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Disclaimer: The Buffy the Vampire Slayer characters are the property of Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, Fox and WB Network, and no infringements of copyright are intended, blah, blah. No profit will be earned as a result of this work, so please, don’t sue me.
Acknowledgments: Thanks to Psyche’s Buffy Transcripts for needed material. This fic is based on transcripts of BTVS Season 4 episodes ‘Where the Wild Things Are’, ‘New Moon Rising’, ‘The Yoko Factor’, and ‘Primeval’, that were originally done by joan the english chick and Joseph B, so kudos to them too.
Part One: Where The Wild Things Are (Episode aired April 25, 2000)
(Shot of Anya dropping her dress, and Xander looking surprised)
GILES: (V.O.) Previously on Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
ANYA: Please remove your clothing now.
(Shot of Anya and Xander kissing)
ANYA: Relationship. What kind do we have, and what is it progressing toward?
(Cut to Tara and Willow)
TARA: They don’t even know I exist, right?
WILLOW: I just like having something that’s just, you know, mine.
(Shot of Tara putting something on Willow’s forehead and lips)
TARA: (V.O.) I am, you know.
WILLOW: (V.O.) What?
TARA: Yours.
(Shot of Buffy and Riley kissing and embracing, and then one of Buffy in bed, looking up at Riley as he bends down to kiss her again)
AUTHOR: (V.O.) Previously, before the beginning of this fanfic...
(Buffy and Riley fight a vampire/demon team in the graveyard and win, then later make out and fall onto the bed in Riley’s bedroom)
(The next morning, Riley goes to the bathroom in Lowell House - he investigates strange noises but nothing’s there except a dripping bathtub faucet)
(Xander and Anya talk in an ice-cream truck on the street that ends up as a major argument, and Xander embarrasses himself in front of customers - kids and their parents)
(Giles, Willow, Riley and Buffy discuss the vampire/demon alliance and realize Adam’s responsible. There’s a party on for the next night, but Giles says he can’t make it as he has other plans at the Espresso Pump. Riley and Buffy are acting all couple-y.)
(Forrest and Graham hear Riley and Buffy going at it in Lowell House that night.
It’s freezing cold. Mason, an Initiative guy, is injured when flames explode out of the fireplace during Buffy and Riley’s ultimate moment)
(Spike tries to rob Anya in an alley near the Bronze the following night, but it doesn’t work)
(At the party in Lowell House, Xander, Buffy, Willow and Tara stand together talking. Xander doesn’t think Anya will be coming. Forrest, Graham and Riley also talk. Buffy and Riley are distracted, and keep on staring and smiling at each other across the room)
(Anya and Spike sit on a couch at the Bronze, holding beers and commiserating. Spike suggests they do a vengeance gig - Anya eviscerates Xander, and Spike stakes Drusilla. Anya is briefly tempted)
(At the party, people dance and have fun. The snob from "Beer, Bad" talks to a girl and leans his hand on the wall, then becomes startled by the sexual effect)
(Xander talks to a girl Julie, at a trophy cabinet. They smile at each other and seem to hit it off)
(Buffy and Riley leave to go fool around in his room, without much subtlety. Forrest and Graham watch them go, shaking their heads)
(Snob Guy demonstrates the sexual effect of the position on the wall to his friend Evan)
(Willow and Tara sit on the stairs, and talk. Willow puts her hand on Tara’s knee. Tara suddenly jumps back in disgust and confusion, and runs up the stairs. Willow watches her go, concerned)
(Spike and Anya enter the party together. Spike realizes that this is the Initiative, and gets angry. Xander comes up and talks to them, he gets angry too. He calls Spike ‘Hostile 17’ in a loud voice, but no one pays any attention. Spike boldly leaves to get a drink)
(Xander and Anya fight, and he breaks up with her. He leaves to enjoy the party, Anya decides to stay too as they yell at each other across the room and walk off in opposite directions)
(Xander discovers some people sitting on the floor, playing ‘Spin The Bottle’. Julie, the girl he was talking to earlier, indicates with her head that he should join them. Xander grins and comes to sit down)
(Spike drinks, sitting by the beer kegs and watches other people drink. The drunk Initiative guy across from him frowns, and says Spike looks familiar. Spike shrugs it off and just sits there)
(Xander spins the bottle, and it lands pointing at Julie. He fearfully just kisses her cheek, but she grabs him and climbs on top of him, kissing him. Xander pulls her off, and then Julie suddenly looks horrified. She stammers an apology, jumps up and runs out. Xander looks confused, then runs after her)
(Xander walks through the crowds, looking around. He witnesses the effect of people touching the spot on the wall. He hears crying noises from behind a closed door, calls out to Julie. He tries the doorknob, but it’s locked)
AUTHOR: (V.O.) And now, the beginning of an alternate universe...
