~~~~~~~~~~ Prologue ~~~~~~~~~~
A Sunnydale park at night. Buffy slowly strolls along the perimeter and
into an area surrounded by bushes. She hears a rustling sound coming
from the bush directly in front of her, and stops instantly, her gaze
fixed on the shaking branches. She pulls out her stake and gets ready to
fight, when suddenly she hears a voice to her left.
Joyce: Is it a vampire?
Buffy snaps her head to the left and sees her mother walk toward her
carrying a bag in one hand and a large thermos in the other.
Buffy: Mom, what are you doing here?
Joyce: (holds up the bag and thermos) I brought you a snack. I thought
it was about time for me to come out and watch. Y-you know, the slaying.
Buffy: You know, the slaying is kind of an alone thing.
Joyce: But it's such a big part of your life, and I'd like to
understand it. It's, um, you know, something we could share.
Buffy: A-actually, it's pretty dull, you know, it's (distracted) bam
boom stick... poof.
Her attention is back on the rustling bush, and she nudges her mother to
the side a bit. Suddenly a vampire jumps out at her and runs straight
for her. She ducks as the vampire lunges at her with his arms
outstretched. She gets back up and delivers a right hook to his face
followed by a backhand punch on the backswing and a left to the face,
making him take a step back. Her mother cheers her on.
Joyce: Good, honey! Kill him!
Buffy does an out-to-in crescent kick, which he easily ducks. She tries
to punch him in the face again, but he grabs onto her shoulders and
rolls onto his back, sending her rolling over him and onto her back. She
lets out a pained grunt and looks around to get her bearings.
Joyce: (points) Buffy, he-he's over here!
The vampire faces her and roars.
Joyce: Oh, my God! It's Mr. Sanderson from the bank!
He comes at Buffy with a front snap kick, which she low blocks. He tries
to punch her, but she ducks it. Buffy does a half spinning in-to-out
crescent kick followed swiftly by a leg sweep, knocking the vampire's
legs out from under him. She stands back up and gets ready to punch him,
but he's had enough. He scrambles to his feet and hightails it out of
there.
Joyce: (points with the thermos) And he's getting away!
Buffy gives her a stern look.
Buffy: Stay!
She runs off after the vampire. Joyce lets out a worried sigh and
decides to walk the short distance over to the playground. There she
sets down her bag and the thermos on a bench near the swings. She
shivers a bit from the cold night air. She steps over to the concrete
border between the grass and the sand of the playground and notices a
toy pickup truck that was left behind in a small puddle. She picks it up
and smiles as she looks it over. Then something catches her eye at the
other side of the playground.
Cut to Buffy on the ground with the vampire bending over her. She grabs
him and pulls him over and down onto the ground next to her. She
scrambles to her knees and jams her stake home. The vampire explodes in
a cloud of ashes.
Cut to Joyce as she makes her way over to the carousel. When she's close
enough to get a good look, she stops in horror, shocked at what she
sees.
Joyce: Oh, God. (takes a breath) Oh...
Cut to a long shot of her with the carousel in the foreground. The body
of a young boy lies dead on it, and next to it on the sand lies the body
of a young girl. Joyce can't believe her eyes. Each of the children has
one arm outstretched, and drawn in black on the palms of their hands is
a triangle. It has a wide U-shaped symbol in the middle, with its ends
extending out from the triangle and bending in a sharp arc at the tips.
Opening credits roll. Buffy's theme plays.
~~~~~~~~~~ Part 1 ~~~~~~~~~~
The playground. Several police cars and a coroner's van have arrived,
and the detectives are looking over the scene. No one has touched the
bodies yet. The police photographer steps up to the carousel and takes
aim at the young boy with his camera. A series of black-and-white photos
follow. The boy's outstretched arm with the symbol on the palm of his
hand. The girl from straight above with her outstretched arm. A close-up
shot of the girl's face. A wide-angle shot of both of the children from
above. The boy from straight above with his outstretched arm. A close-up
of the boy's hand with the symbol clearly visible.
Sometime later, Buffy is finishing an interview with a police officer.
She asks him if she and her mother can leave now.
Police Officer #1: Yes, ma'am.
Buffy walks over to her mother. The police bustle with activity around
them.
Police Officer #2: Alright, let's move here. Somebody pull that car
out.
Buffy: (reaches her mother) They said we can go home now.
Joyce: (distraught) They were little kids. Did you see them? They're so
tiny.
Buffy: (sympathetically) I saw.
Joyce: (shaking her head) Who could do something like this? I just...
(looks down sadly)
Buffy: I'm so sorry that you had to see this. But I promise, everything
is gonna be okay.
Joyce: How?
Buffy: Because I'm gonna *find* whatever did it.
Joyce: I guess. It's just you can't... you can't make it right.
Buffy hugs her mother closely. Joyce begins to sob.
Buffy: (comfortingly) I know. I'm sorry. But I'll take care of
everything. I promise. Just try and calm down.
Cut to the library the next morning. Buffy looks up at Giles standing at
the top of the stairs to the book stacks.
Buffy: (upset) Don't tell me to calm down!
Giles: (taken aback) I-I-I only meant...
Buffy: They were kids, Giles. Little kids! You don't know what it was
like to see them there. My mom can't even talk.
Giles: (takes a few steps down) I'm sorry. I... I just want to help.
Buffy: (calms a bit) I know.
Giles comes down the rest of the way and goes over to the center table.
Buffy follows and leans against the back of a chair.
Giles: Do we know how? Uh... It wasn't a vampire? (sits on the table)
Buffy: No. There were no marks.
