He had warned her about the book. Now it was too late. The book flew open and the pages began to flutter as if being moved by some magickal wind. When the book reached page 666, the fluttering stopped. By some odd internal force, Colline's eyes shot open and she sat up in bed. She turned on the small lamp that sat on her nightstand and picked up the thick library book.
"The vines wrapped around her neck," Colline read aloud."She gasped for a breath of air and violently clawed at the vines, trying to break free."
Colline stared at the words with a raised eyebrow. She wasn't sure of what was going on. Why was she here, in her room, reading these words from this book? She tried to close the book, but it seemed to be jammed open. No matter how hard she tried, the book would not close.
Suddenly, several little green vines began poking out of the book's spine. Horror filled Colline's eyes as the vines continued to grow. Colline screamed as she threw the book across the room. She quickly leaped out of her bed, threw her bathrobe over her shoulders, and ran toward the bedroom door. As she reached for the doorknob, one of the vines wrapped around her ankle. She was pulled to the ground and dragged roughly across the floor toward the book. Another vine wrapped itself around her neck and began to strangle her. She coughed and wheezed as she gasped for air. She clawed at the vines trying to break free, but to no avail. A few moments later, the struggling ceased and Colline's body lay limp on the floor.
* * *
"Oh my gosh, Colline's dead!" Cordelia bawled as she paced back and forth in the middle of the Sunnydale High School library.
"Do you even know her last name?" Xander asked.
"Well, now," Cordelia admitted."But she was like my best friend! I'm sorry, I need to be alone."
"Good, we can all benefit from that," Xander quipped.
She turned on her heels and fluttered out of the room leaving Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Giles staring at the swinging library doors. Slowly, Buffy turned to Giles and said,"So, what killed this girl? Vampire? Demon robot? An interesting bug-like creature? Cause, we can fight all of those."
"Actually, a book," Giles said simply.
"Wow! She read herself to death," Xander said comically to Giles."That really puts your job into perspective."
"She didn't read herself to death, Xander," Giles explained wisely, ignoring Xander's comment as usual,"The book itself killed her. Or, more specifically, what was inside of the book. There are legends that speak of books cursed with black magick. Anyone who opens them and reads will face certain peril."
"But, how do you kill a book?" Xander continued,"Put it through a paper shredder?"
"We mustn't destory the books," Giles said,"That would be... well, illegal. We must stop their distribution. Someone has to own these books. We must find that person and..."
"Kill him?" Buffy finished.
"No," Giles responded quickly."The owner of these books may very well have a soul. The first Rule of the Slayer states that you cannot kill anyone with a soul."
"Spoil my fun," Buffy pouted.
"So, what do we do now?" Xander asked."Raid all of the libraries in the tri-county area? Y'know, Giles, you're a librarian, so you're a suspect."
Giles looked appauled. He quickly withdrew into his office to avoid the accusing eyes of Buffy, Willow, and Xander. He knew they were just teasing him, but he couldn't help but feel a little hurt.
"Wait a minute!" Willow said brightly."What about the new library that just opened on Henderson Street about a week ago? I went to check it out the other day and the librarian seemed pretty wiggy."
"It's worth a look," Buffy shrugged."Why don't we all go check it out tonight?"
"I'll get Oz and we can go in his van," Willow suggested."We'll meet here at nine o'clock when we're sure the library has closed and go scope it out."
"Sounds like a plan," Buffy said as she got up from her chair.
* * *
Oz parked his large, zebra-striped van about half a block from the newly opened library. Buffy, Willow, Xander, Oz, and Cordelia all poured out of the van and started down the road. It was a surprisingly cold night for February in southern California. For some reason, Buffy suspected the cold wasn't an effect of the weather patterns.
"Was I suppose to wear black?" Cordelia suddenly asked as she compared her red chiffon dress to everyone else's black pants and black jackets.
"You weren't suppose to show up," Xander commented under his breath.
"Hey!" Cordelia snapped,"Just because I don't like any of you people anymore, doesn't mean I can just turn my back on the world! It's my right and my responsibility to fight demons and stuff."
"Battle on, Xena," Oz said in his usual dry tone.
