𝒏𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔  ；𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

After talking to Giles and my friends, I decided to look for Buffy. I find her sitting on a bench outside, all alone. Soft sobs escape her lips, and I walk forward at a slow pace, hoping that I wasn't disturbing her.

"Buffy?" I asked softly. "Are you okay?"

She quickly wipes her eyes at the sound of my voice, clearing her throat. "Yeah. I'm fine."

I sit down beside her, and she doesn't meet my concerned gaze. I can tell that her eyes are swollen and red. "Giles told me that your dad came to see you."

Buffy sighed, nodding her head. "He did."

"Did something happen?" I didn't want to upset her by asking all of these questions, but I just wanted to know that she was okay. I hoped that she knew what was going on.

She doesn't even bother to wipe away her tears now. They stream down her cheeks, and she chews on her bottom lip, struggling to form the right words. I'm patient, knowing that she was hurt. I wanted to know why. "Um...he said he needed to talk to me, and that he needed to tell me the truth about why he and my mom split up."

She sucks in a deep breath, and I nod, waiting for her to continue. "And, and he said that the reason why they split up was because of me. He said that I was a troublemaker. An embarrassment. He—he told me that he couldn't live with me, that I was so rude and not as bright as he expected me to be." Her voice lowers to a whisper. "Why would he say that?"

My heart shatters at her revelation. "I don't know. I'm so sorry, Buff." I wrap an arm around her shoulder and she leans into me. I allow her to let her emotions out, her entire body shaking as she cries.

When Buffy has no tears left, she slowly climbs to her feet, hurriedly wiping at her eyes. "Thanks, Katy."

I smiled. "No problem." I knew what she was going through, at least somewhat. Before my father's death, I was to blame for my parents' constant fights. My mom resented my dad for teaching me my dangerous lifestyle and resented me for risking my life just to slay the hellish creatures. We grew closer after his death, but the hole he left in our lives has never fully healed.

Buffy and I walk together, and I stuff my hands in my pockets. "So, I'm guessing Giles told you about Billy?" she asked.

I nodded. "The only question is, how do we stop this?"

"Honestly, I have no idea," she says, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm hoping that he's gathered some info. If not, I'm just gonna wing it."

I grinned at her words, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her into me. She smiled, leaning into my touch. "That's the Buffy I know."

She stops suddenly, looking across the courtyard.

I shake her arm. "What is it, Buffy?" She doesn't respond to my question, so I follow her gaze to see a slew of students exiting the gym. A boy stands outside of the entrance, looking around. Then, when every student had exited, he slipped into the gym doors.

"Let's go check it out," Buffy says. "I think that's Billy."

We walk through the gym doors, calling out his name. "Billy?" I spotted him seated in the stands and we quickly approach him.

"Are you Billy Palmer?" Buffy questions. He looks at her for a moment. She steps a little closer to him.

"I'm Billy," he replies hesitantly.

"Why are you here?" Buffy sits down next to him, and I sit beside her. "Did something bad happen to you after your game?"

"Something bad?" Billy seems to ponder over Buffy's question, tugging his hands through his hair. "I—I don't remember."

"Do you remember playing baseball?" She continued. I decided to let her speak—she knew more about the case than I did.

He nods. "Uh-huh, yeah. I play second base."

"Are you 'lucky nineteen'?"

Billy looks between the both of us. "That's what he calls me."

"Who?" I asked.

"The Ugly Man. He wants to kill me. A—and he hurt that girl." He's unable to hide the tremor in his voice.

Buffy's eager for more answers. "Why does he want to kill you, Billy?"

"He's..." Billy trails off, his eyes wide. He gulps.

"Billy, it's okay!" Buffy tries to reassure him. "What? Just tell me."

"He's here!" he cried.

Without warning, the creature that Billy called the Ugly Man clubs Buffy with his deformed arm, knocking her off of the stands and onto the floor. He snarls, and I stare at his grotesque face in horror, pulling my dagger out of my boot.

"You're one ugly motherfucker," I said with a shake of my head. He raises his clubbed arm and swings at me, and I bring down my dagger, slicing his arm open.

Buffy quickly gets up as he tries another swing at me and misses. She kicks him in the jaw up, but he doesn't even seem to be fazed. He hits her squarely in the back, knocking her into the stands. I raise my knife and he swings in my direction. I collide with the stands beside her, groaning in pain.

"I was just telling the truth, you don't have to get so insulted!" I wheezed out, feeling winded.