Giles lifts his mug for a sip of his tea, but stops as Buffy continues.
Buffy: Wait. I-I mean, there, there was a mark, um, a-a symbol.
She steps around the chair, grabs a pen from the table and sits to draw
it. Giles hurriedly sets down his mug and quickly reaches over to stop
Buffy before she can deface the parchments lying there in front of her.
Giles: Oh, uh, 12th century, Papal Encyclical. Write on this.
He gently picks up the parchments and nudges a spiral notebook over to
her. Buffy flips the notebook to a blank page and draws as Giles sets
down the parchments and picks up his mug again.
Buffy: I-it was on their hands. The cops are keeping it quiet, but I
got a good look at it.
She pushes the drawing over for Giles to see.
Buffy: There. Find me the thing that uses this symbol and point me at
it.
Giles: (thoughtfully) Hmm.
Buffy: Hmm. What? Giles, speak.
Giles: (torn from his reverie) What? Oh, sorry. Um, no, it... (picks up
the notebook) I just wonder if we're looking for a thing. The use of a
symbol o-o-on a victim like this suggests a, a ritual murder and a cult
sacrifice by a group.
Buffy: A group of... human beings? Someone with a soul did this?
Giles: Yes, I'm afraid so.
He goes over to the bookshelves behind the table and starts his
research.
Buffy: Okay. Then while you're looking for the meaning of that symbol
thingy, could you also find a loophole in that 'Slayers don't kill
people' rule?
Giles looks back at her from his crouched position.
Giles: Buffy, this is a dreadful crime, I know, (stands up) and you
have every right to be upset, but... I-I wonder if you're not letting
yourself get a shade, uh... more personal because of your mother's
involvement.
Buffy: (stands and faces him) Oh, it's *completely* personal. Giles,
find me the people that did this. Please.
Cut to the cafeteria. Oz and Xander are at the steam tables selecting
their lunch. Oz reaches in, grabs a foil-wrapped burrito and sets it on
his plate. Xander glances over at him.
Xander: Hey.
Oz: Hey.
They move down the line to the fruit cocktail bowls and each takes one.
Xander: (slightly nervous) So, a burrito.
Oz: This is a burrito.
Xander: Damn straight.
They both take their trays and head for an empty table. Cut to them
sitting and eating. Willow and Amy find them.
Willow: Hi, Oz.
Oz: Hey.
Willow: Xander. Hi.
Oz: Hey, Amy.
Willow and Amy both sit. Amy has a huge smile on her face, pleased to
show off her new short and darker hairstyle.
Amy: Hi, guys.
Xander: Hey, Amy. I like your new hair.
Oz: (to Willow) I haven't see you all day. Where you been?
Xander: (shaking his head defensively) Not with me. No, sir. Ask
anyone. No.
Oz looks over at him with his lips stretched tightly. Willow gives
Xander a look and tries to give Oz a smile. The tension is very thick.
Oz finally breaks it with a change of subject.
Oz: So, Buffy's birthday is next week.
Xander: (claps his hands and points at Oz) Ooh! Yeah. Good. I've been
pondering gift options.
Willow sees Buffy approaching.
Willow: Shh.
Xander: Oh, come on, we just got a topic here.
Willow: Hi, Buffy.
Xander: Buffy! (stands up) What's up?
He offers her his chair. She takes it and sits while he grabs one from a
neighboring table.
Buffy: You guys didn't hear?
Xander: Hear what?
Buffy: A murder. Somebody killed two little kids.
Willow: (shocked) Oh, no.
Buffy: They were, like, seven or eight years old. My mom found the
bodies during patrol last night.
Amy: Oh, my God.
Oz: Kids?
Xander: Why was your mom there?
Buffy: More bad. She picked last night, of all nights, for a surprise
bonding visit.
Willow: God, your mom would actually take the time to do that with you?
Buffy shoots Willow a look.
Willow: That really wasn't the point of the story, was it?
Buffy: No. The point is, she's completely wigging.
Her mother comes up behind her.
Joyce: Who's wigging?
Buffy snaps her head around, sees Joyce standing there and stands up.
Buffy: (thinking quickly) Um... everyone. You know, 'cause of what
happened.
Joyce: Oh, it's so awful. I-I had bad dreams about it all night.
Willow: Hi, Mrs. Summers.
Joyce: (absently) Oh, hi, everybody.
Xander: Hi.
Amy: Hi, Mrs. Summers.
Joyce: Buffy, have you talked to Mr. Giles yet about who could have
done this?
Buffy: Yeah. He, uh... He thinks it might be something ritual. A cult.
Uh, he's still looking. In the meantime, we're gonna add to my patrol
and, and, y'know, keep an eye out.
Joyce: A cult. (jumps to a conclusion) Like witches.
Willow coughs. Amy looks away.
Willow: Sorry. Phlegm. Too much dairy.
Joyce: Oh, I-I-I know you kids think that stuff's cool. Buffy told me
you dabble.
Willow: (nervously) Right. Absolutely. That's me. I'm a dabbler.
Joyce: But anybody who could do this isn't cool. Anybody who could do
this has to be a monster. It's...
Buffy: (interrupts) You know what? Uh, would you guys excuse us for a
little bit?
Joyce: Uh, n-nice to see you.
Buffy leads her out of the cafeteria.
Xander: What a burn. I mean, Buff's mom was just starting to accept the
whole Slayer thing, and now she's gonna be double-freaked.
Willow: (smiles) Makes me grateful that my mom's not interested in my
extra-curricular activities.
Amy has to smile at that. Then Willow frowns.