Willow laughed quietly as she hung on to Oz's arm. Buffy also cracked a smile, and she and Willow exchanged glances.
When the Scooby Gang reached the library, Xander tried the door and found that it was locked. Buffy stepped forward and pulled the door off its hinges using her super Slayer powers. She then turned on her flashlight and stepped into the dense darkness of the library. She was follwed by the rest of her friends, all in turn flipping on their flashlights. Buffy quickly scanned her surroundings. There was a desk directly in front of her, an office to the right, and two rows of bookshelves to the left. It was a small library, but that didn't mean the books wouldn't be housed there. Things were never quite what they seemed in Sunnydale.
"Okay, guys," Buffy instructed,"Willow, you and oz search the stacks for the books. Xander, why don't you go back outside and look for anything suspicious around the building. I'll go look in the office."
"What about me?" Cordelia asked.
Buffy just rolled her eyes and then said,"I guess you're with me."
Everyone dispatched and started their missions. Willow and Oz decided they could double their speed if they each took a separate row of shelves. They unzipped their backpacks and got ready to throw in anything that looked like it could be connected with magick. It took them about ten minutes to quickly scan each row of shelves. When they were finished they regrouped and counted the books. Fourteen. Fourteen books possible connected with magick. Giles had instructed them to return the books to the library later so that he could thoroughly examine them. He had also deliberatly reminded Willow not to try any of the spells that might have been written inside the books.
"So what do we do now?" Oz asked."Just wait for everybody else to finish? That sounds pretty yawn-worthy."
"I kinda wanted to check out that desk," Willow said, eyeing it suspiciously.
They tiptoed to the desk and used their flashlights to examine the objects sitting on it. Most of the objects were photographs, possibly of the librarian's family. The people in the photos looked normal enough. Oz spotted a little sign that read "Mr. George Linden, Librarian." There was also a computer sitting on his desk. Willow sat down and booted it up. She planned to look into Mr. Linden's private files. There would certainly be something about the books in there.
Meanwhile, Buffy an Cordelia were having no luck in Mr. Linden's office. He appeared to be a very unorganized man. His private office was cluttered with all sorts of books, magazines, encyclopedias, almanacs and the like. However, none of them seemed to be connected with magick.
Buffy knelt down to search the bottom drawer of his private desk for something suspicious. Cordelia boredly removed a book from a high shelf and opened it. Realizing that it was written in Latin, Cordelia threw it back and walked toward the desk where she saw a picture of Mr. Linden. He was about 60 years old, with thinning hair, and a wrinkly face, wearing a pea green tweed suit and thick-framed trifocals.
"Jeez, this guy makes Bill Gates look like Brad Pitt," Cordelia said nonchalantly as she plopped herself down in a big leather armchair.
Buffy angrily shined her flashlight in Cordelia's face and said, "Cordy, if you're not gonna help out just leave. We didn't ask you to come with us, anyway."
"Well, you're welcome!" Cordelia whispered loudly."I risk my life, physical and social, to come here and help you investigate another deeply disturbing situation and all you can say is 'go home?'"
Buffy was about to counter Cordelia's statement when they heard Willow's voice from the other room. The two girls put their differences aside and ran to see Willow and Oz.
"What is it?" Buffy asked worriedly.
Willow simply pointed to a name on the illuminated computer screen. Buffy's eyes filled up with horror as she read it. Joyce Summers. Buffy's mother. Buffy's mother had checked out a book from this library earlier that day.
"Your mom could be in serious trouble," Willow said what everyone else was thinking.
"But, what if she's not," Cordelia said logically."What if she just checked out a regular old, boring book. This may not even be the library where the books are. The most evil thing I've seen here is that librarian's fashion statement."
"That's what I thought, too," Willow explained,"Until I read the title. 'The Forest of Night.' The coroner's report said Colline looked like she had been strangled to death, and there were small shreds of vine scattered across the bedroom floor. Forest, vines. I put two and two together and..."
"My mom's in really big trouble," Buffy finished as she sprinted out the door.
Willow, Oz, and Cordelia were right on her heels. They dashed out the door and toward Oz's van. Xander emerged from behind the building and asked what was goin on. He heard Willow shout,"Buffy's mom! Danger!" He was about to follow the rest of the gang when he heard a noise from the alley behind the building.