Buffy begins to stand but he knocks her off balance. He prepares to hit her once again but she rolls out of the way. She gets up and follows Billy as quickly as she possibly can, who's already gone out the door. She's limping.

I stumble to my feet, ignoring the burning pain in my lungs. She's already too far ahead of me to catch up. I spin around, realizing that the Ugly Man was nowhere to be found.

I rush into the courtyard. Buffy was also missing, along with Billy. Where had they gone? They certainly couldn't be too far ahead.

"Katy!" A familiar voice calls out. I turn, feeling my heart nearly burst out of my chest. I had expected to see Buffy or even Xander or Willow, but instead of my friends, I was face-to-face with someone I never expected to see again.

"Dad?" I gasped.

He smiles the same warm and happy smile I had always remembered, and my heart swells at the sight.

"It's okay, sweetheart. I'm here."

I smile back, preparing to launch myself into his open arms, but he begins to change. His face contorts, bones popping and grinding under his skin as he transforms...into a snarling vampire. His bloodthirsty yellow eyes lock on mine and he bares his fangs, a growl rumbling deep in his throat.

I can't stop the tears from rolling down my face. He takes a step towards me. I hold up my dagger, getting into a fighting stance. "Please, don't come any closer. I don't want to hurt you."

Not again, I thought.

The once warm smile that's on his face is now malicious. "That's a shame, Kathryn...I was hoping you'd want to do like I taught you and put up a fight."

Before I can even react, he slams into me, pinning me to the ground with little effort. His gnashing fangs are inches away from my throat and I push his head back, trying to hold him as far away as I possibly can. Hot tears cloud my vision. I gritted my teeth, fumbling with my dagger.

"Stop it!" I screamed. "Stop!"

He grabs my clenched fist and squeezes it tight, his yellow eyes full of glee. There's an audible snap and I howled in pain, rolling onto my side. I still gripped the dagger with my broken hand, forcing my crushed fingers to clamp down on the handle.

"C'mon, Kathryn!" Dad snarled. "Kill me, I know you want to!"

I shook my head, returning to my original position. He snaps his fangs again, and they barely grazed my neck, drawing blood. I manage to shoved him away for a second time, and the pain I felt as I struggle to hold him up is excruciating. With a strangled cry, I plunge my dagger deep into his chest. He looked down at me in shock, those yellow, soulless eyes widening.

"That's what you don't understand," I sob. "I never wanted to kill you...I just did what I had to do."

Crimson blood drips from his open mouth and it lands on my cheek. His eyes stare into mine, slowly turning back to their normal brown color. "Katy," he choked out. After taking one final breath, he turned into dust.

I sit up, clutching my crushed hand to my chest, and sob. My tears are hot and they cloud my vision. The dagger in my hand was still soaked with his blood. I don't bother to wipe it off. Instead, I stare up at the sky, wondering why I had to endure this heartache all over again. Suffering the loss a second time was even more painful than the first.

Someone puts their hand on my shoulder, and I immediately crawl away from them, my unmarred fingers digging into the wet earth below as I shake my head rapidly. "Get away from me!" I shrieked, my voice hoarse.

"Katy!" The familiar voice shouting my name makes me open my eyes, and I see Xander kneeling in front of me, his eyes soft and concerned. "Really weird things have been happening. I was being chased by the clown that was at my sixth birthday party." I let out a shaky breath and he shook his head. "Not important. I was looking everywhere for you, hoping that you were safe..." Then, his mouth falls open. "You're bleeding."

I press my uninjured hand to my neck, feeling that it's slick with blood. "My worst nightmare came true, all over again. I—I had to kill my dad. Oh, God..."

Xander pulls me into a hug, and I allow the tears to fall freely now. The sobs wrack my body and he soothes me, running his hands through my hair. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Why me?" I managed to choke out, swallowing hard. I hiccup. "Why did it have to be me?"

He shakes his head in response. "I don't know. I'm sorry that you've had to go through this." He helped me climb to my feet. "Where's Buffy and that Billy guy?"

"I—I don't know," I admitted, wiping my eyes. "I lost them. We were being chased by this thing that Billy called the Ugly Man, who really lives up to his name, by the way."

Xander smiled. "He sounds disgusting."

I shuddered. "He was all of that and more."

Xander led me along, watching our surroundings. "I lost Willow a while ago. And I have no clue about where Giles could be."

"We have to find them," I replied as we approach the double doors that are at the front of Sunnydale High. "And Buffy, too. She's probably facing her worst nightmares right now—she needs my help."

