Many Paths To Wisdom.

Chapter Two: Party Animals.

Cordy was suitably impressed by Mitch’s gift. The little wooden box contained half a dozen of the beaded bracelets, enough for all of them.

‘These’ll look great with our outfits for the party!’ she exclaimed, giving Mitch a quick kiss as he dropped her off at home after the post-fete concert.

‘Are your parents still planning on being away all weekend?’ he asked.

‘Sure are!’ Cordy grinned. ‘They’re flying out first thing in the morning. Dad’s got a business meeting in San Francisco tomorrow so he and Mom are staying there with her sister until Sunday night.’

‘And they’re OK with you being home alone? With the party and everything?’ Mitch pulled Cordelia closer. ‘Unsupervised?’

Cora gia giggled. ‘Our housekeeper’s coming over tomorrow afternoon to help set up for the party. She’s staying on overnight.’ She snuggled against Mitch’s chest. ‘She does however have a little . . . drinking problem. And as I’ve arranged to leave the liquor cabinet unlocked, I imagine she’ll be sleeping through most of the festivities!’

*****

Santa Clarita’s Mercy Hospice was a Spanish-style complex at the edge of town. Extensive well-tended gardens and the calming presence of the nuns tending the sick and aged gave the facility an air of tranquillity and compassion.

It was late afternoon by the time Julia arrived and the Sister in charge was reluctant to allow her to visit the old woman she had come to see, especially as Julia admitted she was neither relative nor friend of the elderly resident.

When Julia explained that she was hoping to confirm a family connection, Sister Veronica relented.

‘She never has visitors, you know. I’d always assumed her family were all still in England. It would be wonderful,’ she said as they walked through the shaded corridors to the residential wing, ‘to find that there were relatives right here in California!’

‘Well, I can’t really be certain,’ Julia said. ‘I don’t have much to go on which is why I wanted to speak with her in person.’

At the end of the hall Sister Veronica opened a set of doors that led into a conservatory overlooking lawns and palm trees. Several patients, some in wheelchairs, and a couple of nurses sat enjoying the last warm rays of the sun.

‘Over by the bay window; she has the red rug over her knees,’ Sister Veronica indicated a grey-haired lady of about eighty who was reading a newspaper by the yellowing daylight. ‘Oh, and I forgot to mention – she’s a little deaf!’

‘Mrs Mitchell?’ Julia put a gentle hand on the old woman’s shoulder to gain her attention. ‘Helena Mitchell?’

‘Yes, dear?’ Mrs Mitchell removed a pair of rimless reading glasses with gnarled but still steady hands. She peered at Julia for a moment. ‘Do I know you?’

‘No ma’am,’ Julia replied, ‘you don’t.’ She explained that she was tracing the family history of a girl at the school where she worked. ‘It’s very important that I find out the truth about this girl’s background. She’s rather . . . special. I was hoping you’d be able to answer a few questions. I know it’s very personal but I need some information about a child you gave birth to in New York in 1935.’

‘My son George? Why, he’s a doctor in Maryland now. He has a grown family of his own! Why do you want to know about him?’

‘Not your son, Mrs Mitchell,’ Julia said softly. ‘I want to ask you about your daughter. The one you gave up for adoption when she was six days old.’

*****

The Chase’s left for the airport early Saturday morning leaving Cordelia curled up in bed. When the read-out on her digital clock showed 09:00 she finally rolled out from under the covers, reluctantly abandoning the comfort of the blankets.

She drew a hot bath but got out again after only a few minutes, finding it impossible to relax in the fragrant bubbly warmth. Somehow the water seemed less soothing than usual, its slickness lapping unpleasantly against hein. in. Cordy got out feeling twitchy and on edge. Putting it down to anticipation of the party that night, she towelled off quickly and dressed in her bathrobe, slipped the bracelet Mitch had given her back onto her wrist and headed downstairs to the kitchen for a nerve-steadying cup of coffee.

While the percolator did its work Cordy walked down the driveway to retrieve the morning newspaper. She looked around the lawn; the paper was nowhere to be seen.

