, while her red hair turned into a mass of writhing snakes.  The negligee fell away revealing a nude, scaly body with generous curves.  Her face twisted into a menacing grimace that showed off her sharp teeth. 

Willow let out a gasp when the woman’s sharp clawed hand whipped out to encircle her wrist.  She was pulled towards the woman until she slammed into her.  Willow was scared, but also, a little turned on.

Weird, Willow thought to herself in a distracted manner.

“I am Virdesco, and I am your destiny.”  Virdesco backed Willow up until she hit the wall.

“I’m Willow.”

Virdesco burned her face in Willow’s neck.  She inhaled deeply before she licked at the human’s skin.  “No, your new name for your new destiny is Willixia.”  She bit into Willixia’s soft, pliant flesh.

Willixia screamed in pain as her body started to fall apart.  Virdesco laid her on the bed, and she stood back to watch the change.

Willixia’s head split down the middle.  Snakes writhed while they escaped the confines.  Her face continued to pull apart revealing Willixia’s new face and sharp teeth.  The necklace around her neck snapped in half.

Her new wings were revealed.

Her new scaly skin was revealed.

Her clawed hands and feet were revealed.

Willixia’s new skin was covered in blood and guts.  Virdesco kicked the old, discarded body aside, and she fell upon Willixia to lick her clean.

After Virdesco and Willixia skulked out of the room, a dachshund-sized spider crawled out from under the bed.  It skittered over to Willow’s discarded body.

It preferred living food, but it was better than nothing.  It started to produce silk webbing.  Little did it know that magics still stored in the husk of the person would enhance its growth until decades later it would be much larger.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

Angel’s scream echoed down the hallway.

“It’s sounding closer now,” Amy said.  “Isn’t it?”

Buffy nodded.  “I agree, but this house is weird.”

“How so? Riley asked.

“You see, this hallway looks exactly like the one downstairs,” Buffy said.  “Even that creepy painting down there is the same.”

“The walls are breathing,” Spike said suddenly.  “Which probably explains why the house looks the way it does to me.”

Amy nodded her agreement.  “We need to get this done, and get out of here.”

Spike and Buffy looked at each other.  Yes, the torch job idea was and excellent plan.

“We cannot split up,” Faith said.

“Angel isn’t the only one in here though,” Buffy replied.  “There’s the rest of Angel’s crew and the group doing the exorcism.”

Riley grimaced.  “That idiot Xander and Willow too.”

“If the house is playing tricks on us, how will we find anyone?” Amy inquired.

Angel screamed, but it ended abruptly.  A feminine scream started up in its place.

“Professor Walsh,” Riley whispered.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

“I’m starting to get really hungry,” Gunn said while he rubbed his stomach.  He stood at the top of the stairs waiting for Doyle to check the door at the bottom.  “First, we lost Alonna, and then Angel wandered off.”

Doyle called up the stairs.  “It looks like we found that garden off the kitchen.  Maybe we can find some fruit or something before we escape.”

Gunn joined Doyle, and together they entered the overgrown garden.  They were cautious, checking behind the door as they entered.  They’d seen some pretty bizarre things in the few hours they’d been trapped in Ravenhurst.  Neither man realized that more than a week had passed. 

In the middle of the giant greenhouse there was an apple tree overladen with fruit.  Gunn’s stomach growled loud enough to be heard by Doyle.

Gunn licked his lips.  He surged past Doyle to get to the tree.  As soon as his hand touched one of the apples, the tree limbs twisted and whipped around like tentacles.  They snatched Gunn up to pull him towards the tree trunk.

Doyle was paralyzed with shock for a few moments.  When he finally stepped forward to help his friend, he crashed into an invisible wall.

“Gunn,” Doyle screamed.  “I can’t get through.  There’s something in the way.”

Gunn turned towards Doyle, his face covered in blood and apple pieces.  “Go!  Get out!  Break a window and go,” he gasped as the branches tightened their grasp on him.

Doyle watched in revulsion as Gunn was absorbed into the tree’s trunk.  Gunn’s face stared out at him; his skin covered in bark and mouthing the word ‘go’.

Doyle looked around for a means to break a window.  He grabbed a nearby decorative stone, and he lobbed it through one of the greenhouse panes.  As he climbed through, he cut his arm on a piece of broken glass.

Doyle stumbled out through the garden, clutching his bleeding arm.  He realized that Angel’s car was gone, but a brand new shiny rental car was parked near the entrance of Ravenhurst.

“I knew those hot-wiring skills would come in handy,” Doyle muttered as he got busy.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 

When dinner was finished and put away, Lindsey announced, “I’m going to go smoke a cigarette.”

Lindsey stepped out the front door of the Hyperion, and he lit up.  He wrinkled his nose in disgust.  It smelled like something had crawled into the nearby sewer grate and died.  “I sure don’t miss this hellhole.”

Spike and Buffy’s rental car lurched out of the darkness, hopped the curb, and came to a rest a few feet from where Lindsey stood.  Before he could call for help, a dark-haired man fell out of the driver’s door.

>>>>> 

Doyle laid on the concrete, feeling dizzy from the blood loss.  He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten back to Angel’s hotel.  A man’s face appeared above him, blotting out the overhead lights.

“Why are you driving Spike and Buffy’s rental?” the face asked.

Doyle mumbled, “Couldn’t find Angel’s car.  Gunn.  Oh, Gunn.  He was sucked into a tree.”

“OK, man, hold on.”  The face disappeared, and Doyle heard him shout, “Wesley, get your British ass out here.  One of Angel’s minions showed up.  He’s in pretty bad shape.”