Xander stopped me in my tracks. "Oh, no. You're not fighting anything."

"Why?" I demand.

"Look at your hand. It's broken." I stare down at my mangled hand as he continues, his voice stern. "You can't even move your wrist."

"I'll be fine."

"No, you won't," Xander said. "I won't let you get hurt again." He pushes open the double doors, and the heavy metal doors smack against the wall. He lead me down the hallway, a hand resting on my shoulder, and we bump right into a familiar face.

"Willow!" I cried, beyond happy to see our redheaded friend. She's covered in tomatoes, something I assume happened because of her nightmares coming to life. "Have you found Buffy?"

"I have to sing!" she replied. "Very has to sing!"

"Willow, c'mon! Let's find the others," Xander urged.

Willow blinks, seemingly out of her daze. Then, her eyes widen as she notices my crushed hand. Her gaze then falls to the front of Xander's pants. I turn, and my eyes widen when I see that the front of them are wet. How didn't I notice that before? I thought.

"What happened to you guys?" she asked.

"Remember my sixth birthday party?" Xander reminded her.

"Oh, yeah!" Willow laughs. "When the clown chased you and you got so scared that you..." she stops, clearing her throat. She's staring at my broken hand once again, and her gaze travels up to the dried blood smeared across my throat.

"I couldn't save him," I whispered.

Her face falls. She knew exactly what I meant by that. "Oh, Katy, I'm so sorry." Willow wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I sigh heavily but manage to hold in my emotions. Then, my eyes widen when I notice a figure slowly approaching us.

"Holy shit!" I screamed. A knife sliced through the air, and a clown approaches us, his lips stretched into an evil smile. His eyes were wide and bloodshot.

We all break into a run, bumping into Giles in the process.

"No sign of Buffy?" he asks.

"No time!" I reply. Willow grabs Giles' wrist and tugs him along. The pain in my hand and wrist as it bounced against my chest as I run is excruciating, but I grit my teeth and fight through the pain.

When we reach the end of the hall Xander stops. "Xander?" I called out as he approaches the clown. "What are you doing?"

The clown raises his knife to attack. Xander doesn't hesitate to punch him in the face, knocking him out. My eyes widen.

"You are a lousy clown!" Xander yells at the unconscious clown. "Your balloon animals are pathetic! Everyone can make a giraffe!"

I take one last glance at the clown before following them outside. People are in a panic, screaming and fleeing all around us.

"I feel good! I feel liberated!" Xander cried.

"That was pretty badass," I said with a smile.

He grins. "I'll take that compliment."

"You seem to be the only one," Giles tells Xander. "Things are getting worse. In a few hours, reality will fold completely into the realm of nightmares."

"Well, what do we do?" Willow asks. She has her arms crossed over her chest. Her shirt is smeared with dried tomatoes.

Giles sighs. "The only thing I can think is to try and wake Billy."

"We can't leave without Buffy," I reminded Giles. "She's the one that can stop all this. I can't fight, not with my broken hand."

"Agreed, but who knows where she might have gone?"

I search our surroundings, and my eyes widen when I see a graveyard that has somehow popped up across the street.

I raise my brows. "What the hell?"

"Excuse me, when did they put a cemetery across the street?" Willow points out, clearly thinking the same thing I was.

"And when did they make it night over there?" Xander added.

We walk through the cemetery. Despite it being daylight, the silver moon hangs low over the graveyard, fog covering the old and cracked tombstones.

"Whose nightmare is this?" Xander asks.

I shrugged. I spot a gravestone that read: Buffy Summers 1981–1997.

"It's mine," Giles whispers. We gather around the grave. My heart is heavy in my chest, tears stinging my eyes.

Giles kneels next to the stone. "I've failed...in my duty to protect you. I should have been more cautious. Taken more time to train you. But you were so gifted. And the evil was so great. I'm sorry..." He lays his hand on the fresh soil.

As he starts to get up, a hand reaches up through the dirt and grabs his hand. I jump back in shock, and Willow screams. Giles tears himself away as Buffy digs her way out of the grave. She brushes herself off.

"Buffy?" Giles asked. She looks up to meet his eyes. She has turned into a vampire.

"I thought I was dead!" Buffy sighs in relief.

I start to tremble. Seeing my best friend, my fellow Slayer, as a vampire after having to kill my father shocked me to my core. I couldn't help but feel a wave of fear. I back away, my chin trembling.

"Buffy, your face!" Willow cried.

Buffy feels her face and realizes what's happened. "Oh, God!" She keeps her hands up to hide her face.

