Authors Note: Sorry for the delay. Between Christmas and school and writers block, it was hard to get this chapter out. I still don't think much of this one but I think it kind of needed to be done. Hope you guys enjoy.
Chapter Seven
Dream a Little Dream
Paige walked through the graveyard alone, letting the dewy mist of the grass brush against the hem of her dress. The thin material seemed to flow around her, not making a single sound as she continued on down her designated path. No thought entered her mind and she walked. The sounds of the crickets behind her, the sound of the wind, the trees, none of it touched her. That is until she reached her destination.
Reaching the grave Paige cringed. The small grey stone seemed so lonely sitting there in the bleakness of the night. It seemed almost separated from everything around it. A slayers life never seemed to get less lonely even after they fulfilled their duty. Their destiny.
Lowering herself slowly to the ground she bowed her head in respect. This girl had died for the world, for her friends, for her love. Paige just didn't know if she could live up to that. Live up to the kind of reputation Buffy Summers had got when she was still alive. Slayers weren't supposed to be scared. They were fearless hunters of the night. So how come Paige hadn't felt that way since she arrived in Sunnydale?
"Because it's a whole new ballgame out here."
Paige's head snapped up as the voice called to her. Her eyes widened in disbelief. On top of the grave stone, the very one that held the girls name, sat the perfect image of the previous slayer.
"You're…"
"Dead. Yeah I know." She said smiling, playing with a small silver cross. The moonlight seemed to pour into this tiny piece of silver, giving it and the original slayer a soft glow. "If you're going to be living in Sunnydale, you're going to have to get used to the impossible."
"You're dead though."
"I believe we already established this fact." Buffy hopped down from the headstone and started walking down a dirt path that came out of no where. "You coming?" she called over her shoulder when she was a few yards away.
Staring for only a minute, Paige got up and ran after the blonde.
"Don't worry about the fear." Buffy said after a few moment of the silent walking. "It's as much a part of a slayer as the bravery is. The trick is to just not show it."
"How did you know that's what I was thinking?"
"It's one of the perks of the afterlife." A little bounce came to the blondes step as she spoke. "I'm kind of like this higher power now. Who would have thought that after all those years of complaining about how my life was unfair, that it would kind of pay off in the end. The things I can do, the people I can spy on. You should see what kind of things the people of Sunnydale do when they're alone… although, it does have it's limitations.
"So why are you back? Just came for a quick little visit, maybe torment your boyfriend's life a little bit more?" Paige had no idea where those words came from. But the moment she said them, things started coming together. The presence that her and Anna had felt the other night…
Buffy stopped and looked at Paige. "I'm impressed. But you have the wrong girl."
Paige stood defiantly and tried to glare down the other slayer. "It is you then. You've been tormenting Angel all this time. That's why he went after Xander the other night."
Buffy sighed. "I'm not the one that's doing that. I'm not sure who is. But you're right in thinking that he's being haunted." She turned and continued to walk. "His life is complicated. He blames himself for every little thing, my death especially. He doesn't know how to separate the things his demon has done and the things he has done. And what ever it is that is haunting him, is using that to their advantage."
"How so?"
"As far as I can figure, they appear in front of him, and only him, in the form of me. I'm not really sure what they're telling him, or even doing to him…." She frowned. "He's not evil."
"I know. Or at least a part of me does. The other night when he attacked Xander… every little piece of the warrior in me wanted to kill him. But..."
"It was like something was preventing you."
"Yeah."
"That would be me. I couldn't let you do that to him. He has to fight this. If he gives into evil again then…"
"Then what?"
"To put it simply, we're screwed. Angel, or I should say Angelus, was a big asset to the other side. The things he did… If he goes back then we're done with. He almost succeeded in sucking the world into hell once, he's not going to fail again.
"So how do I stop this? If I can't see whatever is haunting him, then how am I supposed to help him?"
"You're the slayer now. You and Anna are the ones that have to figure that one out. Not me. I've told you all I can. I've done all I can. I planted everything you know right now into that head of yours."
"I could have figured this all out eventually." Paige said, getting a little defensive.
