The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind: Chapter 19 - Infrared Burst in Block E375 - part 1
by Gaius Petronius
The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind

Chapter 19 - part 1
Infrared Burst in Block E375
by Gaius Petronius

DISCLAIMER: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all the characters that appear on the show are the exclusive property of Joss Whedon, the WB, Fox and Mutant Enemy, Inc. This story can be read on its own or as a sequel to H. P. Lovecraft's "The Haunter of the Dark" from which the Ancient Ones, the Shining Trapezohedron and the character of Robert Blake are derived.

The Wind Beyond the Walls of the Mind is set roughly in mid-season four shortly following the death of Doyle but before the creation of Adam and the death of Maggie Walsh.

Content Note: This part is rated PG-13 for raunchy language.

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Xander slowly reached for the door handle to Faith's room at the Sunnydale Convalescent Hospital. All the while, his eyes were riveted on the red glow issuing from beneath the door. He turned the handle, pushed the door open and stepped cautiously into the room.

Blocks away, two cars flew through the streets of a nearly deserted downtown Sunnydale in a mad dash to reach the Convalescent Hospital. Giles' beat up old Citroen closely followed by Angel's Belvedere GTX roared through the empty streets leaving clouds of dust and oily white exhaust in their wake. There was a loud screeching of tires as both vehicles banked into a corner and were barely able to hold the road.

Giles yanked hard on the steering wheel of the clunky Citroen causing the tires to scream on the pavement. Buffy, her hands firmly clenched to the dashboard, stared straight ahead in terror.

". . . easy, Giles! . . . easy!" she muttered in a near panic.

"Come on! Punch it, Giles!" Anya sang out as she bounced merrily back and forth on the rear seat, "Let's see what this tank can do!"

Giles yanked again on the steering wheel.

The Citroen, with the Belvedere hard on its tail, screeched around another corner. Both cars ran a red light, cutting off two other vehicles that missed them by inches. The oncoming cars on the cross street, swerved wildly, skidding to a stop, horns blaring.

In the Belvedere, Angel was driving hard to keep up with Giles' headlong race across the city. Beside him in the front seat, Kate leaned into each sharp turn. Behind her, Cordelia sat hunched forward in the back seat and hung on to the top of the front seat. As they sped through the red light, Kate turned to Angel.

"Hey . . ."

"What?" he answered, not taking his eyes off the speeding Citroen in front of them.

"I gotta arrest you for running that light," Kate said without cracking smile.

Angel quickly glanced at her and grinned.

"Sorry . . . bad habit," Kate confessed, "Oh, one other thing."

"What?" Angel asked.

"Lemme see your license and registration."

"Pfffsst! Yeah, right!" Cordelia laughed from the back seat.

Angel made a hard turn to the right. Swaying with the turn, Kate leaned sharply over against Angel as her long blond hair swept briefly against the side of his face. She quickly straightened up as the car pulled out onto an open straightaway. Angel glanced in her direction for a second then returned his attention to the road in front of him.

* * * * * *

The door swung slowly open to Faith's room as Xander entered. The few pieces of furniture, the bed, the walls, all were bathed in a deep red glow. Across the room by the window, Faith stood with her back to Xander and stared out at the night.

"Faith? . . ." Xander asked softly, his voice trembling, "What are you doing out of bed? Are you okay? . . . Where's Buffy?"

Slowly, Faith turned to face Xander. Xander's eyes widened in terror. As she stepped around, he realized it was not Faith staring back at him. In the place of her face, floated the blazing apparition of Nyarlethotep's red eye. Xander tried to turn away and run, but it was as if his feet were frozen to the floor, unresponsive to the commands from his mind.

The body of Faith almost floated up close to him. The voice of Nyarlethotep issued from the distortion that once was Faith's face. It was deep and the sound echoed as if it were traveling across vast vistas of space and time.

". . . Alexandros . . . It's been almost eighteen hundred years . . ."

The entity controlling Faith advanced to within inches of Xander who was now pressed against the wall of the room. The words seemed to be more than sound itself but rather thought that permeated every molecule of his being.

". . . payback time! . . ." it hissed.

Faith's hand shot out and grabbed Xander by the neck. She tightened her grip slowly.

"NO!" he gasped as the closing fist on his throat began to squeeze the life out of him, "Faith! Where are you?!"

"We must do this slowly," the entity whispered, "We have so few pleasures where he have been imprisoned. We must savor them when they . . ."

Nyarlethotep suddenly stopped in mid sentence. The image of Faith's head suddenly yanked backwards of its own accord as if an unseen entity had grabbed her from behind by the hair. Nyarlethotep roared in anger. At the same time, Xander squirmed out of Faith's loosening grip, but he remained frozen against the wall.

Faith tottered and buried the image of Nyarlethotep in her hands as she staggered back away from Xander. Her upper body began thrashing and twisting. As she swayed, her long brown hair snapped from side to side like a whip. Then, in the middle of the room, she dropped to her knees and smothered her face and her hands on her folded legs before her.