Willow: Or my *curricular* activities.
Cut to the hall outside the cafeteria. Buffy and Joyce come into the
hall and slowly start down it.
Joyce: Are your friends gonna help with the investigation, too?
Buffy: Mom, I really think... Maybe this isn't the best place to talk
about this.
Joyce: Are you embarrassed to be hanging out with your mother? I didn't
hug you.
They stop by the stairs.
Buffy: No. It's just... This hall is about school, and you're about
home. Mix them, my world dissolves.
Joyce: It's just, I keep thinking about who could have done such a
thing. I have to help.
Buffy: Well, Giles can always use help in the library.
Joyce: I called everybody I know in town. I told them about the dead
children. They're all just as upset as I am.
Buffy: (confused) You called everybody that you know?
Joyce: And they called all their friends. And guess what? We're setting
up a vigil, for tonight, for City Hall. The Mayor is even gonna be
there. Now we are gonna get some action. (smiles)
Buffy: (less than thrilled) Uh-huh. That's great. Uh... But you know
what? A lot of times when we're working on stuff like this, we like to
keep the number of people that know about it kind of... small.
Joyce: (considers) Oh. Right. Well, I-I'm sure there won't be all that
many people.
Cut to City Hall. A large crowd has gathered in the main conference
room. Many of them are holding up signs with pictures of the two
children and the words "Never Again!" Buffy and Willow walk in and look
around at the crowd.
Buffy: This is great. Maybe we could all go patrolling together later.
Willow: (gestures at Joyce) At least your mom's making an effort. My
mom's probably... (notices) standing right in front of me right this
second.
Her mother sees them and comes up to them.
Willow: Mom?
Sheila: Willow, I-I didn't know you were going to be here. (to Buffy,
absently) Oh, hi, Bunny.
Buffy: Hi.
Willow: Mom, what are you doing here?
Sheila: Oh, well, I read about it in the paper, and what with your dad
out of town... (notices, surprised) Willow, you cut off your hair! Huh.
That's a new look.
Willow: Yeah, it's just a sudden whim I had... in August.
Sheila: (smiles) I like it.
Joyce comes over to join them. Sheila reaches out to shake hands.
Sheila: Hello, Joyce.
Joyce: Sheila, I'm glad you could come.
Giles also shows up. He keeps his hands in his pockets.
Giles: There you are. I almost didn't find you in this crush. (notices
Joyce) (nervously) Oh, uh, Mrs., uh... uh, Joyce. Quite a turnout you
have here.
Joyce: Oh, well, it's, it's not just me, but thank you. Well, it's, uh,
it's been a while.
Giles: (uneasy) Right. Not since, um... Not since... Not for a while.
Sheila: There's a rumor going around, Mr. Giles.
Giles: (suddenly worried) R-rumor, about us?
Joyce shoots him a look of dismay. Giles gets the hint.
Giles: A-a-about what?
Sheila: About witches. (Willow and Buffy exchange a look) People
calling themselves witches are responsible for this brutal crime.
Giles: Indeed? How strange.
Willow: (laughs nervously, trying to play it off) Yes! Strange!
Witches.
Sheila: (goes into lecture mode) Well, actually, not that strange. I
recently co-authored a paper about the rise of mysticism among
adolescents, and I was shocked at the statistical...
She is interrupted by some electronic feedback when the Mayor tests the
microphone as he steps up to the lectern.
Sheila: Oh. Oh, a-are we starting?
The Mayor clears his throat and sniffles. Joyce makes her way around
behind everyone over to Buffy, who is frowning up at the Mayor.
Mayor Wilkins: Hello, everybody.
Joyce: (to Buffy, wispering) He'll do something about this. You'll see.
Everyone settles down to listen to what the Mayor has to say.
Mayor Wilkins: Um... I wanna thank you all for coming in the aftermath
of such a tragic crime. Seeing you all here proves what a caring
community Sunnydale is. Now, sure, we've had our share of misfortunes,
but we're a good town with good people, and I know that none of us will
rest easy until this horrible murder is solved. With that in mind...
(picks up one of the signs) I make these words my pledge to you. (holds
it up for everyone to see) 'Never again!' Now I ask you to give your
attention to the woman who brought us all here tonight, Joyce Summers.
He steps away as Joyce walks to the front of the room and steps up to
the lectern.
Joyce: Thank you.
She considers her words for a moment before beginning.
Joyce: Mr. Mayor, you're dead wrong. (people begin to murmur) This is
*not* a good town. How many of us have, have lost someone who, who just
disappeared? Or, or got skinned? Or suffered neck rupture? And how many
of us have been too afraid to speak out? I-I was supposed to lead us in
a moment of silence, but... silence is this town's disease. For too long
we-we've been plagued by unnatural evils. This isn't our town anymore.
It belongs to the monsters and, and the witches and the Slayers.
Buffy looks at her mother in open-mouthed shock. She and Willow exchange
a worried glance. Giles can't believe what he's hearing either.
Joyce: I say it's time for the grownups to take Sunnydale back. I say
we start by finding the people who did this and making them pay.
The people in the crowd begin to applaud.
Man: Hear, hear!
Sheila claps her hands and looks around at the other people. A man nods
his head in silent agreement. Buffy is too much in shock to do anything
but stare at her mother.