‘Damn that delivery-boy!’ Cordelia opened up the front gates and stepped out onto the sidewalk. The paper was up against the bricks of the three metre high wall surrounding the double wrought-iron gates.

‘Good morning, Cordelia!’ A neighbour across the street was out walking Fluffy, her tiny Pomeranian dog.

‘Hi, Mrs Forbes.’ Cordy raised a hand to wave when the little dog caught sight of her. The normally friendly pooch erupted into a frenzy of excitement, barking, snarling and straining at the leash. Caught by surprise, Mrs Forbes let the strap slip out of her hand. The little orange ball of fury went hurtling across the road straight for Cordelia who let out a little scream as she ducked back into the yard, quickly closing the heavy gates behind her.

‘Oh, dear!’ Mrs Forbes trotted over the restrain the errant Fluffy. ‘I don’t know what’s gotten into him!’ she exclaimed. ‘He’s never done that before!’

Badly shaken, Cordy’s heart was beating wildly but she regained her composure enough to assure Mrs Forbes that she was all right. The older woman continued on with her walk, berating Fluffy for his unneighbourly behaviour.

By the time Cordelia entered the kitchen again the coffee was ready. Taking a mug from over the sink she filled it and took a sip of the steaming liquid.

‘Oh, yuck!’ The coffee tasted thick and bitter. Cordy tipped it into the sink and took down a large glass tumbler instead. Taking the milk from the refrigerator she filled the glass to the brim and drank it down thirstily. Opening the fridge door to replace the milk, Cordelia paused, then began drinking the rest of the milk straight from the carton.

*****

Standing in front of the mirror in her bedroom, Aura held up the gorgeous new red dress she had bought to wear to Cordy’s party that evening. The deep claret colour was stunning against her smooth black skin and the polished earthy tones of her new bracelet would set it off beautifully.

Aura put the dress back in its tissue-lined box in the wardrobe and sat down in front of the mirrored vanity. Taking a silver-backed brush, she hummed quietly to herself as she began running it through her long dark hair.

After a few moments she stopped brushing . . . and humming . . . as she realised her brush was clogged with hair. Leaning in closer to the mirror Aura noticed a large clump missing from a spot over her right temple.

Rushing into the bathroom where the light was better she pulled the hair back from the area, then began to cry.

Her scalp was covered with places where her long wavy hair had fallen out, leaving behind a patchwork short woolly tufts.

‘Mom!’ Aura called out frantically, forgetting in her distress that both parents were out at the club for a day of golf. ‘Mom! … Mom! … Maa… aaa… aaa!’

*****

Keith came out of the sauna at the gym with a towel wrapped around his hips and headed for the change rooms. He had developed a splitting headache over night, his joints ached and his skin itched unbearably. Suspecting he was coming down with something Keith hoped the hot steam would clear his head and stave off any bug he might have picked up. No way would he miss being at Cordelia’s party tonight!

Dressed once more in jeans and a tee shirt Keith took the beaded bracelet out of his gym bag and slipped it back on. God, he thought, rubbing the stubble on his chin, everything aches! Even his teeth hurt! In fact, his lower jaw felt strangely loose, almost unhinged.

Popping into the men’s room Keith dropped his bag beside a hand basin and leaned across it to examine his aching mouth in the mirror. The gums above both of his upper canines must have receded; the teeth looked oddly long. Glancing down, Keith was shocked to notice flakes of dark scaly skin forming on the backs of his hands. He tried to scratch off some of the thick, hard scale, succeeding in pulling off a large piece only to leave an oozing bloodied patch behind.

‘Shit!’ he exclaimed, his voice sounding strangely sibilant in the long, echoey bathroom.

Gazing into the mirror at his own rapidly discolouring face, Keith gaped in horrified disbelief at the forked tongue that flicked out from between his lightly closed lips.

*****

Across town at the Sunnydale Mall, Harmony and Aphrodisia sat in adjacent chairs at Antonio’s Hair Salon, happily chatting about that night’s party.

One of the stylists, Laura, worked on Aphrodisia, brushing her hair into an upswept mass of curls, while Antonio himself trimmed Harmony’s in preparation for an elegant new cut.