(Shot of Xander turning around, ready to walk away. Suddenly, there’s a flash of incredibly bright white light for a moment. Nobody else seems to notice. Xander loses his balance between steps, falls down and hits his head on the floor)
XANDER: Oww! (gets up) Man! This is NOT my night!
(Shot of Xander kicking the door angrily, and to his surprise the door hinges loosen considerably)
GUY: (passing with two beers in his hands, says to Xander) 'Scuse me, coming through...
(Shot of Xander glancing at him. He thinks about it, then charges the closet and breaks through. The door is now wide open, staying loosely attached on its hinges. He sees Julie crying, and cutting off her hair with a straight razor/knife)
JULIE: I’m bad, I’m bad...
XANDER: Julie? What’s going on? Look, I’m sorry about what happened before, but there’s no need to start going all Felicity with your hair.
(Shot of Julie looking at him. She drops the razor/knife, and rushes over to him. Kisses him passionately. Just then Anya wanders by, and sees them through the open door)
ANYA: (yells) You MAN, YOU!!! (rushes away)
(Shot of Xander breaking away from Julie, staring after Anya. He then grabs Julie’s hand, and they head after the ex-demon. Cut to Willow knocking on the bathroom door)
WILLOW: Tara? It’s me. (knocks again) Tara? (opens door) Tara? (walks into bathroom, looks around. The camera pans through the bathroom)
(Shot of Willow going to the sink. She turns on the water, splashes it on her face. She straightens up, drying her face with a towel. Hears a gurgling noise, and turns around. She then frowns, and walks over to the bathtub. Dripping noises are heard)
(Shot of Willow pulling back the shower curtain and finding a young boy in the bathtub, underwater, arms crossed over his chest, struggling. She reaches down to grab him, but he disappears and there’s just a tub full of water)
(Shot of Willow straightening up, turning around. The boy is standing behind her, dripping wet, arms still crossed over his chest. She screams)
(Cut to Buffy and Riley in bed, kissing. Buffy’s on top. They hear the scream, stop kissing, and look towards the door)
RILEY: (pants) Was that Willow?
BUFFY: (pants) Don’t know. (looks at him) Doesn’t matter. (they resume smooching)
(Cut to Anya, walking angrily through the crowd. Xander and Julie catch up to her)
XANDER: An, wait! I-it’s not what you think.
ANYA: (turns to look at him) You were kissing that girl, not ten minutes after we broke up!
XANDER: (considers this) Okay, maybe it is what you think. (gets serious) But something weird is going on! I mean, Julie suddenly throws herself at me, some guys are going nuts about puttin’ their hands on the wall - there’s gotta be some kinda major mojo being worked here! So, so, it’s not my fault!
ANYA: (still angry) I don’t know why I should be upset. This party is boring anyway. I’m leaving. (turns around, and heads for the front door)
JULIE: I, I - I think I’m gonna leave too. This is...I, I’m sorry... (heads after Anya)
XANDER: (turns, walks away, says to himself) Great. What else could happen tonight?
(Cut to Willow coming down the stairs)
WILLOW: Xander? Tara? (runs through the house. Finds Xander staring at the Spin The Bottle people) Xander. Ghost boy. Drowning in a tub. I, I tried to save him, but, being a ghost already, well, I was way too late.