From outside the window, a breeze suddenly rose. It stirred the hanging curtains and gently blew the loose strands of Faith's hair. At the same time, the red light that had bathed everything in the room winked out returning all the furniture to its soft natural colors once again.

Instinctively, Xander understood the transformation.

". . . Faith . . . ?" he whispered.

Slowly, Faith sat up straight. She pulled her hands away from her face and stared at Xander. It was her face now looking back at him, even though her eyes were still red. He recognized her immediately.

". . . Faith . . ." he said again.

Weakened from the struggle, Faith swayed back and forth on her knees as if she were about to topple over. She gasped and struggled to catch her breath.

"I knew that had to be you. . . . hey, lover boy," she smirked.

Xander didn't answer but instantly ran over and knelt down by her side. Her muscled slayer's body now felt limp and powerless like a rag doll as he held her up by the shoulders.

"I never thought I'd ever say this," he said as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to steady her as she swayed, "but . . . I'm glad to see you."

"Get the fuck away from me!" Faith suddenly snarled.

"What?" Xander exclaimed in surprise as he jumped up.

"I can't keep this thing out of me!" Faith cried, "Get outta here, Xander!"

Hesitating, Xander backed away, then stopped, refusing to move.

"Faith! What is it?"

"Get outta here!" she screamed at him, "Get Buffy!"

Xander, torn between staying with Faith and running for help, still didn't move for a moment.

"NOW, you moron!"

Shocked, Xander stumbled from the room.

Faith swayed on her knees, alone. Her body shivered as she struggled to maintain her balance. She grinned sadly to herself.

". . . sorry about that . . . lover boy," she whispered to the now empty room.

Xander burst out of Faith's room and ran wildly down the hallway. Mildly curious, a night orderly pushing the cart of dirty towels and bedding looked up at him as he flew by.

Outside, Giles' Citroen and Angel's Belvedere both screeched to a stop behind Xander's delivery truck. Buffy, Giles and Anya piled out followed by Angel, Kate and Cordelia from the GTX. All ran as one towards the front door of the Convalescent Hospital. Just as they reached the door, Xander staggered out right into Buffy's arms.

"Xander! Are you all right?" she exclaimed.

"Aw Geez!" he sputtered, looking back over his shoulder and panting.

"What is it? Where's Faith?!" Giles shouted.

"Which one?" Xander asked, all the while looking at Buffy.

"Huh?" Buffy said in confusion.

"You didn't tell me there was two of 'em in there!" he exclaimed to her.

"Xander . . . you're babbling," Giles announced trying to bring the situation under control.

"Oh, no, not this time G-man!" Xander shouted cutting off the Watcher, "Ya see, there's the Faith we all know and love! Mean, nasty, sell you out to the Mayor in a second . . . you know, the hot one. . . . and then, . . . there's this other one . . . !"

Xander stopped in mid sentence as he struggled with the image he had just seen. The Gang collected around Xander held their collective breath waiting for him to continue. Finally, Cordelia couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"XANDER!" she shouted.

"Oh, . . . hi Cordelia. When did you get here?"

"What did you see, you idiot?!"

"HEY! " Anya squalled, her voice laced with jealousy, "He's mine! Only I get to call him that!"

"Shut up, Anya!" Cordelia replied firmly as she turned to face Xander directly.

"Spit it out, jerkface!" she snapped as if she and Xander were still juniors dating each other at Sunnydale High.

"Well, the other Faith . . ." he finally stammered, "She's got no face . . . and there's like this eye where her face is supposed to be."

Without waiting for Xander to finish, Buffy, followed by Giles, raced up the stairs and barged through the front door into the lobby. The others followed in a rush.

In a moment more, the door to Faith's room flew open as the Scooby Gang charged in en masse. The bed and room were empty and the window wide open to the night air. Angel stepped up to the open window and called out into the darkness.

"Faith! Faith!"

"It's too late. She's long gone by now," Giles muttered in discouragement.

"It's not her, Giles," Buffy said ominously, "That thing has taken her over."

"She said she couldn't hold it off for long," Xander added.

"You talked to her?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," he continued, "She sort of beat it back for a second and told me to run and get you."

Buffy paused, her mind racing as she struggled to come up with her next move.

"Okay, people, listen up," Kate suddenly volunteered, sensing the Slayer's confusion, "It's taken over Faith's body 'cause it's after something. If we know what it wants, then we know where it's headed."

"The Shining Trapezohedron!" Giles muttered with fear.

"MacDuffie's shop! She's headed to the shop!" Buffy exclaimed.

"We're on it! Let's move!" Kate shouted to the others.

The whole gang turned as one and ran out of the room. They all stampeded down the hallway, past the orderly pushing the laundry cart. The orderly glanced up momentarily at the rush of activity, then went about her business with hardly a murmur.

