"In every generation, there is a Chosen One." "She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons, and the forces of darkness." "She is the Slayer." "No!" "No!" " No!" " Yes." "It's time to get up for school." " Mom?" " Are you all right?" "No." "Yeah." "Yeah." "I'm..." "I'm fine." "School!" "Great!" " You wanna go to school?" " Sure." "Why not?" "OK!" "Good day to buy that lottery ticket." "I spoke with your father." " He is coming, right?" " You're on for this weekend." "Good." " So do you see your dad a lot?" " Not a whole lot." "He's still in LA." "He only comes down for weekends sometimes." "When did they get divorced?" "Well, it wasn't finalised till last year but they were separated before that." "It must have been harsh." "Yeah." "That's the word you're looking for." "I mean, they were really good about it around me, but... still!" "My parents don't even bicker." "Sometimes they glare." " Do you know why your folks split up?" " I didn't ask." "They just stopped getting along." "I'm sure I was a big help, with all the slaying and everything." "I was in so much trouble." "I was a big mess." "I'm sure that's not why he left." "No." "And he still comes down on weekends." "Sometimes." "Hello!" "Doofus!" "You're in my light." "Wendell, what is wrong with you?" "Don't you know she is the centre of the universe and we merely revolve around her?" "Why don't you revolve out of my light?" " Uh..." "Wendell was in Cordelia's light." " I'm so ashamed." "Why is she so Evita-like?" " I think it's the hair." " It weighs heavy on the cerebral cortex." " Was there any homework?" " It's active listening today." "Cool!" "What's active listening?" " That would be the homework." " Chapter five. "Active Listening."" "You put on your big ears and really focus on the other person." "Ms Tishler demonstrated it yesterday." "With you." " She was wearing that tight sweater." " Oh!" "The midnight-blue angora!" " See, I was listening." " All right!" "Take your seats." "In a moment we will choose partners and practise what we read about in chapter five." "Good, Xander, that's the spirit." "Before we do, let's review." "Isaacson's research led him to conclude that one of our most fundamental needs, after food and shelter, is to be heard." "Wendell, read the first two paragraphs on page 78, where Isaacson describes the improvement active listening brought to some special-needs clients." "Help!" "Please!" "Get 'em off of me!" "Help!" "Help!" "Get 'em off of me!" "Help me!" "Ah!" "Please, help me!" "Sorry about that." "Fear is a wonderful thing!" "It is the most powerful force in the human world." "Not love, not hate." "Fear!" "When you were a mortal boy, what did you fear?" "Monsters." "We are defined by the things we fear." "This symbol, these two planks of wood," "it confounds me." "Suffuses me with mortal dread." "But fear is in the mind." "I like pain." "It can be controlled." "If I can face my fear, it cannot master me." "Something is happening above." "Something new." " A powerful, psychic force." "Do you feel it?" " I feel change." "Change?" "Yes." "For the worse." " You're awfully quiet this morning." " I didn't sleep well." "I'll say!" "I came in twice." "You were yelling in your sleep." " Do you know what you were dreaming?" " Not really." "My bag!" "I packed it for the weekend and I forgot it." "You and your dad can come and get your bag." "It's not an international crisis." "OK." "Yeah, I just... meant to bring it." "He's picking me up here, right?" "At 3.30?" "Are you worried your father won't show?" "No." "Not really." "Should I be?" "Of course not!" "I know it's a hard situation..." "You just have to remember that your father adores you." "No more than I do, by the way." "Goodbye." " Have a great day." " Thanks." " Oh, Buffy!" "We've been looking for you." " We have?" "About the spiders." "Did you talk to Giles about..." "Oh, the spiders!" "Willow's been..." "What's the word I'm looking for?" " "Insane" about what happened yesterday." " I don't like spiders, OK?" "Their furry bodies and their sticky webs." "What do they need all those legs for, anyway?" "I'll tell you." "For crawling across your face in the middle of the night." "Urgh!" "How do they not ruffle you?" "I'm sorry." "I'm unruffled by spiders." "If a bunch of Nazis crawled all over me..." " It was pretty intense." " Thank you." "The Hellmouth - mystical convergence, supernatural monsters." "Been there." " You're a little blasé there." " I'm not worried." "If there's something bad out there, we'll find, you'll slay, we'll party." "Thanks for having confidence in me." "You da man, Buff." "But we're still caring about the spiders here." "Let's not forget the spiders." "Giles said he was gonna look it up." " Giles?" " Maybe he's in the faculty room." "Hey, Giles?" "Wakey, wakey!" "I was, uh, in the stacks." "I got lost." "Did you find any theories on spiders coming outta books?" "Big... hairy... crawly..." "It's