XANDER: A ghost? (Willow nods) What’s the deal? Is every frat on this campus haunted? And if so, why do people keep coming to these parties? 'Cause it’s not the snacks.
(Shot of Tara walking up to them and touching Willow’s arm)
WILLOW: Tara, are you OK?
TARA: Yeah, but...I, I don’t like it here. This house...I, I think we should go. (Willow nods. Xander looks around, hearing more laughter from the bottle game people)
(Close-up shot of the bottle spinning. Instead of slowing down, it gets faster and faster. The players look puzzled. Suddenly, the bottle explodes. People yell, as broken glass sprays at them)
WILLOW: We need Buffy!
(Shot of Willow and Xander running off. Tara follows, as they run upstairs. Cut to Riley’s bedroom door)
XANDER: (yells) Buffy?
WILLOW: (yells) Buffy? Riley?
(Shot of them pounding on the door. No answer. Suddenly, sharp-looking spiny thorns, with green leaves, sprout from the cracks around the edges of the door. Willow and Xander jump back)
XANDER: Buffy!
(Long shot of Buffy and Riley in bed, smooching and writhing. They pant and moan, which echoes, and faintly Xander is heard still pounding and yelling Buffy’s name. The bed recedes until it’s just a small square in the middle of the screen, with blackness all around. Long shot of the bed, as a tiny square in the middle of a black screen)
RILEY: (V.O.) Do you wanna go back?
BUFFY: (V.O.) Never.
(Cut to Xander still pounding on the door)
WILLOW: Buffy! Riley!
XANDER: Buffy! (Tara turns and looks behind them, moves off) We gotta get them outta there!
(Shot of the building starting to shake. Cut to people screaming and running around. Glass rattles, everything is shaking. People keep screaming, and run toward the door. Suddenly everyone falls to the floor, including Tara, Willow and Xander. People get up and scramble around. Shot of Spike sitting calmly in his chair, as they run panicking)
SPIKE: (smiles) Well, this party’s startin’ to liven up after all!
(Shot of straps suddenly shooting out of the chair he’s sitting in, wrapping around his chest, wrists, legs, and one over his mouth. He drops his plastic cup of beer)
SPIKE: Mmph!
(Shot of Graham standing still, looking grim, as people run screaming past him. Forrest runs toward him, against the flow of people)
FORREST: Graham, quit standing around! Help get these people to safety!
GRAHAM: Touch not the impure thing...
FORREST: What?!
GRAHAM: Or ye shall perish. Find salvation in the cross of our Lord and savior.
FORREST: Right. (goes to the wall and flips a switch. Grabs Graham, and turns him to face the wall as the green scanner light travels across their faces)
COMPUTER VOICE: Retinal scan accepted.
(Shot of the elevator opening. Forrest gets in, looks back at Graham, who just stands there. Forrest grabs him and pulls him into the elevator. The door closes. The building is still shaking. People continue running and screaming)
(Cut to Spike struggling, then managing to pull the restraints off himself. He jumps out of the chair and runs off. Cut to him, the gang and a few others running towards the door, and out of Lowell House)
(Cut to the Initiative labs, people are working frantically on computers. Forrest and Graham enter. They go over to a scientist who’s on the phone)
FORREST: We got trouble upstairs.
SCIENTIST: (motions them to wait, then says into phone) Now. (hangs up, and starts to walk away. Forrest and Graham follow)
FORREST: Some sort of disembodied presence in the house.
SCIENTIST: We’ve been paging you.
FORREST: Whatever this thing’s outputting, it must be scrambling all the frequencies.
SCIENTIST: Guard section 2, level 5 precautions. If the cell door locking mechanisms malfunction...you know what to do.
FORREST: Got it. (the scientist walks off. Looks at Graham) You with me?
GRAHAM: I’m good.
FORREST: Let’s lock it down.
(Shot of the two walking off. Cut to exterior of Lowell House. Xander, Tara, Willow and Spike are there, staring at the fraternity. Spike takes out a cigarette and lights it)
WILLOW: We-we have to go back in there, huh?
