𝒘𝒆𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒕𝒉 ；𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒕𝒘𝒐

Later that day Xander, Willow, Buffy, and I were sitting down on the bench outside. Cordelia approached us, her gaze on Buffy.

"Sorry to interrupt your downward mobility, but you won't be meeting with Coach Foster today—you know, the woman with the chest hair—due to the extreme dead guy found in one of the lockers," she told Buffy.

My eyes widened, and I nearly took a spit-take from the soda I was drinking. "Wait, dead?" I questioned, setting the drink down beside me.

"Totally dead. Way dead."

"So, not just a little dead?" Xander said sarcastically. I turn around and hit him on the arm as hard as I could. "Ow!"

"How did he die?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know."

"Well, were there any marks?"

Cordelia snorted. "Morbid much? I didn't ask."

Buffy glanced around at us.

"Uh, I—I gotta book. I'll see you guys later." She gathered her things and stood.

Cordelia watched her leave.

"What's her deal?" She asked us. We shrugged, not knowing how to reply.

Cordelia plopped down on the bench beside me.

"I told Buffy earlier to come to The Bronze tonight. You are welcome to join." With that, she left.

"Is it just me, or did Cordelia Chase just give us an invitation to hang out at The Bronze?" Willow said, biting on a pen.

"It's not just you," I replied, looking at Xander. He smiled.

"Looks like we're going to The Bronze."

♱ ♱ ♱

Willow and I sat down in empty seats at the bar. The floor practically trembled due to the moving bodies and loud bass of the band.

After ordering, Willow glanced around. "Where's Xander?"

"Late as usual," I replied, taking a sip of my drink.

"He should be here by now." She worried, glancing at her watch.

I patted her shoulder. "It's okay. The guy is always late. You know that."

"Hey, guys."

"Oh, hey Buffy," I said as she plopped down in the seat beside me.

"Cool necklace," Willow commented.

"Um, thanks."

Willow faced me. "Hey, don't you have one just like it—"

I placed a hand over her mouth, silencing her.

"Yes Willow, I do," I replied. "We could've gotten it from the same store. Or, maybe, you're just imagining things."

"What—" she mumbled against my hand.

"Shush, Willow." I force a smile.

Buffy glanced up at the rafters, her eyes widening. "Um, I'll be back in a minute."

"That's okay, you don't have to come back," Willow told her.

Buffy smiled.

"I'll be back in a minute," she repeated before walking away.

I looked up and could barely make out in the fog that she was talking to Giles.

"She's talking to Giles," I told Willow. "Isn't it kind of, well...bad to party with a bunch of students?"

"Maybe it's his way of having fun." Willow defended the librarian.

After sitting in silence for a moment she stood up and walked over to a guy I had never seen before, seeming suddenly interested. They began talking and he motioned for Willow to follow him. She did.

My eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. Very wrong. Willow wasn't the type to run off with a guy.

I slid off my stool only to see Buffy coming back towards me.

"Let's go look and see where Willow went."

I dug in the small leather bag I usually carried with me and brought out my favorite weapon for combat—my dagger.

We continued down the corridor to hear laughing. Buffy walked over to the door she thought she heard it coming from and yanked it open.

No one in there.

Suddenly, there were footsteps behind us. I grabbed the figure and shoved them against the nearest wall, holding up my dagger, ready to strike.

In the dim light, I could barely make out the face of the figure.

"Cordelia?" I squeaked out, backing away from her.

"God Katy, what is wrong with you?!" She shrieked. I could see her group of friends from where they were coming out of the bathroom, making my cheeks turn pink.

"Have you guys seen Willow?" Buffy spoke up. "Did she come by here?"

"Why, does Katy need to attack her with a dagger?" Cordelia replied harshly.

"Maybe," Buffy told her with a smug grin.

After a moment she headed in the direction we came from and I sighed, watching her stop and wait for me to follow.

I turn back to the clique. "Oh, and, Cordelia?"

The brunette purses her lips and glares. "What?"

"Not saying that I hate you, but if you got hit by a bus...I would be driving that bus."

Her mouth fell open, and I flashed a wide grin before sauntering away, catching up with Buffy.

♱  ♱  ♱

"Why do you have a dagger?" Buffy asked as we walked out of the Bronze.

I shrugged. "Safety reasons. You never know when you have to stab someone. Or something."

She nods. "Right. Makes sense. Wait...are you...?"

In the distance, I spot Xander. "Hey, Xand!" I cried, waving my hand. He jogs to us.

"I thought you weren't coming," I commented once he stops in front of me.

