I slowly stood from the ground in the woods. I looked around, seeing headstones all around me. I looked behind me, seeing the one directly behind me, next to the ground I had just crawled out of.
It said my name.
I frowned in confusion, trying to remember.
I was dead.
Or, I had been dead.
But this wasn't where I was supposed to be.
••••••
I walked through the town.
A car sat there burning, half burnt away.
I walked down the street that was littered with debris.
It looked chaotic.
Apocalyptic.
I walked walking to look at a burning car.
A demon on his motorcycle roared past, throwing something as he went.
I backed away, watching him go.
••••••
I walked down more streets.
A siren was wailing in the distance.
I walked toward a car that was parked on a driveway, leaning against it.
The car's lights came on, its security system beginning to wail and honk.
My ears could barely take the sound.
I put my hands over my ears in pain.
The house lights came on.
A man walked outside. "What are you doing?" I looked at him through my fingers. The man was holding a shotgun. "Get away from there! Do you hear me?" He walked onto the porch. "I said get off my property."
The man fired the shotgun into the air.
I turned around, running off.
••••••
I walked onto another street, looking around in confusion.
A demon were on this street.
There were a few barrels full of fire.
A burning pile of trash was behind them.
"Now, no question, the open backroads and highways have been good to us," a demon told them. "But we've got ourselves a juicy little burg here, just ripe for the picking. And I ain't in no hurry to leave it. You?"
All the demons all yelled "No!"
"So, I figure, what better way to kick off our... semi-settling-down, than with a little christening?" the demon asked. The demons cheered. They attached chains to their motorcycles, smiling. I walked closer to see what other thing the chains were attached to. "A symbolic art commemorating the new order around here... and ridding ourselves of any not-so-pleasant reminder of the old." The demon held up a gun, putting a bullet in. "All in one quick, really, really violent fell fell swoop." I came up behind a couple of the demons, looking around in confusion. The chains attached to the bikes were also attached to a blonde-haired girl. The demon held up the gun. "Gentlemen, start your engines." The demons started up their bikes. I knew I recognized the blonde girl, trying to remember from where. The girl saw me, in shock. "Bye bye, Slayer."
Slayer.
I knew why I recognized the girl.
She was a Slayer.
And a very close friend.
Why couldn't I remember anything?
The demon fired his gun into the air.
The bikes began to move.
I screamed. "No!"
The demons turned to me.
The main demon looked at me. "Another one for the fire, boys. Tear her up."
I backed away in fear.
••••••
A demon on a motorcycle came from behind me, swinging a chain over his head.
I ran away around the demons, looking behind me toward the demon, coming to a stop when I reached the girl and one of the chains chaining her to another motorcycle.
The demon rode closer.
I ducked aside, making him run through the chain binding the girl to the bike.
The girl grabbed the other chain on her other arm with both hands, breaking free. She looked at me. "Come on!"
We both ran away into an alley, around the corner to see four people, three girls, one man.
"Watch it!" the man told us.
"It's us," the girl told them. They all looked at me in shock. I looked between them fearfully, turning to look behind me when I heard the motorcycles driving closer, running away. "Zoey!"
"Zoey!" another girl told me.
"Zoey!" the man told me.
They followed me into another alley.
"Where is she?" another girl asked.
I crouched in a corner between a wall and some random junk.
The redheaded girl and the blonde girl walked closer.
"Zoey?" the redheaded girl asked. "Zoey, are you..." The man and the other two girls walked closer. "This is Buffy. I'm Willow."
I looked up, all around, very nervous.
"What's wrong with her?" one girl asked.
"Nothing," Buffy told them. "She's--she's--she's in shock. She saved my life."
"Her hands are bleeding," the last girl told them. "Her fingers."
I looked at my hands, which were covered with blood.
"Oh, she's filthy," a girl told them.
The man shook his head in dismay. "Oh, no."
"What?" Willow asked.
The man sighed. "No. How could we... so stupid."
"Xander!" Willow told him.
"Our spell," Xander told them. "Our resurrection spell worked like a magic charm. We bought you back to life, Zoey. Right where we left her."
Willow and Buffy looked shocked.
"Oh, God," Buffy told them.
"In her coffin," Xander told them.
Willow turned to the last girl.
The last girl hugged her. "She had to... dig out of her own grave."
Xander knelt in front of me. "Zoey. Zoey, it's Xander. We're sorry. We didn't know." I turned my head away, letting my hair cover my face. "Zoey."
"You aren't reaching her," the last girl told him. "She's too traumatized."
The other girl touched Xander on the back.
Xander moved aside so she could take his place.
"Hey, Zoey," the girl told me. "Uh, here's some good news that might perk you right up. Uh, Xander and I have an announcement."
"Anya!" Xander told her, pulling her away.
"What?" Anya asked. "Just trying to help."
Buffy knelt in front of me. "Zoey... it's gonna be all right. We brought you back. You're home now." I slowly raised my head. Buffy nodded. "Yeah, that's it. You're home."