XANDER: Yeah. Buffy and Riley are still trapped in Haunted Houses 'R Us, so somebody’s gotta go back in. (takes a deep breath) Who’s with me?
(Shot of Willow and Tara hesitating)
SPIKE: I am. (everyone looks at him in surprise) I know I’m not the first choice for heroics...(drops his cigarette, and grinds it out with his foot) and Buffy’s tried to kill me more than once. And, I don’t fancy a single one of you at all. But...(pauses) actually, all that sounds pretty convincing to me. (frowns, shakes his head and starts to walk away) Wonder if Danger Mouse is on...
XANDER: (grabs his shoulder) You’re not going anywhere, Blondie. I hate to admit it, but you might come in useful for once. You try to bail, I’ll shove a stake up where the sun doesn’t shine! (points to the frat house) We’re going back in there. And I’m not coming out, until I bring my friends out with me.
(Shot of him walking to the door. Spike follows. Xander peeks inside. Takes a few steps in, then something invisible pushes him out. He flies backward and lands several yards down the path. He groans, and makes a pained face. Spike snickers at him)
XANDER: Or...it...could be Watcher time.
WILLOW: We’ll, we’ll go to Giles’.
TARA: No, no, wait, he, he isn’t there. He was going to the Espresso Pump.
WILLOW: Right, he - he told us not to come. He, he needed some grownup time.
(Shot of them departing. Cut to Giles in the coffee bar, playing a guitar. He’s wearing casual clothes, and has an earring in his left ear. Lots of people are sitting and watching/ listening)
GILES: (singing)
No one knows what it’s like
To be the bad man
To be the sad man
Behind blue eyes
No one knows what it’s like
To be hated...
(Shot of Spike, Willow, Xander and Tara watching, amazed. Willow and Tara’s mouths are hanging open)
TARA: Oh.
WILLOW: Wow.
GILES: (sings) To be fated...
XANDER: Um, could we go back to the haunted house? 'Cause, this is creeping me out.
SPIKE: Makes me wanna heave, myself.
TARA: Does he do this a lot?
XANDER: Sure. Every day the earth rotates backward and the skies turn orange.
GILES: (sings) But my dreams, they are as empty, as my conscience... (notices the gang watching, looks embarrassed but keeps singing) seems to be... (Willow smiles) I have hours, only lonely...
WILLOW: Now I remember why I used to have such a crush on him.
GILES: (sings) ...my love is vengeance...
TARA: Well, he *is* pretty good.
GILES: (sings)...that’s never free-ee....
SPIKE: (agrees maliciously, looking at Xander) Yeah, actually, he’s got...rhythm.
XANDER: What?!
GILES: (sings) No one knows what it’s like...
WILLOW: Oh, come on, he is kinda sexy.
GILES (sings) Like I do...
XANDER: I’m fighting total mental breakdown here, Will. No more fueling the fire, please.
GILES: (sings) And I blame you...
(Cue the song trailing off. Cut back to Lowell House, now deserted, wreckage is everywhere. The camera pans across the room and up the stairs to Riley’s door, just like before, only now the vines cover the entire door and much of the ceiling and floor nearby. Muffled howling and screeching noises are heard)
(Cut to Buffy and Riley in bed. They let go of each other and lie side by side, panting)
BUFFY: You’re, you’re too far away from me.
RILEY: I’m right here.
BUFFY: (pants) You...have to...keep touching me... (rolls over and starts kissing him again. They moan and pant. Cut to the college library. Giles is pacing, while the others sit at a table)
GILES: When you called to Buffy and Riley, they didn’t cry out or, or respond in any way?
SPIKE: (bored) What part of no didn't ya get? With any luck, they're dead already.
XANDER: (glares at him) I think they were too busy doin’ it to answer.
GILES: Doing what? (sits at the table across from Xander)
XANDER: (to Giles) You know, for a god of acoustic rock, you’re...kind of naive.
GILES: (rolls his eyes) I didn’t think you meant...in the midst of all that, do you really think they were keeping it up? (everyone looks at him) Oh, for a different phrasing.