funny if you're me." "I couldn't find anything..." "particularly illuminating." "Um..." "I think perhaps you'd best have a chat with Wendell himself." "OK." "If he can still talk." "Hey, Wendell." "How are you?" "Huh?" "Are you OK?" "Good talking to you, man." "Do you guys want something?" " We thought you might wanna talk." " You know, yesterday, with the spiders?" "I don't know what to say about that." "You saw 200 insects." "You gonzoed." "Anybody would have." "They're not insects." "They're arachnids." " From the Middle East?" " Spiders are arachnids." "They have eight legs." "Insects only have six." "Why does everyone make that mistake?" "Don't know." "Has anything like this ever happened before?" " When?" " Lots of times." "Euch!" "You must hate spiders more than I do." "I don't hate spiders." "I love 'em!" "They hate me." " I hope you studied for the history test." " What history test?" " The one in fourth period right now." " There's a history test?" "Nobody told me there's a history test!" "I..." "OK." "I will catch up with you guys later." " What do you mean, you love spiders?" " It is platonic, right?" "I had the best collection in the tri-county area." "Browns and tarantulas and black widows." "Then my folks shipped me off to wilderness camp." "All my brother had to do was maintain their habitats." "Instead he left their heat lamp on for a week." "When I came home they were all dead." "That's when the nightmares started." " The nightmares?" " It's always the same." "I'm sitting in my classroom." "The teacher asks me to read something." "I open up my book and there they are." "They're comin' after me." " Can you blame them after what I did?" " And that's how it happens, every time?" "Yesterday, in class, I thought I'd just nodded off again." "But then everyone else started screaming, too." "You don't know where class is, do you?" "Hardly a shocker." "You've always cut history." "Well, I was there the first day..." "I think." "It's in here." "I've cut class." "I've read no assignments." "How am I gonna pass this test?" "Blind luck?" "At least I know my name." "Well, they both got detention, which is completely unfair since Shawn started it." "Anyway, it means we can't do the movie." "I'm gonna take a... break." "You shouldn't go in there." "Lucky 19." "Room 3016." " Do you know the girl?" " To say hi to." "Laura's nice enough." " Nobody saw who attacked her?" " I was rather hoping that Laura did." " Hi, Laura." " Hi." "I hope we're not intruding." "That's OK." "I don't wanna be left alone." "You understand we're anxious to make sure this doesn't happen again." "Can you tell us what happened?" "I was in the basement." "I went down for a smoke." "There was... someone there." "Someone you knew?" "I've never seen anything like it." "It?" "Can you describe it?" "Hey, that's OK." "Don't worry about it." "Yes, you... you just rest now." "You know... if you remember anything..." "you can tell us." "Even if it may seem weird." "She needs her rest now." "Lucky 19." "I'm sorry?" "It's what he said right before..." "He said "Lucky 19"." "That's weird, right?" "Yes." "Yes, it is." "Feel better." "Take care." "Doctor, is she gonna be all right?" " Are you family?" " Friends." "She'll recover." "She's got a couple of shattered bones, a little internal bleeding." " She got off pretty easy." " Easy?" " Have you looked up the word lately?" " Well, the first one's still in a coma." " First what?" " First victim." "They found him a week ago." "Same MO as the girl, only he's in worse shape." "If he doesn't wake up soon..." "Somebody's gotta stop this guy." "Somebody will." "Listen." "I'm not afraid of him." "If he wants to fight, then I'm takin' him down." "I'm not backin' off of this." "This is about honour!" "I'm just saying, Wendell had a dream and then that exact thing happened." "Which is a fair wiggins, I admit, but does that tie in with Laura?" "I don't know." "Maybe she dreamed about getting beat up." "We'll ask Buffy when she gets back from the hospital." "Oh, here's my little baby!" " Mom, what are you doin' here?" " How's my little...?" "Mom, don't kiss me in front of the guys!" "It's embarrassing!" "You cute little rascal..." "It must be a coincidence." "Wendell finds a spider's nest." "We all wig because he dreamt about spiders." "So it may not be connected." "If there is a connection, it doesn't sound..." "What?" "Xander, what happened..." "I don't know..." "I was, uh... dressed a minute ago!" "It's a dream." "It's gotta be a dream." "Ow!" "Wake up!" "Ow!" "Gotta wake up!" "This can't be happening." "This can't be..." "What's the word?" "Oh, um..." "I've got back issues of the papers." "Um, I'm trying to do some research." " Did you find anything?" " I don't know." "You don't know if you didn't find anything?" " I'm having a problem." " What is it?" "I can't read." "What do you mean?" "You can read three languages." "Five, actually... on