A few moments later a new face appeared above Doyle.  Must be Wesley Doyle mused to himself.  Two people helped him to his feet, making his head swim.

“I got him, Lindsey.  Go see if Tara or Cordelia can find the first aid kit,” Wesley said.  “Have one of them check on Alonna too.”

“Alonna’s here?” Doyle mumbled while Lindsey hurried away.

Wesley nodded.  “She ran out of the mansion just after Spike and Buffy arrived.  She’s resting upstairs.  She’s covered in bite marks.  Did you see that happen?”

“No, we got separated,” Doyle said with a shake of his head.

A gorgeous brunette woman opened the hotel door for them.  “Put him on that chair over there,” she said.  “I need to cut his sleeve off to get a look at his arm.”

As Wesley helped him sit down, Doyle looked up at the woman.  “You’re so beautiful.  Like an angel.  A real angel, not Angel, Angel.  The vampire.”

The woman snorted.  “I’m no angel, vampire or otherwise, lover boy.  I’m Cordelia.”  She quickly cut his sleeve off and treated his wounded arm.  “This could use some stitches.”

Doyle looked at the cut.  He could tell it was already healing.  “Nah, it’ll heal in a couple of days,” he said with a shake of his head.

“Not human then, lover boy?” Cordelia asked.

“No,” Doyle replied.

Cordelia nodded.  “Well, it’s too bad I have a boyfriend.  Otherwise, I might consider dating you.”

Another brunette came down the stairs, followed by Alonna.  That must be Tara, Doyle thought to himself.  His eyes moved to Alonna.  The young woman moved like she was stiff in pain.  How the hell am I going to tell her about her brother?

Alonna looked at Doyle.  “Charles is gone, isn’t he?” she asked in a sad voice.

Doyle gave a grim nod.  “What happened to you, Alonna?” he asked.

Alonna dropped into a chair with shudder.  She sat sobbing while everyone stood around looking uncomfortable.  Tara rushed over to comfort her.  Alonna’s sobbing subsided.  She opened her mouth to speak when yet another woman rushed into the room, holding a bowl of popcorn.

“Don’t start without me.  I love a good story time.”  She plopped down next to Wesley and waved Tara to join her.

“She really does,” Cordelia muttered under her breath.

Wesley peered into the bowl.  “Anya, is that popcorn?  I’m not sure this is that kind of story.”

Anya shrugged before waving a hand in Alonna’s direction.  She gave Alonna her full attention while shoving popcorn into her mouth.

Alonna started to tell her story:

Alonna stopped to take a closer look at a painting.  She was pretty sure it was an original worth quite a bit of money.  No wonder Mr. Masters was so hot to get this place exorcised and cleaned up of any negative energy.  He was set to make a fortune.

Alonna turned just in time to see Angel, Doyle, and her brother to turn the corner at the end of the hallway.  They hadn’t even noticed that she’d paused behind them.

“Hold up, guys,” Alonna called out.  She hurried towards where they had disappeared. 

When Alonna turned the corner, the next hallway was empty.  It stretched out ahead of her.  “Oh, come on.  This place is way too creepy to be playing games with me.  Angel!  Doyle!  Charles!”

Her words echoed back to her.

Alonna ignored how distorted the echo sounded.

“Ah, man.”  Alonna trudged down the hall, checking doors as she went.  Most of them were locked, and she didn’t have her lockpicks with her.

Alonna stopped at a door that was painted a different color than the others.  “I wonder what this means,” she muttered while she tried the knob.

It was unlocked.

Alonna pushed the door open, and she stepped inside.  The stench of decaying blood made her gag.  She covered her nose and mouth with the edge of her jacket to keep from throwing up.  The room was dark, except where the giant, circular chandelier shone down on the pentagram painted on the floor.  In the center of the pentagram, a young, blond woman stood swaying back and forth.  She faced away from Alonna, who noticed that the woman’s hands were covered in dried blood.

At each point of the pentagram lay a dead body; their faces frozen in horror and their throats ripped open.

Alonna let out a gasp.

The woman’s head turned around at the sound, bones cracking like gunshots in the quiet room.  That’s when Alonna realized that it was actually a teenager. 

A teenager that stared at Alonna with hungry, dead eyes.  Alonna took in the girl’s appearance, and she came to one conclusion.

Zombie.

Just what I need, Alonna thought.

The zombie girl roared at Alonna, and she started shuffling towards the dark-skinned woman.  The zombie came to an abrupt halt when she hit an invisible wall.  She continued to roar at Alonna.

Alonna looked over her shoulder at the door.  She dashed for it and stepped out into the hallway.  She whirled around to stare back into the room.  Alonna came to the sudden realization that she had found most of the team that Angel had been sent to find. 

Alonna studied the bodies carefully; three females, two men, and the zombie.

“Three witches, a scientist, a Watcher, and a potential,” Alonna whispered to herself.  “That leaves two scientists, including Maggie Walsh.”

The zombie roared at Alonna again.

“Wonder how long before those others wake up,” Alonna muttered.  She looked both ways down the hall.  She wasn’t even sure if it was the same hallway at this point.  The wallpaper and carpet looked a little off.

“Crazy house,” Alonna muttered.

Alonna knew she’d approached the room from the left.  So, she decided to go right.

Alonna walked.

And walked.

And walked.

And walked.

Down an unending hallway.  She didn’t even check the doors anymore.  She certainly didn’t look inside any of the different colored doors.  She just wanted to find a way out of this crazy house.

She was thirsty.

She was hungry.

She was tired.