* * * * * * * *

Anson MacDuffie stood alone on the edge of the sidewalk in front of the New Age Curiosity Shop and faced out into the darkened street. He still grasped the ancient sword which he now held down at his side. A distant sound of footfalls in the night broke the silence. At the end of the street as if striding out of a vision from beyond space and time, a small female figure dressed all in black stepped around a corner and advanced towards him. He strode forward to meet her.

As she approached, it became clear to the Guardian that this must be the other slayer, Faith. Her rich brown hair was disheveled and her face overspread with a mixture of exhaustion and despair. She stopped about ten yards in front of him in the middle of the square and stared in puzzlement.

"Do I know you?" she whispered.

"No, we've never met," he answered calmly.

"Then who the hell are you?" Faith asked.

". . . a friend . . ."

"That's what they all say," Faith said sarcastically, "Where the hell am I?"

"Your Slayer's Spirit led you here."

"I can't handle this much longer," Faith said, clearly weakening, "It's so strong . . . do you know Buffy?"

". . . she and the others . . . they're coming," MacDuffie nodded reassuringly.

"I can't do this any more, I'm so tired," Faith sighed and stared down vacantly at the pavement in front of her.

The old Guardian stepped up to Faith and spoke quietly, his words somehow comforting to the exhausted Slayer.

". . . Faith . . . don't despair! . . . You are well named. You wield more power than you can possibly imagine . . . Nyarlethotep knows that . . . and fears you!"

Faith slowly looked up at MacDuffie. Her eyes, still blood red, were wide with amazement.

"How come I know you?" Faith whispered.

"That's my bonnie lassie! . . . now you see it!" the Guardian exclaimed with excitement. Faith realized she was drinking in his words.

"It's you! . . . You are the one, not Buffy!" he cried out in triumph and his voice jolted Faith with a surge of strength, "You are the one . . . who'll save the world!"

Before she could rally, Faith suddenly cried out in pain. Her body contorted as she writhed back and forth. She buried her face in her hands briefly and when the convulsions stopped, she looked back up at MacDuffie but it was no longer her face staring out at him but rather the three lobed burning eye of Nyarlethotep. MacDuffie stepped back and raised the sword.

As he did, Nyarlethotep spoke in its deep, hollow voice through the image of Faith.

"Brave words, Guardian!" the voice echoed, "But that's all they are . . . words!"

"She knows!" MacDuffie shouted as he raised the sword in front of him, "What you sought to conceal from her, she knows! And with that knowledge, the doom of the Ancient Ones is sealed!"

The sound of racing car engines pierced the stillness of the square and grew louder and louder with each passing second. The Citroen and the GTX burst out of a cross street near the shop and screamed to a halt by the alley housing the dumpster. Buffy, followed by Xander, Anya and Giles, clambered out of the beat up Citroen. Angel vaulted over the closed driver's side door of the convertible and Kate did the same on the passenger side. Cordelia scrambled out of the back seat in a more conventional fashion by opening and slamming the door.

"Show offs!" she complained to herself.

Buffy marched out into the street at a fast walk with Xander close behind her. Both rapidly approached MacDuffie and Faith. Giles held his arms out to restrain the others at the sidewalk near the cars.

"All of you keep back! We don't know what we're dealing with here," he warned.

"Xander!" Anya cried out.

". . . what the flaming hell is that . . . ?" Kate muttered as she stared at the image of Nyarlethotep's blazing red eye blended into Faith's body.

" . . exactly . . ." Angel answered.

Kate, her mouth hanging open, cast a quick sideways glance at Angel.

"Faith! . . . Faith!" Buffy called out as she drew closer to the Guardian and the other Slayer.

The apparition of Nyarlethotep turned its head to look at Buffy. There were no recognizable features of Faith's face, only the hazy, out of focus image of the three lobed burning eye.

At the same time, deep in the darkness of her mind, Faith, exhausted, leaned against the towering gray blocks of the wall that stretched in all directions. Suddenly she perked up as she heard Buffy's faint voice calling.

"Faith! Faith! It's me!" Buffy's voice echoed over and over.

"Buffy! Buffy!" Faith screamed in despair.

A wind began to stir, blowing Faith's thick brown hair. She turned in a fury against the wall that imprisoned her and rained a hail of blows against the silent stones.

"Goddamn it! Let me outta here! Buffy! Buffy!"

In the street, Xander halted in fear and wouldn't follow Buffy any further.

"Uh, Buffy!" he called out, "That's not the Faith we know and love! It think it's the other one!"

Buffy ignored Xander's warning. Passing MacDuffie, as she got within a few feet of Faith when the other slayer leaped forward, grabbed Buffy's arm and shoulder with lightning speed, lifted her up and pitched her almost twenty feet down the pavement. Instinctively, Buffy sought to roll so that the impact would not be concentrated in one part of her body. Nevertheless, she struck the concrete curb of the sidewalk at the side of the street hard and lay momentarily stunned.

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