* * *
Joyce poured herself a cup of hot tea abd walked into the living room of her home in southern California where her newest library book awaited her on the coffee table. She sat down on the sofa and took a sip of her tea. It burned her upper lip, so she decided to let it cool off before drinking it. She then picked up her library book -- "The Forest of Night." The librarian, Mr. Linden, had said it was to die for. She could wait to enthrawl herself in it.
Classical music emitted softly from the radio on top of the television set. When Joyce read, she liked to create just the right mood. Relaxing. At the end of the day, she liked to unwind with a good book, some classical music, and a cup of hot herbal tea. It helped take her mind off of things. Like Buffy. She didn't like to think of her only daughter and her friends out all night patrolling the cemetaries for vampires. It was something no mother wanted.
Joyce had just made it to page six, when the front door of the house burst open. Buffy and three of her friends burst in with panicked looks on their faces.
"Mom!" Buffy shouted with fear in her voice.
"Buffy, what's going on?" Joyce asked nervously as she ran toward her daughter,"Are there some vampires after you?"
"Oh, Mom, you're okay," Buffy breathed a sigh of relief as she hugged her mother.
"I'm fine, honey," Joyce said as she hugged her daughter back,"Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"The book," Oz said bluntly as he spotted it laying open on the coffee table.
"Oh, yeah," Joyce said happily,"I got it from the new library on Henderson. It's quite fascinating."
"And evil!" Buffy shouted as she grabbed the book and slammed it shut.
"What are you talking about?" Joyce asked in confusion.
"That book. It's been cursed with an evil spell," Willow tried to explain.
"Not something you'd usually find on a recommended reading list," Oz said.
"Mom, please tell me you didn't read any of it," Buffy pleaded,"Please tell me that."
"The first six pages," Joyce confessed, still confused.
The moment Joyce finished that sentence, the book flew open in Buffy's hands. She dropped it and back away. The pages began to flutter and then stopped on page 666. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Buffy inched toward the book. Suddenly, a whole clan of tiny little blue pixies flew out of the pages into the air. There were at least fifty of the tiny little women fluttering around in the air. From a short distance, they looked like nothing more than little blue specks of light floating around. Cordelia smiled at the sight of them and got closer.
"Cordelia, stay back!" Buffy warned."There's not telling what'll jump out of that book next. It could be wolves or demon bunnies or something."
"Oh, no, not bunnies," Willow whimpered.
Cordelia didn't listen. She gazed at the pixies in awe, and thought about how beautiful and perfect they were. One tiny pixie floated very close to Cordelia's nose. She gazed into Cordelia's eyes for a few moments and then touched her nose. A tiny drop of blood trickled down from the stop the pixie had touched. Cordelia grabbed her nose and looked closely at the pixies. Their faces were distorted into wicked expressions and they were all wielding tiny daggers. They swarmed toward Cordelia and began stabbing her face. She screamed in agony as she felt hundreds of tiny knives poking through her perfect skin. She tried to cover her face with her hands, but they only slashed as them too.
Buffy jumped on top of Cordelia to shield her from the demon pixies. They stabbed at Buffy, scratching the back of her neck and her head. She had no idea how to fight something so small. Cordelia was screaming underneath her and Willow, Oz, and Joyce looked on in fear with no idea how to help. Suddenly, Oz had an idea.
"Mrs. Summers, I need a fly swatter," Oz commanded."Hurry."
Joyce ran into the kitchen and emerged a few seconds later with a neon pink fly swatter. Oz took the weapon and began to swat at the pixies. He didn't seem to be hitting any of them, but at least he led them away from Buffy and Cordelia.
"I can't believe this!" Joyce exclaimed as Oz led the pixies into the hall closet."This is not how I pictured my adult life to be!"
Oz got all of the pixies into the closet and then commanded Willow and Joyce to fill the crack at the bottom of the door with a towel. Hopefully, that would hold the pixies for awhile. However, they could already be heard slashing away on the other side of the door.