Xander takes a couple of steps toward her. "Buffy..."

Buffy turns away, hiding her vampiric features from us. "Don't look at me!"

"You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire," Giles said with surprise.

Buffy shakes her head. "This isn't a dream."

"No. No, it's not," he replied. "But there's a chance that we can make it go away. This all comes from Billy. Now, if, if we can only wake him up, I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will shift back into place, but we must do it now! I need you to hold together long enough to help us, especially since Katy is unable to help due to her injury. Can you do that?" She looked down at my crushed hand, and then up at Giles.

Buffy nods. "Yeah. I think I can."

"Thank you." Giles and Buffy face us.

"Well, we better hurry...'cause I'm getting hungry," Buffy mutters. She starts to walk away.

I give Willow a dumbfounded look. Her eyes are wide at Buffy's statement. Xander's mouth opens and closes as he struggles to speak. "That is a...joke, right?" he asks hesitantly, following behind Buffy. We aren't too far behind them.

"Are you sure everything will go back once he's awake?" Willow questions.

Giles nods quickly. "Oh, uh, positive."

Our redheaded friend doesn't seem convinced. "Well, how do we wake Billy up? What if we can't?"

"Willow, do shut up," Giles pleads.

"Rude," I muttered under my breath.

It isn't long before we make it to the hospital, and there, it's clear that pandemonium reigns. We burst through the doors, not even bothering to stop at the check-in desk; and run down the hall to Billy's room. The doctor is there, looking through the window into his room.

"Doctor!" Giles calls out. "Is the boy Billy still here?"

"My hands!" The doctor wails. I cringe when I see that his hands are severely crippled. He runs away from us, his sobs echoing off of the white hospital walls. We run into Billy's room.

"What now?" Xander asked.

"I was hoping we'd have that figured out by now," I added.

"Um..." Giles bends down to Billy's unconscious body. "Billy! Billy?"

"That won't work," Billy calls out. His astral body is standing by the curtains. I look up at him.

"Billy! Uh, Billy, you have to wake up," the librarian says.

He shakes his head in response. "No. I told them. I have to hide." He points at me, his eyes still searching for Buffy.

"Why?" Giles says. "From what?"

"From him!" Buffy cried. She's still in the hall and the Ugly Man is coming toward her. I go over to the window to look.

"Damn it!" I curse. "Not him again."

"Aw, man, what do we do?" Xander groans.

"I think I know," Buffy says. She takes off her jacket.

I hear buzzing outside and peek through the blinds to see giant black wasps flying over the town, blocking out the afternoon sunlight. Willow steps up beside me and gasps at the sight. "Whatever it is, it better be soon!" she cries.

"Glad you showed up!" We watch as Buffy bares her new vampire fangs. "You see, I'm having a really bad day."

"Lucky nineteen!" I hear the Ugly Man growl.

"Scary! I'll tell you something, though. There are a lot scarier things than you." She takes two steps forward. "And I'm one of them."

The Ugly Man stops in his tracks and looks at her. Buffy roars and runs to attack. I watch as she jumps on him, punching him in the face. I couldn't help but feel lousy due to the fact that I couldn't do anything to help her, but I knew that she could handle it. He dodges them and pushes her into the window of Billy's room. He then throws her into the opposite wall. He swings at her with his club arm but he misses entirely, putting a hole in the plaster hospital wall.

She comes up behind him and kicks him in the back. He slams into her, knocking her through the door into Billy's room. Willow pulls me out of the way just in time before she collided with Billy's bed. She gets up to face him as he comes in after her. He swings again with his club arm, but she grabs it and roughly brings it down, breaking it over her knee. I cringe at the sound. He roars in pain, and she slams him against the wall. He hits his head and slumps to the floor, unconscious. We all stare down at him.

"Is he dead?" Billy called out.

Buffy motions him forward. "Come here, Billy."

"I—I don't..."

"You have to do the rest," Buffy says softly. Billy slowly comes around the bed, pushing past me, stopping in front of the Ugly Man.

"What are they doing?" Willow whispered. Giles gestures for her to be quiet.

Xander nods. "I get it."

"I hope you can fill me in, because I don't have a clue," I mumbled. He promises to tell me later.

Buffy takes Billy's hand. He looks up at her. "No more hiding," she said.

Billy looks back down at the Ugly Man. Buffy lets go of his hand, and he reaches for the Ugly Man's neck. He peels back his face and a bright light streams out. I shield my face from the blinding light.