Cut to a panning shot of a Sunnydale residential area at night. The
streets are quiet. Cut to Willow's house. The light from her room is
clearly visible from the street. Cut inside. The camera is centered on a
skull with a hole at the crest of the cranium. It is resting on a throw
rug next to a burning candle. A hand reaches over the hole in the skull
and drops in a short string of beads. The camera pans up to Michael, a
witch draped in a black, hooded cloak. He folds his hands intertwining
his fingers and glances up at another cloaked figure as it steps around
him. The figure kneels to pick up the skull, and it's Amy. She stands
back up and carries the skull around the rug to a position opposite
Michael. The camera follows her, panning low across the rug, where there
are other candles, cups of powders and potions, and a small cauldron.
Amy sets down the skull and sits. She takes a cup of powder and hands it
to a third figure, who takes it from her and pours the contents into the
steaming liquid in the cauldron. The camera pans up to reveal the third
figure as Willow, also cloaked in black. She stares silently down at the
boiling mixture. Cut to a shot from above. The camera pulls up from the
cauldron, taking in the array of things and the three witches around it,
and continues until it's high enough to see the pattern in the center of
the throw rug: a large triangle with a U-shaped symbol in the middle,
its ends extending out of the triangle and bending in a sharp arc at the
tips.
~~~~~~~~~~ Part 2 ~~~~~~~~~~
The hall at Sunnydale High. Michael has his locker open and checks his
black makeup in the mirror stuck to the inside of the locker door. A
group of guys comes up to him, and Roy, their leader, slams the locker
door shut.
Michael: Watch it.
Roy: (smiling smugly) Oh, sorry. Did I make you smudge your eyeliner?
Michael rolls his eyes and shakes his head.
Roy: You gonna put a spell on me?
Amy comes to Michael's defense.
Amy: Hey, what is your problem?
Roy grabs Michael by the shirt and slams him up against the lockers.
Roy: Everyone knows he's into that voodoo witchcraft. (other students
stare) I heard about those kids. People like him... (slams Michael
again) gotta learn a lesson.
Amy: And what about people like me?
Roy: (threateningly) Get in my face and you'll find out.
Buffy steps up behind Amy and gives him a smile. He notices her and
suddenly thinks better of going any further. He lets Michael go and
straightens his shirt a bit.
Roy: No problem here. (nods to the other boys) We're walking.
Buffy follows them for a few steps, then turns back to Michael and Amy.
Buffy: You guys okay?
Michael: Yeah. We're fine. (walks off)
Amy: (smiles) Thanks, Buffy. (walks off)
Buffy looks back down the hall to make sure the gang is still headed
away. Giles comes around the corner, and Buffy starts toward him, but is
headed off by Cordelia.
Cordelia: You'll be one busy little Slayer, baby-sitting them.
Buffy: I doubt they'll have any more trouble.
Cordelia: I doubt your doubt. Everyone knows that witches killed those
kids, and Amy is a witch. And Michael is whatever the boy of witch is,
plus being the poster child for yuck.
Buffy: Corde...
Cordelia: (interrupts) If you're gonna hang with them, expect badness.
'Cause that's what you get when you hang with freaks and losers. Believe
me, I know.
She starts down the hall, but stops and turns back to Buffy.
Cordelia: (smiling) That was a pointed comment about me hanging with
you guys. (turns and leaves)
Buffy: Yeah, I got that one. (loudly after her) Besides, witches didn't
do it. (turns to Giles)
Giles: (whispers) Actually, I think they may have. My research keeps
bringing me back to European Wiccan covens.
Buffy: You found the meaning of the symbol?
Giles: (exhales) I'm pretty sure, yes. There's a, a piece of
information I need that's in a book that Willow borrowed. Can you find
it?
He goes down the hall toward the library. Buffy looks around into the
student lounge to see if Willow happens to be there. She sees Xander
sitting on one of the couches and heads over to him.
Xander: Buffy, hi.
Buffy: Hey. Is Willow around?
Xander: (exasperated) How can I convince you people that it's over? You
assume because I'm here, she's here, that I somehow mysteriously know
where she is.
Buffy: (points) Those her books?
Xander: Yeah. She's in the bathroom. (points)
Buffy takes a step toward Willow's books, but stops as Xander continues.
Xander: But the fact that I know that doesn't change that I have a
genuine complaint here. Look. I'm getting sick of the judgment, the
innuendoes. Is a man not innocent until proven guilty?
Buffy: You *are* guilty. You got illicit smoochies, gonna have to pay
the price.
She tries again to go to Willow's books, but Xander isn't finished yet.
Xander: But I'm talking about the future guilt. Look, everyone expects
me to mess up again. Like Oz. I see how he is around me. You know, that
steely gaze... that pointed silence.
Buffy: 'Cause he's usually such a chatterbox.
This time she just goes to Willow's books and lets Xander talk.
Xander: No, but it's different now. It's more a verbal nonverbal. He
speaks volumes with his eyes.
Buffy finds the book in question and picks it up. Underneath it is a
spiral notebook. On the exposed page is the triangle symbol. Buffy picks
it up and stares. Willow comes out of the bathroom and over to her.
Willow: Hey, Buff. What cha looking for? You wanna borrow something?
Buffy: (holds up the notebook) What is this?
Willow: (takes and closes it) A doodle. I do doodle. You, too. You do
doodle, too.
Buffy: This is a witch symbol.
Willow: Okay, yeah, it is.
Buffy: Willow...
Willow: (defensively) What?
Buffy: That symbol was on the murdered children.
Before they can get any further into it, they are distracted by the
sounds of many lockers suddenly being slammed shut. They can hear a man
talking.
Police Officer #3: Please step back. Stay away from the lockers. This
is police business.
Buffy, Willow and Xander exchange alarmed looks. They all head into the
hall to see what's going on. Cut to the hall. A police officer is going
from locker to locker opening them with a master key. At another locker
another officer takes some books from a student.
