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summer_of_giles2012-07-31 10:52 pm
YellowBrickRoad (4/?)
Author: the_huffster
Pairing: General, hints at Buffy/Giles
Rating: R for strong language and violence
Setting: Season 5 AU
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: On a camping trip, the Scoobies stumble upon a hidden hiking trail, named YellowBrickRoad, with a weird backstory to it. Once they trek down the trail, nothing is as it seems.
Author's Note: I had planned to have this fic done by today, but with starting a new job and difficulties keeping the pace and creepiness right finishing it wasn't happening. And that kills me cos I have about 3-4 more chapters left, but there is no way I can write them in a little over an hour (and have them posted). However, I do plan on having this fic finished within the next week. So hopefully, if you liked the story, you'll swing by my LJ and finish reading the fic. Once again, sorry for not having this done like I had planned.
It was the feeling of someone staring at him and the overwhelming sense of dread that woke Giles up, his eyes frantically glancing around the tent. He didn’t know what it was, but there was something near by that was causing his chest to tighten with fear and make his heart hammer against his rib cage. He closed his eyes and tried to calm down, muttering that there was nothing there and it was all in his head. But no matter how many times he told himself nothing was there, the feeling wouldn’t go away.
Giles was so focused on trying to calm himself down that he failed to realize that Xander was awake and sitting in the far corner of the tent.
“The bad man’s coming,” Xander said, not even phased by the jump Giles gave. “He’s coming for me and he’ll hurt everyone.”
The Watcher looked at the younger man and took in the lack of an expression on his face. He went to move closer but stopped when Xander scrambled back further into the corner, his eyes turning towards Giles. The dead look on his friend’s face caused the dread in the older man’s chest to intensify. A moment passed before the dead look unnerved Giles to the point where he needed to leave the tent.
He slowly began scooting towards the opening of the tent, his gaze never leaving Xander. There was something about the blank look on the younger man’s face that made the dread build. And the further he moved back, the more it seemed like the dead look grew. As soon as his back hit the closed flap, Giles fumbled with unzipping it while still maintaining eye contact with Xander. He tumbled out of the tent and scrambled back as far as he could and still keep the younger man in his line of sight.
For some reason, he found himself not trusting Xander. And he couldn’t bring himself to reenter the tent, not when Xander was staring at him with that dead look. He wasn’t sure how long he sat outside the tent but he was finally aware that the sun had risen when Buffy knelt next to him, her hand resting on his shoulder. He gave a small jump before tentatively tearing his gaze away from the tent to look at his Slayer. There was concern on her face as she took in his disheveled state and the fear in his eyes.
“Giles, what’s wrong?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” Was all he said as his eyes went back to the tent just in time to see Willow duck into the canvas to wake up Xander. “There was something bad in the tent.”
“There’s only Xander in there, Giles. And Xander isn’t bad.” She rubbed his back in comfort before helping him to his feet. “Come on, you can help me take care of my tent.”
Giles nodded slightly before turning to follow Buffy. By the time they had taken down the tent, it was almost as if his earlier state of fear had never happened. Within the hour, the four were off to head back towards the SUV.
“Hey, guys.” Willow spoke up as they made their way to the clearing. “Wasn’t the clearing on the other side yesterday?”
Giles looked at the clearing before looking back to the tree line behind them. He had a feeling Willow was right but before he could say so, Buffy had spoken up that she was sure they were heading in the right direction.
“A clearing in the woods isn’t going to move.” She said, a weak laugh following her statement.
It was clear that Buffy was thinking that same as Willow but didn’t want to say so. After all, a clearing in the trees couldn’t move like that. So they had began making their way back to the clearing, Xander trailing behind. He was constantly looking around and fell more behind the closer they approached the clearing.
“This isn’t the right way.” The young man said franticly and stopped walking completely. “This isn’t the way back.”
“Xander?” Willow asked as they turned around to face him, the red head walking over to him. “This is the way we came last night,”
He just shook his head and looked behind him, almost as if he was debating about making a run for it. Buffy and Giles just looked at him as they tried to figure out how to get him to see that they were going the right way.
“This isn’t the way. He wants us to go this way,” Xander continued as he looked back at his friends. “That’s how he gets people. There’s no good down the YellowBrickRoad.”