Combing through her long blonde hair, Antonio remarked, ‘Have you considered a colour, Harmony?’

‘A colour?’ Harmony said indignantly. ‘I’m a natural blonde! I don’t need to colour my hair!’

Raising his eyebrows, Antonio said, ‘Well, this grey could do with a little covering.’

‘Grey!’ Harmony almost leapt out of her chair. ‘What the hell are you talking about?’

Antonio grasped the end of a lock of Harmony’s hair and held it forward for her to see up close. The entire hank was silky white, almost silver, under the strong fluorescent lights.

‘Oh, my God!’ Harmony’s screamed, turning heads throughout the salon. ‘How could this have happened! It was fine this morning!’ She turned to her hairdresser who looked shocked at her outburst. ‘I’m sure it was! I can’t be going grey at sixteen! Can I?’ Antonio shrugged.

Laura had stopped parting Aphrodisia’s long red locks and was trying to remove something from close to the scalp.

‘What have you been putting in your hair?’ Laura asked, plucking out a tiny blue fleck.

‘Ouch!’ Aphrodisia’s hand flew to her head. ‘That hurt!’

Harmony was becoming more and more upset. Antonio tried to calm her, rather insensitively, by showing her packets of hair dye. She slapped them out of his hand, scattering them on the floor amongst the hair clippings, and started to cry.

Laura, who had continued to discover bits of foreign material lodged in Aphro’s curls, held out a hand full of blue and yellow fluff. ‘That’s nothing!’ she gasped. ‘This one’s got feathers!’

*****

Cordelia was becoming increasingly edgy. She padded around the house, still dressed only in her robe, not able to settle anywhere. Her skin felt hot. Her eyes felt funny. The slightest sound or movement had her head snapping around to locate the source.

She went upstairs again to her bathroom to find some aromatherapy oil. Burning it while she listened to a relaxation tape might do the trick. Cordy had to be fresh and bright for this evening; appearances had to be kept up. She couldn’t arrive at her own party looking enervated and drawn; she was, after all, the most important person in her social circle.

Taking the lavender oil from the cabinet above the hand basin, Cordy caught sight of herself in the mirror as she shut the door. She stood and gazed at her reflection for a moment, not believing what she saw, then leaned forward for a closer look. Slowly, she raised her hands to both of her ears, which were now pointed and tipped with soft brown fuzz.

Her hands flew to her mouth to stifle a cry, long thin scratches appearing on her cheeks as Cordy raked her face with newly-developed claws. Tears filled her yellow-green eyes.

*****

‘I’ll get it!’ Buffy called to her Mom as she ran to pick up the phone extension ringing in the kitchen. ‘Summers’ residence,’ she answered brightly.

‘Buffy? Is that you?’ It was Cordelia. ‘Can you come to my house?’

‘Are you inviting me to the party?’ Buffy was confused; she had already said no.

‘No! I need your help over here!’

‘You want help setting up the party?’ Buffy couldn’t believe it. ‘You’ve got to be kidding!’ What a nerve! How typical of Cordelia to assume she could call out of the blue and have Buffy jumping to attention!

‘NO!’ Cordy sounded upset. ‘I need you over here . . . NOW!’

Buffy was taken aback by the urgency in Cordelia’s voice and by her obvious distress; she began to suspect this was nothing to do with the party.

‘What’s wrong, Cordelia?’ Buffy could hear her sobbing on the other end of the line. ‘Are you OK?’

‘No,’ she sniffled. ‘No, I’m not OK. Something’s happening to me . . . ’ Cordy’s voice fell to a hoarse whisper, ‘ . . . and I don’t know how to stop it! Please . . . help me!’

Please? Now Buffy was sure something was very wrong. ‘Hang on, Cordelia. I’ll be right there!’

*****

The doorbell rang just as Cordy hung up the phone. With a towel wrapped around her head to cover her ears and her hands in the pockets of her bathrobe, she went to see who it was.

On the doorstep were Aphrodisia and Harmony, both girls wearing scarves; Harmony had hers wrapped around the lower half of her face. Cordelia opened the door and motioned them inside. The girls noticed Cordelia’s hands. Her fingers had grown stubby and sported long thin claws.