Police Officer #4: Hand them over, please. The books.
Yet another officer takes a string of garlic cloves from a locker and
sets it on a cart with a bunch of other things they've confiscated.
Principal Snyder stands in the hall, gloating as the police continue
their search. Several officers keep the students at bay. A detective
leads a boy away. Amy has joined the group as they watch all the
activity.
Xander: Aw, man, it's Nazi Germany, and I've got Playboys in my locker!
Snyder: (smugly) This is a glorious day for principals everywhere. No
pathetic whining about students' rights. Just a long row of lockers and
a man with a key.
An officer finds a voodoo doll in a locker.
Oz: (to Willow, quietly) They just took three kids away.
Buffy: What are they looking for?
Amy: Witch stuff.
Willow: (very worried) What?
Amy: They got my spells. I'm supposed to report to Snyder's office.
Willow: Oh, my God.
An officer looks through a girl's purse. Another officer steps up to
Amy.
Police Officer #3: Okay, Amy. You'll have to come with me.
Police Officer #4: (to some students) Stay away from the locker.
Willow: (to Buffy, sick with worry) I have stuff in my locker. Henbane,
hellebore, mandrake root.
Xander: (interrupts) Excuse me. Playboys. Can we turn the sympathy
(jerks his head) this way?
One of the officers has reached Cordelia's locker and pulls out a can of
hairspray.
Cordelia: Hey! Get your grubby custodial hands off that. (tries to
approach)
Police Officer #4: (pushes her back) Miss, you have to stay back. Miss,
stay back.
Cordelia: That hair spray costs $45, and it's imported!
Willow: (begins to freak out) Oh, God, my locker's next. Buffy, I
didn't do anything wrong.
An officer pulls some plastic bags from Willow's locker.
Willow: The, the symbol is harmless. I used it to make a protection
spell for you, for your birthday. With Michael and Amy. Only, now it's
broken, because you know about it, so happy birthday, and please, you
have to believe me!
Snyder walks over to the group with the bags in hand.
Snyder: Ms. Rosenberg. My office.
He holds up the bags of henbane and mandrake root. Willow stares back at
him, eyes wide with worry and fear. Buffy discreetly walks in front of
her and takes Giles' book from her arms. Willow starts down the halls in
front of Snyder. Oz accompanies her with his hand on her back in a
gesture of comfort.
Cut to the library. A police officer kicks open the cage door and
strides out into the room with a stack of books in his hands. He carries
them over to the table and drops them unceremoniously into a box.
Another officer comes down from the stacks with another armful of books.
Buffy comes into the library as still another officer walks out carrying
one of the boxes. She heads straight for Giles, who watches helplessly.
Buffy: Giles.
Giles: They're confiscating my books.
Buffy: Giles, we need those books.
Giles: Believe me, I tried to tell that to the nice man with the big
gun.
They move to the side to talk. Giles watches the activity around him,
seething with anger.
Buffy: No. There's something about the symbol that we're missing.
Willow said she used it in a protection spell. It's harmless. Not a big
bad. So then why would it turn up in a ritual sacrifice?
Giles: I don't know. Ordinarily, I would say let's widen our research.
Buffy: Using what? A-a dictionary and 'My Friend Flicka'?
She sets the book on the counter as Giles steps back into the room.
Giles: This is intolerable. Snyder's interfered before, but I, I won't
take this from that twisted little homunculus.
Snyder walks into the library holding a cup of coffee.
Snyder: (smirking) I love the smell of desperate librarian in the
morning.
Giles: (approaches him angrily) You get out! And take your marauders
with you.
Snyder: (unaffected) Oh, my. So fierce. (walks past him) I suppose I
should hear you out. Just how is, um... (takes a book from an officer,
reads the title) 'Blood Rites and Sacrifices' appropriate material for a
public school library? Chess club branching out? (sips his coffee)
Giles: This is not over.
Snyder: Oh, I should say it's just beginning. Fight it if you want.
Just remember, lift a finger against me, and you'll have to answer to
MOO.
Buffy: (incredulous) Answer to MOO? Did that sentence just make some
sense that I'm not in on?
Snyder: 'Mothers Opposed to the Occult.' A powerful new group. (sips
his coffee)
Buffy: And who came up with that lame name?
Snyder: (heads out) That would be the founder. I believe you call her
'Mom'.
Buffy can't believe it.
Cut to Willow's house that night. She opens the door and goes in. In the
living room she finds her mother looking over a bunch of her things
taken from her room. Her mother notices her come in.
Sheila: Oh, sit down, honey.
Willow: (goes to the couch) Principal Snyder talk to you? (takes off
her pack and sits)
Sheila: Yes. He's quite concerned. (looks at an old picture)
Willow: Mom, I know what this looks like, and I can totally...
Sheila: (interrupts) Oh, you don't have to explain, honey. This isn't
exactly a surprise. (turns over the picture)
Willow: (fidgets, confused) Why not?
Sheila: (shrugs) Oh, well, identification with mythical icons is
perfectly typical of your age group. It's a, a classic adolescent
response to the pressures of incipient adulthood. (set the picture down)
Willow: Oh. Is that what it is?
Sheila: (picks up a bag of herbs) Of course, I wish you could've
identified with something a little less icky, (shrugs) but
developmentally speaking...
Willow: Mom, I'm not an age group. I'm me. Willow group.
Sheila: Oh, honey...
She puts down the bag and gets up to go over to her daughter.