“Xander, who are you talking about?” Buffy asked, glancing at Giles before walking back to Xander.
“Isn’t it obvious?” was the only answer he gave before repeating that they needed to turn back and go the right way.
The discussion lasted for a few more minutes, and Giles could see Xander become more and more irritated that he wasn’t getting his way. The Watcher noticed a small change in the younger man’s eyes and panic set in.
“We’ll head this way for an hour. And if we don’t come across any of our landmarks, we’ll head back and go your way.” He spoke up, looking Xander in the eye. It was almost as if Giles was begging with his friend to agree.
After what seemed like several minutes, Xander nodded in agreement. He stomped up to Giles and just gave him a look that made the older man take a step back before continuing down the path. Willow wasted no time in running to catch up with her best friend, leaving the Watcher and Slayer to follow behind them.
Giles couldn’t keep from constantly glancing around as he walked, the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. Between the look Xander had given him and the feeling of panic that had settled over him, he was found himself on edge. And the feeling only grew the further along the trail they walked.
“Giles, you okay?” Buffy’s voice made him jump slightly, which only caused the concern on her face to grow.
“I’m fine,” he assured her, trying to force his rapidly beating heart to calm down.
“You sure? You’ve been pretty…jumpy lately.” She said as she looked over at him, noticing the look of panic on his face. “Maybe you and Xander should get checked out once we get out of here.”
“Checked out?” he narrowed his eyes.
“Yeah, by doctors. You guys aren’t acting like yourselves and it’s starting to wig me and Will out.” She explained, stopping when she noticed the other two stop ahead of them.
Giles was just about to respond when he heard the music from the day before surge up, his hands covering his ears as he dropped to his knees. He could barely hear Buffy next to him as she held on to a tree for support, yelling something to him. He tried to read her lips, but the pain in his head was so great he couldn’t keep his eyes open.
He curled up on his side as his fingers clawed at his ears, almost as if he was trying to rip his ears off to escape the music. His eyes closed against the growing pain. Nothing mattered to the Watcher except getting away from the music. The noise grew louder when he felt hands on him, which caused him to lash out at whoever was touching him.
He heard his name being yelled in the distant, and he somehow managed to open his eyes against the splitting pain to see Buffy standing next to him. She was trying to get him to his feet, motioning to somewhere behind him. Giles rolled over to see Xander running away from them and Willow chasing after him. Buffy continued to pull on him until he finally stumbled to his feet, the Slayer helping him follow their friends.
It was taking everything Giles had to keep running even though the music was threatening to split his head open. All he wanted was to lie down and either wait for the music to end or just let it kill him, but Buffy’s hands encouraging him to run wouldn’t let him lie down. So instead, he continued running after Willow and Xander’s figures.
At some point, the music had faded away into complete silence and the pain had dulled. Willow’s voice yelling after Xander was becoming more and more faint, despite the fact that she wasn’t any further ahead than when Giles and Buffy followed her. The pain was quickly being replaced by fear as he noticed how all sound completely stopped.
“Giles? Come on. We can’t lose Willow and Xander.” Buffy said when she noticed that he had stopped moving.
“We need to leave.” Was all he said, not even realizing the blood trickling from his ear.
“No. We need to catch up,” she said as she grabbed his hand, pulling him forward.
“Buffy, please.” He begged, looking at her. “We need to leave and get back on the trail.”
The pure terror in his eyes was what made Buffy agree to head back the way they had come until they were back on the path. She was about to question him when he looked at her, his hands on her shoulders.
“Promise me that you won’t make me go back in there, Buffy.” Giles said urgently, his eyes never leaving hers.
“Alright.” She said softly as she wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him. “I promise not to make you go back in there.
“And you can’t go in there either,” he added as he clung to her. “You can’t leave me.”
“I won’t.” she promised, kissing his temple. “Let’s just sit here for a while and rest, okay?”
Giles just nodded and sat down, his back against a tree. He still held on to Buffy as if his life depended on it. And Buffy couldn’t help but worry about what had gotten her Watcher so worked up. But she had a feeling that both Giles and Xander’s present states had something to do with the trail they were on.
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Thanks for reviewing :D
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Thanks for reviewing
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I'm working on the next chapter as we speak and I know exactly how I want everything to work out.
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Moar, nao! I need to know how this story ends! ;p
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