"Paige, how do you think you suddenly knew that someone was haunting him, huh? There's no way that you came up with that one on your own. I planted it in your mind kid. Without that little thought there, you would have ran screaming."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Just telling you like it is." Buffy smiled. With a look of sadness on her face she stopped her walking and looked up at the building before her. The mansion loomed eerily over them. Its dark walls just screamed for visitors to stay away as a deep sense of foreboding came over Paige. She was about to back away, all her slayer senses were demanding her too. But the moment she blinked her eyes she found herself begrudgingly inside the mansions walls, Buffy by her side.
A soft thumping could be heard throughout the mansions open spaces. Without a word Buffy started to move forward, her footsteps not making a single sound as they hit the hard floor. Rounding the corner the cause for the thump thump thump could be seen.
"Oh Angel." Buffy sighed as she slid down the nearest wall. Off to the far right the lone vampire sat, his arms securely wrapped around his legs as he slowly hit his head against the wall behind him. Blood trickled down the side of his temple as he rocked back and fourth with his eyes squeezed shut, trying to block whatever images that were trying to get in.
Turning her teary eyes towards Paige Buffy started to plead. "You have to find out what's going on. Please." The last note came out almost pitifully.
"You have more power then I do. Can't you do something about this?"
"I'm not allowed to interfere."
"Says who?"
"The Powers That Be. I'm only allowed to watch and guide people. Nothing else. Paige please. You have to help him." The tears were in her eyes but she seemed to be refusing to let them fall.
"I don't know what I can do. The gang's not going to let me do this. They hate him."
"You don't need the gang. You and Anna are the Slayers now. Use that power."
"But…" And with that she bolted awake.
Paige looked around her room wildly, barley registering that it was all a dream. Flopping back down on her pillows she took deep gulping breaths to try and calm herself, but her heart refused to slow down. Clenching her fists, she climbed out her window, Buffy's window, and headed out into the night. Running as fast as she could, closing her eyes, determined to not let anything stop her. By the time she reached her destination she was covered in a sheen of cold sweat.
Dropping to her knees in front of the grave she finally let herself rest, let herself feel something. The feeling of serenity that came over her didn't last though when she opened her eyes.
On top of the gravestone sat a small silver cross. The same cross Buffy had been toying with at the beginning of her dream
"Shit."
~~~~~
The bell rang signaling another day gone by at Sunnydale high school. Paige had been trying to talk to Anna all day, trying to get her alone so as the rest of the group wouldn't hear them, but that had yet to happen.
"Paige!"
Paige turned quickly and without warning grabbed Anna by the arm and dragged her into the janitor's closet.
Anna raised an eyebrow at Paige. "Please tell me we aren't going to do what Cordy and Xander do in here."
"What?" Paige's eyes went wide when she thought of the heated make out sessions that frequently happened in the very closet. "NO!"
Anna laughed. "Just checkin'"
"No. I pulled you in here because I talked to Buffy last night."
"The dead slayer." Anna stated.
"Yeah, I found her while I was walking through the graveyard. Or while I was dreaming. I'm not really sure." Paige said quickly.
"Paige, you've got to calm down here. It was just a dream."
"No! I talked to her. We need to help her."
"You're serious." Anna looked her up and down trying to figure out if her new friend was insane or not.
"Yes I'm serious. Now are you going to help me?"
"I don't even know what you're talking about." Anna reminded her.
Paige threw her arms up in the air, starting to get a little frustrated. "I'm talking about saving the world. I'm talking about doing our job."
"Okay, I'll help. Just stop with the dramatics. Let's just go and talk to Giles about this and then we'll figure out where to go from there." She started to walk out of the closet when Paige slammed the door shut again.
"Giles can't know. And neither can the rest of the gang. This stays between you and me."
Anna's eyebrows furrowed. "What's going on?"
"Something is haunting Angel. That feeling we got the other night. It was a presence of some sort. It's trying to turn Angel and kill all of us in the process. If this thing succeeds in turning him we're pretty much screwed, the world will go to hell, not to mention that we'll have some seriously emotionally deranged friends on our hands from him converting again and…"
"Paige."
"… I really don't know if you could even call them our friends any more after what happened the other night. Plus…"
"Paige."
"…there's the fact that we're going to have to keep this little bit of information from them and if they ever find out then they're definitely not going to be our friends if they aren't already and…"
"PAIGE!"
Paige stopped abruptly and looked at Anna. "What?"
"Breath. Now tell me slowly, what happened in this dream."
Flopping down on a bucket she sighed and began to retell everything that had happened the night before.
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