Sheila: I understand. (sits next to her)
Willow: No, you don't. (faces her) Mom, this may be hard for you to
accept, but I can do stuff. Nothing bad or dangerous, but I can do
spells.
Sheila: You think you can, and that's what concerns me. The delusions.
Willow: Mom, how would you know what I can do? I mean, the last time we
had a conversation over three minutes, it was about the patriarchal bias
of the Mr. Rogers Show.
Sheila: Well, (makes finger quotes) with King Friday lording it over
all the lesser puppets...
Willow: Mom, you're not paying attention.
Sheila: And this is your way of trying to get it. Now, I have consulted
with some of my colleagues, and they agree that this is a cry for
discipline. You're grounded.
Willow: (surprised) Grounded? This is the first time *ever* I've done
something you don't like and I'm grounded? I'm supposed to mess up. I'm
a teenager, remember?
Sheila: You're upset, I hear you...
Willow: (stands up) No, Ma, hear this! I'm a rebel! I'm having a
rebellion!
Sheila: (smiling) Willow, honey, you don't need to act out like this to
prove your specialness.
Willow: Mom, I'm not acting out. I'm a witch! I-I can make pencils
float. And I can summon the four elements. Okay, two, but four soon.
(her mother doesn't react) A-and I'm dating a musician.
Sheila: (disgusted now) Oh, Willow!
She gets up and goes back to the table of Willow's things. Willow
follows her.
Willow: (thickly sarcastic) I worship Beelzebub. I do his biddings. Do
you see any goats around? No, because I sacrificed them.
Sheila: (tired of it) Willow, please!
Willow: All bow before Satan!
Sheila: (leaves the room) I'm not listening to this.
Willow: (follows her) (heavy on the sarcasm) Prince of Night, I summon
you. Come fill me with your black, naughty evil.
Sheila: (loudly) That's enough! Is that clear? Now, you will go to your
room and stay there until I say otherwise. And we're gonna make some
changes. (shakes her head) I don't want you hanging out with those
friends of yours. It's clear where this little obsession came from. You
will not speak to Bunny Summers again.
Cut to Buffy's house. Joyce is at the dining room table surrounded by
posters of the two children. She has a MOO button pinned to her blouse.
Her laptop is open and a phone and fax sit nearby. The place is set up
like a command center. Behind her is a whiteboard full of statistics.
She speaks sternly to Buffy.
Joyce: I don't want you seeing that Willow anymore. I've spoken with
her mother. I had no idea her forays into the occult had gone so far.
Buffy: (in disbelief) You're the one who ordered the raid on the school
today.
Joyce: (makes light off it) Honey, they opened a few lockers.
Buffy: Lockers. First syllable, 'lock'. They're supposed to be private.
And they took all of Giles' books away.
Joyce: He'll get most of them back. MOO just wants to weed out the
offensive material. Everything else will be returned to Mr. Giles soon.
Buffy: If we're gonna solve this, we need those books now.
Joyce: (very seriously) Sweetie, those books have no place in a public
school library. Especially now. Any student can waltz in there and get
all sorts of ideas. (gets up and steps over to Buffy) Do you understand
how that terrifies me?
Buffy: Mom, I hate that these people scared you so much. And I-I know
that you're just trying to help, but you have to let me handle this.
It's what I do.
Joyce: But is it really? I mean, you patrol, you slay... Evil pops up,
you undo it. A-a-and that's great! But is Sunnydale getting any better?
Are they running out of vampires?
Buffy: I don't think that you run out of...
Joyce: It's not your fault. You don't have a plan. You just react to
things. I-i-it's bound to be kind of fruitless.
Buffy: (taken aback) Okay, maybe I don't have a plan. Lord knows I
don't have lapel buttons...
Joyce: (exasperated) Buffy.
Buffy: ...and maybe next time that the world is getting sucked into
Hell, I won't be able to stop it because the Anti-Hell-Sucking Book
isn't on the approved reading list!
Joyce: I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put down...
Buffy: Yeah, well, you did. (shakes her head) It doesn't matter. I have
to go. I have to go on one of my pointless patrols and react to some
vampires. If that's alright with MOO.
She turns around and heads for the door. Joyce just watches her go.
Buffy steps back into the room.
Buffy: And nice acronym, Mom. (leaves)
Joyce turns around and goes back to her chair, shaking her head.
Joyce: Just trying to make things better.
As she walks past the table the dead boy and girl are suddenly sitting
there looking up at her.
Boy: You are.
Girl: There's bad people out there.
Joyce looks at them sadly.
Boy: And we can't sleep.
Girl: Not until you hurt them.
Boy: The way they hurt us.
Joyce nods, knowing what she has to do.
~~~~~~~~~~ Part 3 ~~~~~~~~~~
The playground where the children were found. The carousel is bedecked
with candles and flowers and pictures of the children. Buffy quietly
walks up to it. She pulls her arms to her body for warmth. To her right
she notices Angel approaching.
Angel: Hey.
Buffy: Hi.
They embrace each other lovingly for a long moment. Buffy looks up into
his face.
Buffy: How are you?
Angel: I'm alright. I think I'm better than you right now.
They both look over at the carousel.
Angel: I heard about this. People are talking. People are even talking
to *me*.
Buffy: It's strange. People die in Sunnydale all the time. I've never
seen anything like this.
They both stroll over to a bench.
Angel: They were children. Innocent. It makes a difference.
They sit facing each other.
Buffy: And Mr. Sanderson from the bank had it coming? (sighs) My mom...
said some things to me about being the Slayer. That it's fruitless.
(shakes her head) No fruit for Buffy.
Angel: She's wrong.
Buffy: Is she? Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here?
