In a Corner of My Soul: The Pack: They Tease

[dragonyphoenix]

Masterlist for In a Corner of My Soul

Damn Flutie and his argumentum ad baculum: if you want to keep you position in this school, you will remove your occult books. Rupert, who'd already decided not to ask for Buffy's help boxing up books, was less than pleased when she barged into the library. While Slayer strength and energy would have been useful, he knew she would have completely ignore any organizational processes he'd set up. Instead of limiting herself to moving books as he might have asked, she'd have started packing them, randomly tossing books into boxes in such a haphazard manner that it would have taken him weeks, if not months, to sort it out.

Buffy didn't even seem to notice the half-packed boxes on his desk. “There's something wrong with Xander.” He took her seriously at first but only until he realized what she was saying. “Xander's taken to teasing the less fortunate?” Perhaps if he moved to the card catalog, she'd realize he was, in fact, busy.

But no, she merely followed and kept talking at him. “Uh-huh.”

“And, well, otherwise all his spare time is spent lounging about with imbeciles.”

Rupert compared the card in his hand to what he'd found in the catalog. He knew it. The Rocnarthian Prophecies had already been packed. In fact they were almost certainly in that box on the checkout counter.

“It's bad, isn't it?” she asked.

“It's devastating. He's turned into a sixteen-year-old boy. Of course, you'll have to kill him.”

She followed him to the counter. Naturally. “Giles, I'm serious.”

Rupert peered into the box. Ah yes, there it was. The book of prophecies. This one might as well go to his apartment. “So am I,” he replied. “Except for the part about killing him. Testosterone is a great equalizer. It turns all men into morons. He will, however, get over it.”

Diving into the box, she pulled out three of the books. “There is something supernatural at work here. Get your books! Look stuff up!”

Aha, he'd been right. She was about to destroy his organized boxes. He grabbed the books and put them back into the box. “Look under what?”

“I don't know. That's your department.”

How delightful. Apparently it was now his business to pursue any and all of Buffy's wild ideas.

“The evidence that you've presented is sketchy at best.”

“He scared the pig.”

Giles turned away from the books and stared, unseeing, across the room. The pig had noticed Eyghon. Animals often tended to be smarter than humans when faced with supernatural creatures. But no, Buffy had to be overreacting. “Buffy, boys can be cruel. They tease. They prey on the weak. It's natural teen behavior.”

“What did you just stay?”

“Um, they tease?”

“They prey on the weak. I've heard that somewhere bef …” Giles watched fascinated as Buffy transformed a few normal if unsavory teenage behaviors into an outlandish conclusion. “Xander has been acting totally wiggy ever since we went to the zoo. Him and Kyle and all those guys, they went into the hyena cage. Oh, God, that laugh …”

“You're saying that, uh, Xander's becoming a hyena.”

“I don't know. Or been possessed by one? Not just Xander, all of them.”

“Possession?” Giles asked. “By an animal spirit?”

“You got something?”

“I'm not certain.” When Eyghon took over a body, the demon tore through it, burning it out quickly. When Eyghon had told Giles it wanted the entire Slayer line, Giles had reasoned that the demon wanted to burn through all possible Slayers, allowing demons free reign over the earth. Perhaps if he studied animal possession, Giles could learn how to control demonic possession so that it did not destroy the host. Ahmed's treatise on …

Willow burst in, leaving the library doors swinging behind her. “Herbert! They found him.”

“The pig?” The touch of anxiety in Buffy's voice suggested she didn't want to know.

“Dead. And also eaten. Principal Flutie's freaking out.”

It was unlikely a demon had broken into the high-school merely to eat a pig. Animal possession. It was possible. “Buffy, you suggested that Xander and his friends had been possessed.”

“I wouldn't call them friends exactly.”

“Xander's been possessed?”

She sounded hysterical. He did not need this. “Willow, I need you to remain calm.”

“By a hyena,” Buffy confirmed. So much for calming the girl down.

“We do not know, at this time, what has happened, but circumstances do suggest …”

“We need to save him! What can I do?”

“I was getting to that,” Giles replied. “Buffy, bring one of these friends here.” The rare book cage was fairly sturdy. It should prove strong enough to contain a possessed human. Ahmed's treatise on cults and aboriginal worship should prove invaluable, but he would need more information. “Willow, I'll need an online search. I'm not certain what we're looking for yet, but start with instances of humans behaving like or believing they are animals.”

“On it.”

“I'm afraid this will take precedence over your magic lesson.”

Willow looked up from the computer. “You bet'cha it does. I'm not letting Xander go all Lord of the Flies.”

“Buffy, why are you still here?”

“Shouldn't we wait until we know what's up?”

Gods, could the girl not obey one simple order without arguing? “Time may be of the essence. The power of demonic possessions burns through the body, destroying it. It's the reason vampires kill their victims before Turing them: a living host can not survive the transformation. Until we know for certain, we should assume that animal possessions have similarly catastrophic effects.”

“Right, I'll find Xander.”

“Catastrophic?” Willow called out from behind the computer.

Damn, he needed the girl focused on research. “I know you're worried but please continue with your computer search. Xander will survive but only if we act quickly.” Willow's keyboard started clattering again. Good.

Wait. Buffy had said she'd find Xander? He turned to look but Buffy was already gone. Damn.