In the living room, Buffy sat on the floor, trying to comfort Cordy. She had at least twenty cuts all over her face and even more on her hands. Her face was dripping with blood. Blood also matted Buffy's hair where the pixies had slashed her.
"Are you guys okay?" Willow asked as she knelt next to Buffy and Cordelia.
"We'll live," Buffy said casually,"I'm afraid Cordelia's nerves may not make it through the ordeal, though."
"My face!" Cordelia screamed."My beautiful, wonderful face! How will I show myself at school looking like this?"
"Her priorities never change, huh?" Oz said as he stared at Cordelia.
"I'm bleeding to death and you're making jokes?" Cordelia cried with anger in her voices."I can't believe you people! I hate you people! The most terrible things always happen when I'm around you people!"
Ignoring Cordelia, but still feeling sorry for her, Willow said, "Well, what do we do now? The demon bunnies could hop out at any moment."
"Well, we have to destory the pixies and find the librarian guy handing out these books," Buffy decided.
"I think I've taken care of that problem," Xander said as he walked through the door proudly.
Moments later, Giles walked in holding the collar of a short elderly man wearing a green tweed suit and thick trifocals. Buffy recognized him as Mr. Linden. She immediately go up and confronted Mr. Linden. She pulled off his glasses and pummeled his face.
"Now, Buffy, let's not lose ourselves in anger," Giles warned.
"Sorry, but I'm already long lost. You tried to kill my mother," Buffy shouted."I don't care if you are a senior citizen, I'm gonna kick your--"
"They're not my books," Mr. Linden yelped, as he cowered on the floor.
"Then whose are they?" Buffy asked slowly, with anger in her voice.
"Ethan's," Mr. Linden confessed."Ethan Rayne's. He's this crazy British guy--"
"I know who he is," Buffy interrupted with a sigh."He only tried to kill us last Halloween when he turned us into what we dressed up as."
"And don't forget about the band candy," Oz pointed out."Now that was what you'd call 'death by chocolate.'"
Giles and Joyce's faces beamed cherry red and they turned their glances away from one another. They wanted to forget all about that whole band candy fiasco.
"So, how do we stop the pixies?" Buffy asked Mr. Linden.
Pixies?" he asked.
"Demon pixies. They came out of the book," Buffy explained."How can we stop them? And, remember, 'I don't know' does not constitute an answer in this situation."
"A binding spell," Mr. Linden said as he got to his feet."You can cast a binding spell that will seal the magick in the book and cast the pixies back into that one. But, you'll need a witch to do the spell. It's kind of advanced."
"Yay, I'm not useless after all," Willow said cheerfully.
"Are you sure?" Giles asked, concerned."Mr. Linden did say the spell was rather advanced."
"I gave Angel back his soul, didn't I?" Willow pointed out."That should merit some faith in my abilities as a Wicca."
"And after the spell is done, you'd better get your tweedy little ass out of town before I turn the full force of my witty insults on you," Xander said in his most macho voice.
Buffy gave him a strange look.
"This is where I get to threaten him, right?" Xander asked.
"Xander, don't help," Buffy told him.
"Okay," Xander said innocently.
* * *
About an hour later, Buffy and Willow walked down the streets of Sunnydale toward Willow's house. Buffy has offered to walk her home, since her parents didn't know about Oz. An ambulance had been called for Cordelia, but Buffy's wounds had already healed thanks to her special Slayer healing power. Willow had successfully performed the binding spell, and Mr. Linden had collected his book and darted out of town before Xander got really mad.
"That sure was fun," Willow joked as she and Buffy walked.
"Just another Tuesday night in Sunnydale," Buffy sighed.
"Well, this is definitely going to be a page in the old diary," Willow said."Cursed books. What a concept. I know I'll never look at a book the same way again. Actually, there's a lot of things I'll never look at the same way again."
"That's what happens when you grow up on the Hellmouth," Buffy said.
"So what's up for tomorrow night?" Willow asked,"Zombies? Ghosts? Succubi? Or the traditional vampires?"
"Who knows?" Buffy shrugged."Another day, another demon. I'm ready for anything."
"How about a chemistry test first period?" Willow smiled.
Buffy then groaned with disgust and said,"Anything except that."
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