Without a word they both removed their scarves. Harmony’s hair was now completely white. Her eyes were a dark liquid brown, and . . . worst of all . . . her nose tip was black and moist.

As for Aphrodisia, all of her beautiful red hair was gone. In its place was a tight cap of blue and yellow feathers that continued along the cheekbones, jawline and down her neck.

*****

Julia was at home pottering back and forth between the newly renovated kitchen, where she was throwing together a Greek salad for lunch, and the laptop on the coffee table in the lounge room. Her conversation yesterday evening with the elderly resident of the Mercy Hospice had set her in the right direction and she had spent all morning filling in the blanks, through various legal channels this time. Her investigation of Buffy’s genealogy was almost complete.

Julia’s only problem then would be how much to reveal . . . and to whom.

Buffy’s urgent call to meet her at Cordelia Chase’s home came as a surprise.

*****

Buffy met Julia at the door of the Chases’ two storey home, then led her inside.

‘I just don’t know what to make of this,’ she told Julia, opening the sitting room door. Julia stepped into the room and looked around for a moment, puzzled.

‘Where are Mr and Mrs Chase?’ Julia asked.

‘San Francisco. For the weekend.’ Buffy also looked around the room. ‘Luckily.’

‘And where’s Cordelia?’

‘There. On the sofa.’ Buffy pointed towards the expensive white leather settee.

‘Buffy . . . that’s a cat.’ Julia was confused. Buffy didn’t usually go in for practical jokes – not that she knew of, anyway. ‘I don’t understand. Why are all these animals in the Chase’s sitting room?’

Besides the brown tabby cat curled up on the leather seat, there was a small Maltese terrier sitting on the Persian rug nearby. It raised its head and gave a small whimper as Julia spoke. On a glass-topped end table a lovely hyacinth macaw walked delicately among the ornaments, occasionally picking one up in its clawed foot and nibbling at it with its huge beak.

‘When I got here they were still . . . mostly . . . human.’

Julia stared at Buffy for long moments. ‘You’re telling me that these . . . household pets are Cordelia and . . . and who?’

‘Harmony and Aphrodisia.’

‘How?’ Julia was totally mystified. ‘And why?’

‘Don’t know and . . . don’t know.’

‘You say they were partly . . . what? Transformed . . . when you got here?’ Julia approached the sofa for a better look. ‘Able to talk?’ She glanced back at Buffy, who nodded. ‘What did they tell you? Did they have any idea what’s causing this?’

‘Cordy was the only one coherent enough to talk,’ Buffy said. ‘She wasn’t much help. Her parents are away, thank God. This . . . ’ Buffy waved her hands in the air, ‘all started this morning when she woke up.’

‘What’s this?’ Julia had sat down on the sofa and was absent-mindedly stroking the cat when her hand felt an object around its throat. She slipped it off over the cat’s head; it was a bead bracelet. The little white dog also had one in place of a collar.

‘They were all wearing them,’ Buffy said. ‘We’ve all got them.’ She held up her own wrist to show Julia the one she had on.

The doorbell rang again and Buffy turned to answer it.

‘I asked Willow and Xander to stop by the animal hospital and pick up some cages so we can take . . . the animals . . . back with us.’

Xander brought in two small pet carriers while Willow carried a large birdcage.

‘You’ll never guess what we saw on the way over here!’ Xander exclaimed. ‘You know that guy Keith who hangs out with Cordy? His car was in a ditch over on North Street.’

‘Is he alright?’ Julia asked.

‘This is the weird part . . . he wasn’t in the car. When the police got there they found a pig behind the wheel!’

Buffy looked solemnly at Julia.

Xander was disappointed. ‘Why doesn’t anyone but me think that’s funny?’

*****

Julia had to make two trips to ferry kids and animals to the school library in her two-seater sports car. On the way over she called Giles on the cell-phone and told him to brings his keys to the maintenance entrance and meet her there.

While Willow stayed at the library to keep an eye on Cordy-cat and friends, Buffy and Giles drove over to the animal impound to retrieve Keith, telling the animal control officer that kids from a rival school’s football team had kidnapped Herbert, the Sunnydale team mascot.