In the next instant, everything is back to normal. The Ugly Man is gone, Buffy is herself again, Xander and Willow are in their regular clothes and the hospital is functioning properly once more. I move my wrist and wiggle my fingers. I smile when I realize that my hand is no longer broken.

Billy shifts. "Hey, he's waking up!" Xander called out. We all gather around his bed, and he blinks his eyes open.

"I had the strangest dream." Billy points at me. "And you were in it, and you...who are you people?"

We all smile.

"Let's get a doctor," Giles tells Xander. Billy's coach comes in just as Giles and Xander are about to go get a doctor.

"Oh! Huh. Billy's got company." The coach is clearly surprised, taking off his cap. "I—I'm his kiddie league coach. I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon. He's, uh, my lucky nineteen."

Giles and Buffy exchange a look.

"So, um, how is he?" The coach asks.

Buffy steps aside to show him that Billy's awake. "He's awake."

His eyes widen. "What?"

"You blamed him for losing the game," Buffy said to the coach. "So you caught up with him afterwards, didn't you?"

"Wh—what are you talking about?" he stammered. I glare at the coach. It was clear that he was trying to pretend he was innocent, but we all could see right through his lie.

Billy sits up in the hospital bed. "You said that it was my fault that we lost."

I watch as the coach looks between all of us, realizing that Billy has discovered the truth. He tries his best to bolt out of this hospital room, but Xander grabs him by the jacket and stops him.

"It wasn't my fault," Billy continued. "There's eight other players on the team. You know that." He lies down, seeming to be content.

Buffy smiles down at Billy, and I give him a thumbs up. "Nice going!" she says. Billy smiles back.

I walk along beside Xander as we make our way down the steps that lead to the school's front parking lot. Willow and Buffy aren't far behind us.

"I just can't believe a kiddie league coach would do something like that," Buffy said.

Xander shrugs. "Well, you obviously haven't played kiddie league. I'm surprised it wasn't one of the parents."

"I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs," Willow added. I nodded in agreement. The guy was sick.

"I'll have to admit that it was kind of heroic for you to grab him like that, Xander," I teased. I reach out to playfully punch his shoulder, then decide against it. Even though my hand wasn't broken, it was still a horrifying experience. The pain was unlike anything I had felt before.

Xander smiles down at me. "Well, I just did what anyone else would've. I mean, if you wanna label it heroic..."

Buffy waves excitedly at the car that's pulling up in front of us. The man that steps out looks a lot like her, and I realize that it's her father. "Hi!" he calls out.

Buffy turns back to look at us as she bounds down the steps. "Have a killer weekend, guys!" I wave in response.

Buffy's dad comes up the steps and engulfs her in a hug. "Hi, sweetheart! Oh, it's so good to see you!" I turn my head so I won't have to see the interaction. The nightmare I had to go through just hours earlier made me sad to see Buffy's interaction with her father. But, I was thankful that she was happy.

He releases the hug and stares down at Buffy. "How was your day?"

Buffy continues talking to him as they walk down the steps. We continue walking along again. I scuff my combat boots against the pavement.

"Personal question?" Willow asked. I turn my head to realize she's looking at me.

I nod. "Go ahead."

"I don't want to be rude by asking this, but...why was your worst nightmare something that had already happened? And not only that, but it seems like the events happened a little differently than it did in real life."

I understood her curiosity. Hell, I had been wondering the same thing. "I honestly don't know," I admit. "I guess all of the trauma I got from the experience just makes it nightmare fuel. I definitely didn't get my hand broken during the real thing, either." I roll up the sleeves of my leather jacket to reveal the scarred claw marks that covered my arms, going up to my elbows. My dad had struggled before I had to end his life. "The Ugly Man must have made my dad break my hand so I couldn't fight him. Ol' Ugly was pretty pissed off when I kicked his ass."

She nods. Then, she hugs me. "I'm sorry you had to go through that again."

I sigh, feeling my eyes begin to water. I break out of the hug, not wanting to cry again. I knew that once I started, I wouldn't be able to stop. "Uhm, it's okay. Having to kill my dad twice will probably haunt me for the rest of my life, but I'll manage. I've had to live with the pain before, I can do it again."

Xander wraps his arm around our shoulders. "You're strong, Katy. We love you."

"I know."

My friends exchanged glances at my response, rolling their eyes. I can't help but smile softly, and we walk down the school steps. Even though I had been through hell my entire life—and actually live over the Hellmouth—I knew I could face anything as long as I had them by my side.