He shrugged. "Car trouble. Hey, Buffy."

"Have you seen Willow?" Buffy asked, not returning the greeting.

He shook his head. "No. Why?"

"She ran off with a guy."

Xander looked surprised, giving her a wide-eyed stare before turning to me. "Katy, are you sure this is Willow we're talking about?" I nodded and he smiled. "Work it, Willow..."

Buffy snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Xander! Focus!" He stopped.

"Where would a would-be vampire go if he had restocked his supply of willing blood donors?" I questioned him. Buffy looked at me with wide eyes.

"It's okay," I told her. "He already knows about me being a slayer. It wasn't too hard to figure out you were one too, especially since he found a stake you dropped in the middle of the school hallway."

Xander answered my question once I was done speaking. "The cemetery! That's where they usually are in all the old movies."

"Xander, you're a genius!" I said, slapping him on the back. He winced.

"Yeah, I get that a lot."

"It's true," I replied. Then, I thought it over. "Sometimes."

♱ ♱ ♱

The cemetery was an eerie place. Row after row of marble tombstones looked like they were glowing from the moonlight cast through the tree branches.

"Man, this place gives me the wiggins," Buffy said with a shudder.

"I agree. Let's go." Xander turned to leave but I grabbed his shoulder.

"Don't be like that, Xand. We have to find Willow."

He let out a sigh and we continued walking through the cemetery.

A shrill scream suddenly pierced the night air. Willow, I thought, running in the direction it came from. They followed suit, and we soon stumbled upon a stone mausoleum. I held onto my dagger tightly.

Luckily, the mausoleum was unlocked. Buffy threw open the door and I looked around. It was quite a dreary place, with a grey vault in the center and iron doors in the back. I wasn't surprised to see the guy Willow had run off with, but I was somewhat surprised to see a blonde vampire in a black sweater and pleated skirt who would have probably been quite pretty with her features smoothed over.

Then, I noticed Willow supporting a woozy Jesse. Jesse appeared to have two fang marks on the side of his neck. Buffy walked into the center of the room, running her hand along the edge of the coffin. She critiqued the room mockingly, imitating an interior decorator on some TV show. "Well, this is nice. It's a little bare, but a dash of paint, a few throw pillows... call it home!" She moved behind the coffin, drawing the vampires away from us.

I smiled at her distraction. She was good.

Buffy's head snapped around, and she barked an order at us. "Xander, Katy, go!"

I opened my mouth. "But—"

"I've got this. Just go." Buffy's expression softened at my look of concern.

"Come on, Katy. We can't wait around or we'll end up turning into one of the undead," Xander urged. We grabbed Willow and Jesse before running out of the mausoleum door.

The female called mockingly as we left. "Don't go far!"

We ran a few feet only to be confronted by vampires. I transferred my dagger to my left hand.

I saw that Willow had been thrown on the ground, about to be bitten. She was flailing from side to side, trying to fend off the vampire with her hands, bits of grass stuck in her hair. "No!" She screeched. "Get off!"

I yelled at Willow's attacker. "Hey, Dracula!" The vampire looked up, and I kicked him off Willow. He ran off, and I and threw my dagger, nailing the vampire between the shoulder blades. He screamed and disintegrated. I picked up the dagger, daintily blowing off the tip. Willow looked shocked, but I was already moving, and she scrambled after me.

As we walked, I caught sight of Xander getting dragged away by two vampires. Willow ran between two gravestones. "Xander!" I scream.

The vampires were momentarily distracted, so I got the chance to attack. Once one was dusted, I punched another in the jaw, making him fall to the ground. The vampire tried to get up, but a hand grabbed a branch off of a nearby tree and drove it into his chest. Willow rushed over to Xander, who was still on the ground.

"Xand, are you okay?"

I help Xander to his feet. He shakes his head. "Man, something hit me."

I made sure he and Willow were both okay before turning to Buffy. "Thanks for the help."

She smiled. "No problem."

"Where's the vampire that looks like he was on steroids?"

"I locked him in the mausoleum," Buffy informed.

I looked around, realizing that someone was missing.

"Wait... where's Jesse?"

Willow's eyes widened in shock. "I—I don't know."

Xander rubbed the back of his neck, glancing at me.

"That girl grabbed him and took off."

I looked at the ground, trying to find footprints, drag marks, anything. But there was nothing to be found. "Did you see which direction he went in?"

Xander shrugged.

Buffy stood up straight, slowly scanning the cemetery. There wasn't a sign of him anywhere. "Jesse," she whispered.