Flies to Honey: Part Four
by J Jericho Born
None of Willow's exploits into the dark arts had been as black as her current interest. Necromancy, the study of death itself, had been a lost and forbidden calling even among those who had outcasted themselves from society by practicing witchcraft. In order to find out how to undo what Abel had done to her lost love, however, she must first find out what exactly happend to her beloved. Therefore into the darkness she went.

Determined, Willow tread into the underground lair, reassuring herself that her endeavor would not go unrewarded. The air was heavy with the stench of decaying corpses, obtrusively foul and nauseating. The bodies that lay there were once reborn as zombies, ready to toil tirelessly, but when their master fell their puppet life was lost and they returned to their state of worm feeding and maggot breeding. The disgusting scene hit Willow's senses like a wet blanket, but she continued on with cringed face and without hesitation.

Stepping over the odd corpse, Willow made her way to an all too familiar room. She looked over where she remembered being strapped down to a table. Thoughts of sheer fright gained here had since been repressed into an abstract memory. Every now and again they would break through and manifest into refound terror, causing Willow to break into a cold sweat and eye the horizon in search of her assaulter.

Abel may have looked like a normal, if pallid, young man, but in Willow's mind he stood eight feet tall, had horns, and bore a resemblance to Lucifer. She had thought she could never happen to hate someone so earnestly, but Abel had found the blackest parts of her heart. How dare he use people as if they were lab rats, something to be experimented on without regard for their feelings? The repulsiveness of being one of Abel's guinea pigs was nothing compared to what Willow almost faced: a helpless victim for his sexual amusement.

Thank goodness Buffy had stopped him in time to spare Willow's chastity, but, it was too late to prevent him from letting Oz loose as a permanent werewolf. The spot where their enemy had his last conscious thought looked conspicuously plain, devoid of significance. She walked over to an open book. Presumably these were the directions that Abel followed in order to be able to attain the sense of feeling. Written in an archaic, cryptic language, Willow had no use for it.

The potions, flasks, and bottles in the far corner of the room caught Willow's attention. She remembered Abel mixing something together, arrogant as he was, and it being needed to turn Oz into a werewolf. Hopeful, Willow herded a couple marked bottles into her backpack. Perhaps she could use these to change Oz back.

With this room's helpful potential exhausted, Willow made her way out. She continued down the halls, remembering her way so she could backtrack, until she came upon a room that caught her eye. The desk in the center of the room was covered by a sea of books and documents while an equally impressive cache of materials lay neatly tucked away on a bookshelf. Willow entered, shifting her eyes side to side.

To her delight, Willow realized that although the manuscripts were in an unknown language most of Abel's notes were in English. The scribblings ranged from humorous to disturbing.

"Typical Maldini, always trying to do things the hard way. He'd write a fifty page step by step description of the technique one can use to locate one's own ass. Much like one's own ass, Kragen Demons are easier to feel for than to search for as he prescribes," one note read.

Another note made Willow feel uneasy. Abel had written, "A werewolf! How exciting! It will be good for me to handle one in my research. Also, the girl with the amber hued hair that's with him will suffice for my less studious interests. I can grab them both while their together and kill two birds with one stone."

Willow was frustrated at not making any progress. She was leaving when she noticed a few roughly written lines on a small scrap of paper.

It read, "From all I can discern, the same procedure outlined in Bhadoven's Anomalous Beastiary for 'curing' a werewolf can be used to make a periodic werewolf more permanent. A few common reagents mixed in equal portions, spread on the subject, and ignited with a focused blast of hellfire should do the trick. I'm rather dissatisfied; it's like playing with a child's toys."

Rejoice, that was it! Willow enthusiastically shoved the scrap paper into her pocket. Then a thought hit her, who was she going to get to summon a blast of hellfire? She slumped her shoulders back down, disappointed to say the least. After a few moments thought, she perked back up. It was resolved then, she'd just have to learn the whole hellfire thing herself.


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