‘Oh, by the way,’ the officer said, reaching under the desk. ‘This was around the pig’s neck.’ It was another of the bead bracelets.

Meanwhile, Julia and Xander were checking on the other Cordettes.

Aura’s house was deserted with the back door swinging open. A half-grown black sheep grazed on the lawn. One of the bracelets was still twisted in its wool.

According to a note on the refrigerator, her parents had left early for the golf club and wouldn’t be back until after Aura left for Cordelia’s party, following which she was expected to stay overnight at the Chase’s. Hopefully, this meant they wouldn’t discover their daughter missing until the next morning.

Squeezing the sheep into the space behind the MG convertible’s seats, Xander suggested they return to the school via Mitch’s place.

Mitch’s Mom confirmed that he had not been home since leaving for the gym that morning. He intended going straight from there to Cordelia’s to help put up the party decorations. She suggested they could catch up with him at the Chase’s.

‘Well, we know he’s not at Cordelia’s,’ Julia said to Xander once they were back in the car. ‘Let’s try the gym.’

The attendant at the desk said he had just come on duty and had not seen Mitch that day. Julia told him that they needed to find Mitch urgently as his girlfriend had fallen ill, so he allowed Xander to go through to the men’s locker rooms to check.

Mitch was nowhere to be seen but Xander quickly located his gym bag. The rest of Mitch’s clothes, and one of the bead bracelets, were lying on the floor of the change room. Gathering up the clothes, Xander went to put them back in the bag.

‘Shit!’ Xander jumped back in fright as he parted the top of the gym bag to put the things inside. There was a boa constrictor curled up on top of Mitch’s dirty tee shirt and underwear. Xander regained his composure sufficiently to reach over and zip it closed then hoisted the heavy bag up over his shoulder. Standing on one of the bench seats, he managed to open up a window and lower the bag out into the alley behind the gym, letting it drop the last couple of feet onto some trash below. He hurried back to the front desk.

‘Not here. Let’s go!’ Xander grabbed Julia by the arm and pulled her towards the exit.

After recovering the gym bag, with Mitch the python inside, they headed back to the school library.

*****

Although the five occupants of the library were speechless, the room was filled with unaccustomed noises. The sounds of snuffling, mewing, screeching and scratching came from the caged-off section where the supplies were usually kept. The Aphro-macaw was in a birdcage and the Mitch-python had been transferred to a sack that was tied off at the top; the other creatures wandered about within the confines of the storage area. Julia and the two girls sat at the table and Xander on the stairs as Giles paced back and forth in front of the former Cordettes.

‘Rupert, do sit down.’ Julia said wearily. ‘You’re only disturbing the . . . ‘ She couldn’t bring herself to call them ‘animals’.

Giles stopped pacing but did not take a seat, preferring to give his glasses another unnecessary cleaning.

‘I can’t understand who would want to do such a thing!’

‘Ha!’ Xander let out a whooping laugh. ‘Who wouldn’t!’

Giles looked surprised at Xander’s outburst.

‘What Xander is attempting, rather inelegantly, to convey,’ Julia explained, ‘is that Cordelia and her group were . . . are . . . not particularly well-liked around the school.’

Buffy agreed. ‘I’m with Xander; if we’re looking for people who’d want to do something like this to Cordy and her friends we’d be better off listing the ones without a grudge. It’d be a shorter roll call.’

Giles considered this for a moment. ‘What we are really looking for is someone who might have a particular grievance, who wants revenge and, specifically, someone who has the capability of planning and carrying out a metaphysical retribution.’

Willow, Buffy and Xander exged ged glances.

Buffy sighed. ‘I think we might know who that someone is.’ She told Giles and Julia what had happened at the mall earlier that week and about the bracelets they had been given.

‘Well, I hate to admit it,’ Giles said, ‘but it seems that Cordelia and her friends may have been correct about this Mama Lucette’s involvement the the dark arts. Not only does she have motive and opportunity, but the also means. One of those bracelets was found either on or with each of the victims. I suspect she used them as the method of delivering a metamorphosing spell.’