WILLOW: Well, see, that’s the thing. People all over the party were starting to act...weird. (quietly) Sexually.
GILES: In what way?
WILLOW: You know. (looks embarrassed) Ways. (looks through an old book)
GILES: Well, it could be some form of, uh, succubae, or a satyr’s prank. It could even be energy coming from the, the lab underneath the Lowell fraternity.
WILLOW: It wasn’t always a fraternity, look! (They all come to look at her book. Willow reads) "Between 1949 and 1960, the Lowell Home for Children housed upwards of 40 adolescents: runaways, juvenile delinquents, and emotionally disturbed teenagers from the Sunnydale area."
TARA: Children? Did any of them, um, die in there?
GILES: If there were deaths, then, uh, perhaps we’re dealing with a fairly...standard haunting.
WILLOW: It doesn’t say. It’s mostly about the old house director, Genevieve Holt. "Sunnydale Children’s Aid. 30 years of community service. Giving disadvantaged kids the love and care they deserve."
GILES: When did she die?
WILLOW: (looks at book, then looks up at Giles) She didn’t.
(Cut to an old lady’s house. Shot of her opening a pair of French doors and ushering in Giles, Xander, and Spike)
MRS. HOLT: No, no, I don’t mind at all. I was up. Early morning prayer.
GILES: Of course.
MRS. HOLT: And I like talking about my kids. (sits in a chair. Xander looks around the room, Spike looks bored) I still call them that. My kids.
GILES: I, I suppose you were like a mother to them. (sits on the sofa) You did everything for them?
MRS. HOLT: Oh, yes. I fed them, clothed them, educated them in the way of the Lord. I was given a medal.
(Shot of Xander sitting on the sofa beside Giles, Spike starts to move around the room)
GILES: Yes, wonderful. Uh, congratulations. Um, this’ll sound a little strange - but, ah, did you notice any odd...disturbances in the house?
MRS. HOLT: (frowns) I don’t understand.
GILES: W-well, um, like uh, furniture moving of its own accord, or, uh, objects appearing out of nowhere - or, or perhaps you saw someone appear one moment, and then they were gone the next, i-inexplicably.
MRS. HOLT: Why, that sounds like crazy talk.
GILES: Yes, it does, doesn’t it? Yes. Um...(looks at Xander) well, forgive me for, for asking this, but um, the children in your care, were any of them ever ill, or did anything ever happen to any of them?
MRS. HOLT: Well, some had the flu and such. No one died, if that’s what you mean. The engraving on the medal says how good I was with the children. (smiles)
GILES: (smiles back) Oh, yes.
MRS. HOLT: I treated them as I would my own flesh and blood. Gave them hugs and praise when they were good, and...punished them when they were dirty.
GILES: Well, ah, children will be children. They, you know, they do like to play in the, uh, the muck. (smiles, but Mrs. Holt looks disapproving)
SPIKE: (to Giles) Even *I* know she didn’t mean mud dirty, ya pillock. <
MRS. HOLT: My kids didn’t think I knew, but I did.
GILES: (starts to understand) Very, uh, perceptive of you.
MRS. HOLT: Without me, they would have been shut out of the kingdom. Lost to lust.
GILES: But you...helped them.
MRS. HOLT: The girls felt the vanity more than the boys. I’d see them preening like Jezebel. Doting over their pretty hair.
XANDER: So you’d hack it off.
MRS. HOLT: I’d remove the temptation to admire themselves. (Giles removes his glasses) They were better for it.
XANDER: What about the bathtub? Something also happened there, right?
MRS. HOLT: I performed baptisms on the most unclean. Those who were tainted with impure thought and deed.
GILES: You held them under?
MRS. HOLT: They needed to be reborn. (gets up) You choose to pass judgment on me?
GILES: (rises as well) Well, someone ought to! You traumatized and, (she waves her hand dismissively) and abused these children, children who, who have no doubt become extremely disturbed adults! (She starts to walk away, he pursues her) You have ruined lives, Mrs. Holt. Furthermore, what you did has now manifested itself as a, a malevolent presence which threatens still more lives! You have a great deal to answer for.