Several demons approached.
"Yeah, welcome home, Slayer," the demon told me. Buffy stood. "Alice and kicking after all. Well, alive, anyway. Not looking too good, though, is she?"
"I don't see you winning too many beauty contests," Buffy replied. Xander handed an ax to Buffy. "Unless the Miss 'My Face Fell Off' pageant gets going."
"Big ax you got there," the demon told her.
"The better to cut you down to size," Buffy told him, cutting off his head, making the headless body fall.
I gasped, sliding away.
A demon tried to punch Buffy. Buffy caught it, punching him in the face twice, kicking him to the ground.
The demons yelled to attack.
I stood, running away, leaving.
••••••
I was walking quickly down an alley. I sensed something, turning around. A demon swung a piece of metal toward me. I ducked, grabbing him, throwing him against a wall where another piece of metal impaled him, killing him.
I gasped in shock, not knowing how I knew to do that. I backed away, looking above the roof of the nearest building to see a tower.
Tower.
I knew that tower.
That was where it ended.
That was how I got to Heaven.
That was how I was going to Heaven again, and out of this Hell.
I walked away.
••••••
I stood at the end of the platform on the tower, looking down.
The ground below was just an open space.
I frowned in confusion, wondering where the light was. I closed my eyes, starting to remember, the last memory my first.
I remembered standing where with my sister, trying to save her.
She had realized that I was going to kill myself to save her and the world. "Zoey, no."
I still had my eyes closed. "Dawnie, I have to."
I heard Dawn's voice. "Zoey?" I frowned, opening my eyes, turning around. Dawn was standing at the other end of the platform, in the little arch at the top of the tower. "Zoey..." I looked at her apprehensively. "Zoey... How..." I frowned in confusion. "Is it you? I mean, really?" Dawn smiled tentatively, starting to take a step forward. "What are you do--" The tower creaked and shuddered. Dawn grabbed the pole beside her for support, looking down fearfully. I turned back to the end of the platform. "No!" I looked down at the ground below. "Don't!" I turned to Dawn. "Don't jump, Zoey. Don't move. Just walk to me. Please!" I was so confused, so uncertain, turning away. "Please?" I looked down. The tower continued to creak. "I'm your sister. Dawn. We were up here... together, and then... you went away. And you don't wanna do that again. I don't know how you're back, but you are. Please, just stay still." The tower shook again, making her shriek and fight for balance. "Or--or move. But--but towards me. Because the tower was built by crazy people, and I don't think it's holding up very well. Talk to me. Say something!"
The tower creaked.
I could barely speak. "Is... this Hell?"
"What?" Dawn asked in confusion.
I turned to face Dawn in anguish, frowning in confusion. "Is this Hell?"
"No," Dawn answered. "Zoey, no." She took a tiny step closer. "You're here... with me." She took another tiny step closer. "What happened to you, whatever you've been through... it's--it's over now. You're--" The toward shook again. "We have to get off this tower!"
I turned to look down again. "It was so... clear... on this spot. I remember... how... shiny... the light was." I shook my head. "But... now... now..."
"Zoey, please, listen to me," Dawn told me. I closed my eyes. "You told me I had to be strong, and I've tried. But it's been so hard without you." I frowned. "I'm sorry. I promise I'll do better. I will. If you're with me. Stay with me... please. Mom needs you to live." I opened my eyes, starting to remember piece by piece of my life. "I need you to live. Live! For Mom. For me." The tower shook again, feeling as if it was going to concave. Dawn screamed, holding onto the tower to stay on. I held either pole on either side of me to keep from falling. I gasped, breathing heavily again, things becoming clearer, as if the shaking was shaking memories free. "Zoey!"
I turned to face her. "Dawn."
"Zoey!" Dawn told me.
"Dawn!" I told her, running toward her, pulling her up, into the body of the tower.
We ran around one bend, looking around.
I saw a pulley with a rope going through it, holding onto Dawn, leaping off the tower to grab the rope. We hung there for a moment.
The rope began to move, making us plummet downward.
Dawn screamed.
A bolt was working its way loose.
We fell for a while.
Something caught, making us stop.
We looked toward the ground, still a long ways off.
The bolt holding the pulley secure broke off, making us fall the rest of the way.
We landed on some cardboard on the ground, both lying on our backs, gasping.
I looked up, seeing the entire platform break off the tower and fall toward us, grabbing Dawn.
We stood, running off an instant before the platform fell on the cardboard.
The entire tower crumbled, falling to the ground.
We ran around a corner, falling to the ground.
Dawn winced in pain, looking up at me tentatively. "Zoey?" I looked at her apprehensively. Dawn smiled in disbelief. "Zoey. You... you..." She put a hand to my cheek. "You're really here." She pulled me into her arms, crying in relief. "You're alive, and you're home. You're home."
I was still foggy, most of everything still blurry, but I was starting to remember, in shock, still on guard.
But this place still seemed a lot Hell to me compared to where I had used to be.