Xander immediately tore his bracelet off with a shudder. Willow, on the other hand, had known Mrs Janvier since she moved to Sunnydale, and was reluctant to believe the old lady could be involved.

‘But we’re all wearing them! Why aren’t the rest of us affected?’

‘Willow’s right. Half the school has them,’ Buffy said, holding her wrist out for Giles to see. ‘The bracelets are all exactly the same.’

‘Perhaps not.’ Julia took a large magnifying glass from one of the shelves below the stairs. ‘Willow, take yours off please.’ Willow reluctantly handed her jewellery over to Julia to examine. ‘In fact, I think you’d all better remove them until we know a little more about what’s going on.’

Holding the item under one of the desk lamps, Julia peered at the designs on the painted and carved beads. They looked like simple geometric patterns. Buffy and Xander’s were the same.

‘Where’s the one that was found on Cordelia?’ Buffy handed Julia the bracelet she had removed from around the cat’s neck, along with the other two she had brought back from the Chase’s house. ‘Hmm . . . the designs on these are slightly different.‘ She handed the pieces, along with the magnifier, to Willow while she retrieved another from the gym bag.

Mitch’s bracelet was also different Buf Buffy’s, but the same as Cordelia’s.

‘The painted bead designs on these two are more than just a repeated pattern,’ Julia observed. ‘They seem to be some sort of language or symbol. Probably magical.’

‘It’s a ve-ve, the sign of Kalfou, the voodoo spirit who has the power to turn people into animals,‘ Willow interrupted, ‘with a spell asking him to invoke the physical presence of the creature indicated by . . . ’ She trailed off. Realising everyone’s attention was focussed on her, Willow became suddenly shy.

Xander asked the question on everybody’s mind. ‘How do you know that, Will?’

‘I’ve been doing some reading,’ the little redhead replied in a small voice.

‘Willow,’ Giles began in his lecturing mode, ‘I thought we’d agreed . . .’

‘Giles,’ Julia broke in, ‘I think that discussion can wait until later. We have more pressing problems right now.’

Willow had taken an interest in the mystical arts since the group’s run-in with Amy Madison and Giles did not approve. Julia, however, saw it as a natural, if worrying, response to their involvement with the Hellmouth. She suspected the normally unassuming teen was attracted to the idea of having some kind of control over the chaotic forces surrounding her.

Turning back to Willow, she asked, ‘Were you about to say that animals they’ve been turned into had to be identified in some way as part of the spell?’

‘Yes,’ Willow agreed. ‘But I can’t see symbols for them anywhere on the bracelets.’

‘I think I might know how it was done.’ Julia ran a fingernail over the unfired white clay beads on Buffy’s bracelet then did the same with those belonging to Cordy and the others, using the magnifying glass again for a closer look. ‘The white beads on the ‘cursed’ bracelets are made of bone, not clay . . . different kinds of bones. But this one,’ she held up Aphrodisia’s, ‘is definitely bird bone.’

*****

When Buffy left the library to find Mama Lucette, Willow insisted on accompanying her. She was a little afraid of how Buffy might react once they found the old Haitian lady; they needed her to reverse the spell and the Slayer was not always the most tactful of people. Xander along went too, loathe to remain behind with the transformed Cordettes – they creeped him out!

Mama Lucette was at home, sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of her little A-framed cottage, doing nothing but enjoying the late morning sun. It seemed almost as though she was expecting them. Buffy confronted her immediately about the voodoo spell. The old woman openly admitted it was her doing, leaving Buffy and the others momentarily at a loss for what to do next.

Eventually, Willow spoke up. ‘Mama Lucette, I think we all understand why you did it, but . . . well . . . you can’t leave them like that!’

The old lady smiled and rocked. ‘Why not, little sister? Just think how much better the world would be without people like Cordelia and her friends.’ The kids looked at each other but said nothing. ‘Think how much nicer school would be.’

‘That’s not the point!’ Buffy snapped out of her reverie; it was an attractive picture after all. ‘It’s . . . it’s just not . . . right!’

‘I thought you would be delighted to see them punished for the way they treat you and your friends. Why should you care if they remain as they are for the rest of their lives?’