MRS. HOLT: I refuse to listen to this, when I can smell the sin on each and every one of you! (points to them all)
XANDER: (gets up) Yeah? You smell sin? Well, let me tell you something lady - she who smelt it, dealt it! (Giles looks at him. To Giles) It’s like what you said, but faster.
(Cut to the three of them leaving her apartment, walking along)
XANDER: Well, that totally adds to my ‘old people are crazy’ theorem.
SPIKE: I don’t get it. I mean, them kids were tortured 'n all, but they weren’t killed, more’s the pity. So where are the ghosts Red saw comin’ from?
GILES: I don’t believe there are any ghosts. I believe we’re dealing with a kind of poltergeist. A whole cluster of them, in fact, born out of intense adolescent emotion and sexual energy.
SPIKE: (bored again) Both o’ which were totally cheesed up, durin’ Queen Victoria’s reign of repression here.
XANDER: So with Buffy and Riley having...you know, acts of nakedness around the clock lately, maybe they set something free. Like a...big burstin’ poltergasm.
GILES: Yes. And now the poltergeists are drawing more and more energy out of them. Feeding on them, in fact. Buffy and Riley are, are powering this whole thing.
XANDER: Okay, so they’re the battery in the boo factory - but what happens when the battery’s drained?
(Cut to Buffy and Riley in bed. Shot of blurry, slow-motion kissing)
GILES: (V.O.) They die.
(Shot of Buffy and Riley in bed. There is more blurry, slow-motion kissing. Panting, moaning. Riley pulls away, lies back)
BUFFY: Don’t stop. Never stop touching me. (turns his face toward her, and they kiss again)
(Cut to Tara spreading a red cloth on a table, then sitting in a chair. Willow brings candles, sets them on the table, and sits down. Giles is sitting on the floor of Willow and Buffy’s dorm room. Xander is rummaging in Buffy’s weapon chest)
SPIKE: (to Xander, sarcastic) You mind tellin’ me what good your weapons’re gonna be against these kind o’ brats? They got no arses to kick, Droopy Boy.
GILES: H-he may be right. (gets up, holding a book) You should just stay outside.
WILLOW: We’ll bind the spirits long enough, for you to get Riley and Buffy out.
XANDER: How much time can you buy us?
TARA: Could be tricky, we’re calling upon the communal spirit of a certain time and place.
(Shot of Willow lighting candles)
XANDER: (takes a machete, says to Spike) Let’s go.
(Shot of Spike looking at the sword. He shakes his head in disgust, and follows Xander. Cut to exterior of Lowell House)
XANDER: (sighs) Anything happening?
SPIKE: (lounges against the window) I’m bored. Don’t suppose you got any beer on ya?
XANDER: I meant about the house.
SPIKE: Oh, that. Still 'aunted. Gheeah, I’ve 'ad more fun bloody well watchin’ Dru cheat on me with Angelus, while arrangin’ her dolls on top of a pile o’ corpses.
(Shot of Xander looking at him in disgust. Cut to the dorm room)
TARA: Give me your hands. Form a circle. (all three hold hands, eyes closed) Children of the past, spirits of Lowell, be guided by our light. Come forth and be known to us.
GILES: H-how will we know when it works?
(A noise is heard. They all open their eyes, and see a bunch of ghostly children standing around them)
TARA: We’ll know.
(Shot of them looking around nervously. Cut to exterior of Lowell House. The door swings open. Xander steps forward, looks in)
XANDER: House is gotta be clean.
SPIKE: (bored) So let’s get this over with already.
(Shot of Xander taking a breath, walking in. Spike follows. They look up. The entire staircase is covered in the leafy, spiny vines)
XANDER: We gotta move fast. No telling how long before the munchkins get homesick.
SPIKE: (shrugs) Or when Goldilocks and GI Joe’s battery power runs out.