Okay, so I battle evil. But I don't really win. The bad keeps coming
back and getting stronger. Like that kid in the story, (gestures) the
boy that stuck his finger in the duck.
Angel: Dike.
Buffy gives him a confused look. Angel smiles.
Angel: It's another word for dam.
Buffy: Oh. Okay, that story makes a lot more sense now.
Angel: Buffy, you know, I'm still figuring things out. There's a lot I
don't understand. But I do know it's important to keep fighting. I
learned that from you.
Buffy: But we never...
Angel: We never win.
Buffy: Not completely.
Angel: We never will. That's not why we fight. We do it 'cause there's
things worth fighting for. Those kids. Their parents.
Buffy: (has an epiphany) Their parents.
Angel: Look, I know it's not much.
Buffy: No. No, it's a lot.
Cut to the library. Giles is at the table trying to do some online
research. He loses his connection.
Giles: Session interrupted? (frustrated) Who said you could interrupt,
you stupid, useless fad! No, I said fad. And I'll say it again. (types)
Xander and Oz walk up to him.
Xander: At that point, I will become frightened.
Oz: Take heart. We found your books.
Giles looks at them hopefully as the two boys go to stand behind him.
Xander: You can put the heart back. We can't get them. They're locked
up in City Hall. (teases) 'Frisky Watcher's chat room.' Why, Giles.
(slaps his shoulder)
Buffy comes striding into the library. She goes straight over to Giles.
Xander: Oh! Buffy, Oz and I found out...
Buffy: (ignores him) What do we know about these kids?
Giles: What?
Buffy: Facts. Details.
Xander: Well, they were, uh, found in the park.
Buffy: No. Where did they go to school? Who were their parents? What
are their names?
Giles takes off his glasses. None of the guys has answers for any of her
questions.
Buffy: We know everything about their deaths, but we don't even know
their names.
Xander: Well, sure we do. Um, it's on the tip of my tongue.
Oz: (realizes) That never came up. Ever.
Buffy: And if no one knows who they are, where did these pictures come
from?
Giles: (puts his glasses back on, stares at the screen) I just assumed
someone had the details. I never really... Well, that is strange.
Buffy: We need to get some information.
Giles: (gets up) Yeah, well, somebody else do it. This thing's locked
me out.
Xander: Well, if you wouldn't yell at it. (gets a look from Giles)
Oz: (takes Giles' place) I can look 'round, but Willow would really
know the sites we need.
Buffy: That's great. She can't even come to the phone. The wrath of
MOO.
Oz: (types) Well, we don't need a phone.
Cut to Willow's room. She's lying on her bed idly toying with her teddy
bear. Then she hears her laptop beep. She goes over to her desk and
brings it back to the bed. Cut to the library.
Oz: Alright, we're linked. If anybody's ID'd the kids, she'll pull it
up and feed it here.
Cut to Willow's room. She surfs the web, looking for any leads. Cut to
the library. Oz does his part on his end and brings up the pages as
Willow finds them. Giles reads the text from the screen.
Giles: Oh. 'Two Children Found Dead. Mysterious Mark...' No. No. These
children were found near Omaha in 1949.
Xander: Yeah, they ain't ours. Keep going.
Before Oz can move on the accompanying image loads from the 'Net.
Buffy: Wait.
Cut to Willow's room. She sees the same image loading on her screen and
looks at it in surprise.
Willow: Those are...
Cut to the library.
Buffy: ...the same kids.
Giles: Fifty years ago.
Oz loads up the next page.
Oz: '1899. Utah... Two Children... Rural Community Torn Apart by
Suspicion.'
Giles: (confused) A hundred years ago? How is this possible?
Oz: There's no mention of who they were.
Buffy: They've never been seen alive, just dead. A lot.
The next page loads. This one is dated 1649 and has a hand drawing of
the two children. An Instant Message window pops up with a note from
Willow.
Oz: Ah. There were more articles. Every fifty years. All the same.
Giles: (intrigued) From as far back as 1649. Can I see that?
Oz surrenders his place to Giles. He types a bit, then reads the German
and translates.
Giles: Written by a cleric from a village near the Black Forest. He...
found the bodies himself. Two children... Greta Strauss, age six. (types
more) Hans Strauss, eight.
Xander: So they have names. That's new.
Cut to Willow's room. Her mother opens the door, and is upset to find
her daughter online.
Sheila: Willow. (steps over to the bed) I thought I made myself clear.
You're not minding me.
She folds down the screen and pulls out the phone line.
Willow: Mom...
Sheila: I see what you're doing. You're challenging me. But I will not
have you communicating with your cyber-coven or what have you.
Willow: (sits up) Coven? What happened to me being delusional and
acting out?
Sheila: Well, that was before I talked in depth with Ms. Summers and
her associates. It seems I've been rather close-minded.
Willow: So, you believe me?
Sheila: (sighs) I believe you, dear. Now all I can do is let you go
with love.
Willow doesn't like the sound of that.
Willow: Let me go? What does that mean?
Her mother turns and walks out of the room without saying a word,
pulling the door closed behind her and locking it from the outside.
Willow: Mom?
Cut to the Library. Giles paces while Oz keeps looking for more
information on the web.
Giles: Uh, wait, wait a minute. Uh... Uh, there is a fringe theory held
by a few folklorists that some regional stories have actual, um, very
literal antecedents.
Buffy: And in some language that's English?
Oz: Fairy tales are real?
Buffy: Hans and Gre... (her mind clicks) Hansel and Gretel?
Xander: Wait. Hansel and Gretel? Breadcrumbs, ovens, gingerbread house?