‘Yeah, Buff,’ Xander said, ‘run that one by me again, will ya?’

‘Buffy’s right, Xander,’ Willow said. ‘We can’t choose to help only the people we like!’

‘Or who deserve it,’ Buffy added.

‘Well, that’s a fine sentiment, but I’m not so sure I can release them,’ said Mama Lucette. ‘It is not so easy to undo the workings of such powerful loa.’

‘You have to try!’ Buffy was becoming frustrated.

‘And if I refuse? What are you going to do then, child? Beat it out of me?’ Mama Lucette was unimpressed by Buffy’s argument. ‘I may be a Vodun Mambo, but I am still human, ma petit, not one of your vampires or demons.’

‘How . . . how did you know?’ Buffy was startled by the old woman’s knowledge of her secret.

‘I am tonton macoute,’ Mama Lucette replied. ‘I know many things that are hidden.’

Willow tried the diplomatic approach. ‘Please, Mama Lucette. If you really meant it when you said you were grateful for our at at the mall, then come back to the school with us and try.’

*****

Mama Lucette stood before the door of the wire cage, silently regarding the creatures within. The animals were calmer now, quietly returning the old woman’s intense gaze. Perhaps they recognised her as the architect of their new selves.

Lucette could not seem to make Buffy understand that restoring the Cordettes was not as straightforward as simply performing a reversing spell.

‘The rituals are not magic spells. Vodun doesn’t work that way. We Mambo cannot command the loa.’ She turned back to face the others. ‘The loa serve those who serve them; they help those who honour them. To ask for a favour to be reversed would be an insult and many of the loa are very quick to anger.’

‘There has to be another way to approach this problem,’ Gile suggested. ‘Something other than reversing the original . . . request.’

‘There is one simple way I know of to restore them,’ said Mama Lucette. ‘But it requires a sacrifice.’

‘What kind of sacrifice?’ Giles asked.

‘One of the animals would have to be sacrificed to allow the others to return to normal.’

Xander’s hand shot up. ‘I vote we sacrifice the cat!’

‘No!’ Buffy snapped, stepping forward to stand before the Mambo. ‘No one’s going to be sacrificed! There has to be another way.’

‘Well . . . perhaps.’ Lucette looked from the animals back to Buffy. ‘But it could be dangerous; there may be forces that want to stop you.’

‘We have to try,’ Willow said.

Julia reached out to place a hand on Willow’s shoulder; the child was too quick to put her heart before her head. ‘What, precisely, would this involve, Mrs Janvier?’

‘An appeal to the loa in person to ask them to change the children back.’ Mama Lucette sounded a little uncertain. She turned back to Buffy. ‘If you do exactly as they tell you and show the proper respect, they may grant your request.’

‘What do we have to do?’ Buffy asked. All this discussion was frustrating; she needed to be doing something about it!

Lucette gave Buffy a set of keys to the tea rooms. ‘Everything you need you will find in the store room at the back.’

‘You aren’t coming with us?’ Willow asked. ‘How will we know what to do when we get there?’

‘If the loa choose to allow you to contact them, they will rl thl the way.’

Buffy, Xander and Willow began heading for the door.

‘Oh, and by the way . . . ‘ Mama Lucette added. ‘You have only six hours. After that, well, . . . ’ She merely shrugged.

*****

It was a few minutes after midday when they entered the New Orleans Tea Room. The cinema complex was packed with teenagers and families and no one took much notice of the three as they opened up the green painted door and quickly stepped inside.

The bustle and noise of the Saturday crowd dissolved into quiet darkness as they shut the door behind them. To the rear of the small café behind the counter was a swinging door with a circular window that led into the kitchen. They walked through, Xander turning on the lights as they went. At the end of the narrow walkway between the stainless steel benches was another door with a painted sign saying ‘Storeroom’. This one was padlocked.

Buffy took a few moments to locate the right key then removed the padlock and opened the door. Running her hand around the wall on either side of the door, she was unable to find a light switch inside the room but the glow coming in from the kitchen showed what looked like stacked crates and drums in an unexpectedly long, wide room.

Leaving the storeroom door wide open, Buffy motioned for Willow and Xander to follow.

*****