(Shot of them walking up the stairs, through the vines. Xander starts hacking through them. Cut to Buffy and Willow’s dorm room)
TARA: We implore you...be still.
(Shot of the poltergeist children watching silently)
GILES: Find it in your hearts to leave our friends passage.
WILLOW: Transform your pain. Release your past. And...uh...get over it.
(Shot of Giles looking at her, nervous. Willow shrugs. Cut back to Lowell House. Xander is ahead of Spike, hacking at vines. They make it to the bedroom door, Xander reaches for the doorknob. A wind suddenly starts blowing)
(Cut to dorm room. Wind is also there, it blows Willow’s hair around. The children look up. Their hair’s blowing around too. The wind howls loudly. Screeching noises are heard)
TARA: (yells) Find here the serenity you seek, the peace you -
(Shot of the red-covered table flying out from under their hands, and crashing against the door. The wind stops. They look around)
GILES: What’s happened?
TARA: We lost them.
WILLOW: Xander.
(Cut to Lowell House. The howling and wind continue. Xander is suddenly thrown back from the door, landing on his back)
XANDER: Whoa!
SPIKE: What the bloody hell...
(Shot of the vines grabbing Xander, and dragging him into the bathroom. The door slams shut. Spike goes over, and grabs the knob. He is then thrown back through the balcony railing, and down to the floor below. He lands half on the floor, half on a sofa)
SPIKE: (groans) They’re not threatening me enough to be goin’ through all of this!
(Cut to Xander in the bathtub, being held underwater by unseen hands, struggling. Through the water he can see the children standing over him, watching. He can’t breathe)
(Cut to Spike getting painfully to his feet, looking pissed. He lights up a cigarette. Howling and screeching noises continue. He grunts, makes his way to the stairs and stops, slowly enjoys smoking his cigarette)
(Cut to Xander in the bathtub again, he’s still struggling. All of a sudden, a big burst of air bubbles is seen coming out of his mouth. He stops struggling and goes still, eyes wide open)
(Cut to Spike making his way to the bedroom door. He twists the knob but that is futile, so he then kicks the door open with his vamp strength. Shot of the bed seen from far away, as before, suddenly rushing closer and closer)
(Cut to Spike framed in the doorway, as the howling noises stop)
(Cut to Buffy and Riley in bed, naked. The light from the doorway illuminates them. They sit up, clutching the sheets against themselves)
BUFFY: Spike?! What the hell do you want?
SPIKE: Me? I want my bite back. I want not to get a stake shoved up my arse, by them pathetic mates o’ yours. But most of all, I want bloody well not to be 'ere with you two!
RILEY: Hostile 17, how the -
SPIKE: (interrupts) Can it, Soldier Boy. I’ve 'ad enough for tonight - you and ya stupid chit of a girlfriend 'ere, you’ve done enough to almost make me wanna stake myself!
BUFFY: Spike, if you don’t get out of here the Initiative is so gonna -
SPIKE: (interrupts again, pissed) I know that, ya dumb bint! Like I’m gonna stay 'ere a second more than I got to! Done my job anyway - you can get the details of what the repressed crybabies did 'n all from that idiot partner o’ mine.
RILEY: (puzzled) What? Who?
SPIKE: The nummy treat who’s been followin’ her around for years, ducks, like he’s some stupid bleedin’ lap dog or something.
BUFFY: Xander? (looks over his shoulder) Where’s -?
SPIKE: (points backwards with his thumb) Last I saw, Betty, he got 'imself dragged into that room there. (pauses) Right then, time for me to sod off! (turns around and leaves)
BUFFY: (gets out of bed, wraps the sheet around her. Looks at Riley) I’ll only be a second, I-I just wanna make sure...
RILEY: Go ahead, I’ve got to check in anyway - sounds like we had a situation here...
(Shot of him getting on the phone. Buffy heads out the door. Cut to inside bathroom)
BUFFY: (enters) Xander? (looks around) Xander? (finally spots the bathtub, all the water spilled onto the floor) What the...(goes up to it, sees Xander’s corpse. Screams) NO!!!!