Giles: Of course! Well, it makes sense now.
Buffy: Yeah, it's all falling into place. Of course that place is
nowhere near this place.
Giles: (sits on the table) Some demons thrive by fostering hatred and,
and, uh, persecution amongst the mortal animals. Not by, not by
destroying men, but by watching men destroy each other. Now, they feed
us our darkest fear and turn peaceful communities into vigilantes.
Buffy: Hansel and Gretel run home to tell everyone about the mean old
witch.
Giles: And then she and probably dozens of others are persecuted by a
righteous mob. It's happened all throughout history. It happened in
Salem, not surprisingly.
Xander: Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm still spinning on this whole fairy tales
are real thing.
Giles stands and begins to pace again.
Oz: So what do we do?
Xander: I don't know about you, but I'm gonna go trade my cow in for
some beans.
He gets a confused look from Giles.
Xander: No one else is seeing the funny here.
Buffy: (goes to the counter) Giles, we need to talk to Mom. If she
knows the truth, she can defuse the whole thing. (grabs her coat)
Just then Michael comes running into the library with a slight limp.
He's been beaten and bruised. He has a black eye and his face is bloody.
Buffy: What happened?
Xander and Oz come over to them.
Michael: (out of breath) I was attacked!
Xander: Officially not funny.
Buffy: By whom?
Michael: (hugging himself) My dad. His friends. They're taking people
out of their homes. They're talking about a trial down at City Hall.
They got Amy.
Buffy: Michael, stay here and hide. Giles, we'll go find my mom.
Oz gets Xander's attention.
Oz: Willow!
The two of them run out of the library. Giles grabs his coat.
Michael: (calls after them) Tell Willow to get out of her house!
Giles: (to Michael) Stay in my office.
He and Buffy run out also. Michael goes to hide in Giles' office.
Cut to Willow's room. She hears the door unlock and gets up from her
bed. She runs over to the door as it opens.
Willow: Mom, we really have to talk.
There she sees her mother surrounded by several other adults.
Sheila: It's time to go. Oh, and get your coat. It's chilly out.
Willow: (very confused) Go? Go where?
Sheila: (angrily) I said get your coat, witch!
Willow slams the door on them. The adults start to pound at it. Willow
desperately tries to keep them out.
Cut to the living room at the Summers house. Several people are gathered
there. Joyce interviews them about their activities.
Joyce: Did you speak to the families on Sycamore Street?
Woman: Yes, I did.
Joyce: Great.
She writes it down in her notebook. Buffy opens the front door and
quickly enters. Giles is right behind her. Joyce looks up in surprise.
Joyce: Buffy! Mr. Giles! Did something happen?
Buffy: Mom, we need to talk to you. Now.
Joyce: (puts down her notebook) Well, of course, honey. (to the others)
Um, go on without me. (goes to Buffy)
Buffy: No, we need to talk alone.
They start into the dining room.
Buffy: Look, there's more to this than...
Suddenly Joyce holds a cloth up to Buffy's mouth and nose and two of the
men there jump Giles from behind, wrestling him to the floor. Buffy
quickly collapses to the floor, overcome by the fumes from the cloth.
Joyce: (looking down at Buffy) You were right. (looks behind her) I-it
was easy.
There are the two children standing on the stairs. The boy is holding a
bottle of chloroform in his hand.
Gretel: I told you.
Hansel: It gets even easier.
Buffy isn't completely knocked out yet, and can hear the conversation.
Gretel: But I'm still scared of the bad girls.
Buffy's vision begins to blur.
Hansel: You have to stop them. You have to make them go away. Forever.
Buffy passes out.
~~~~~~~~~~ Part 4 ~~~~~~~~~~
The living room in the Rosenberg house. Oz and Xander run in.
Oz: (yells) Willow!
Oz runs for her room. Xander is right behind him. Cut to her room. The
boys barge in and see that it's a shambles. It's clear there was quite a
struggle. They waste no time running back out.
Cut to City Hall. A crowd is gathered in a room. A few of them are
bearing torches. They all calmly watch as two of them finish tying
Willow and Amy to stakes.
Sheila: Hold still. Be a good girl.
Buffy is between Willow and Amy, unconscious and also tied to a stake.
Piled all around them are the library books that MOO has deemed
offensive, ready to burn in a glorious blaze.
Willow: No! Why are you doing this to me? Mom?
Sheila: There's no cure but the fire.
Amy: (struggles against her ropes) Buffy! Wake up!
Willow: This is crazy, Mom!
Amy: Buffy! Buffy!
Cut to the Summers house. Cordelia kneels over Giles and gives him a
sharp slap to the face.
Cordelia: Wake up!
She slaps him two more times, and he begins to come out of it. She is
about to slap again, when he suddenly reaches up and blocks her swing.
Giles: Cordelia?
Cordelia: Took you long enough to wake up. My hand hurts.
Giles: Pity. (rubs his temples) Oh... Why are you here?
Cordelia: Things are way out of control, Giles. First the thing at
school, and then my mom confiscates all of my black clothes and scented
candles. (Giles sits up) I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this
craziness and found you all unconscious... again. How many times have
you been knocked out, anyway? (Giles finds his glasses) I swear, one of
these times, you're gonna wake up in a coma.
Giles: (puts his glasses on) Wake up in a... Oh, never mind. (struggles
to his feet) We need to save Buffy from Hansel and Gretel.
He heads for the front door. Cordelia follows him out.
Cordelia: Now, let's be clear. The brain damage happened *before* I hit
you.
Cut to City Ha