a normal day." "The words here don't make any sense." "It's gibberish!" " That's him." " Who?" "The kid I've been seeing around school." ""Billy Palmer was found unconscious after his Kitty League game Saturday."" ""Doctors describe his condition as critical."" "When was this published?" "Last week." "He's in a coma in intensive care." "This is the boy from the hospital!" "The first victim?" "You've seen him around the school?" "Yeah." "When the spiders got Wendell, and then in the history test." "I thought it was weird seeing this kid, but I forgot about it." "He's been in a coma for a week." "How can this be possible?" "Am I knowledge girl now?" "Explanations are your terrain." "There's astral projection." "The theory that while one sleeps one has an astral body which can travel through time and space." "Billy's in a coma." "That's like sleep, right?" "In a manner of speaking." "Although one doesn't always awake from a coma." "Could I be seeing Billy's asteroid body?" "Astral body." "And I don't know." "As usual, one doesn't have a lot of information to work with." "Lucky 19." "There you are!" "I've been looking everywhere." "Why aren't you in class?" "Dad, you're supposed to pick me up after school." " Is something wrong?" " Well, I need to talk to you." " Something is wrong." "Is it Mom?" " No, no, it's not your mother." "She's fine." "Can I speak with you for a moment?" "Privately?" "Sure." "Yeah." "Oh!" "I'm sorry." "Dad, this is Mr Giles, the librarian." "This is my dad, Hank Summers." " My pleasure." " Likewise." "I'll be back." "I came early because there's something I needed to tell you." "About your mother and me." "Why we split up." "You always told me..." "I know we always said it was because we'd just grown too far apart." "Yeah." "Isn't that true?" "Come on, honey." "Let's..." "Let's sit down." "You're old enough now to know the truth." " Was there someone else?" " No." "No, it was nothing like that." " Then what was it?" " It was you." "Me?" "Having you." "Raising you, seeing you every day." "Do you have any idea what that's like?" "What?" "Gosh, you don't even see what's right in front of your face, do you?" "Big surprise there." "All you ever think about is yourself." "You get in trouble." "You embarrass us with all the crazy stunts you pull." "Do I have to go on?" "No." "Please don't." "You're sullen and... rude and... you're not nearly as bright as I thought you were gonna be." "Let's be honest." "Could you stand to live in the same house with a daughter like that?" "Why are you saying these things?" "Because they're true." "I think that's the least we owe one another." "I don't think it's very mature getting blubbery when I'm just trying to be honest." "Speaking of which, I don't really get anything out of these weekends with you." "So... what do you say we just don't do them any more?" "I sure thought you'd turn out differently." "Red alert!" "Where's Buffy?" "She just stepped out." "Her father came by." "He needed to talk to her." "Where are your other clothes?" "Oh, don't I wish I had the answer to that question." "Xander kind of found himself in front of our class not wearing much of anything." " Except my underwear!" " Yeah!" "It was really..." " ..bad." "It was a bad thing." " "Bad thing"?" "I was naked. "Bad thing" doesn't cover it." "Everyone staring?" "I would hate to have everyone paying attention to me like that." "With nudity!" "It was a total nightmare." "Well, yes, Xander!" "It's your nightmare." "Except the part with me waking up going "It's all a dream"." " It happened." " Like it happened to Wendell." "That thing with the spiders?" "Wendell had a recurring dream about that." "I dreamt that I got lost in the stacks and I couldn't..." "Of course!" " Our dreams are coming true?" " Dreams?" "Nightmares." "Our nightmares are coming true." " So why is this happening?" " Billy." "Well, that explanation was shorter than usual." "It's Billy!" " Who's Billy?" " The boy in the local hospital." "He was beaten." "He's in a coma." "I think he's crossed over from the nightmare world he's trapped in." "And he brought the nightmare world with him?" " Thanks a bunch, Billy." " How could he do that?" " It's easier when you live on a Hellmouth." " Well, um... we have to stop it." "And soon." "Or else everyone in Sunnydale's gonna be facing their own worst nightmares." "I don't understand!" "This can't be happening." "I was just at the salon!" "Oh, my God!" "Billy?" "Are you Billy Palmer?" "I'm Billy." "Why are you here?" "Did something bad happen to you after your game?" "Something bad?" "I..." "I don't remember." "Do you remember playing baseball?" "Yeah." "I play second base." "Are you Lucky 19?" "That's what he calls me." "Who?" "The ugly man." "He wants to kill me." "And he hurt that girl." " Why does he want to kill you, Billy?" " He's..." " Billy, it's OK." "Just tell me." " He's here!" "Buffy doesn't know about this." "Given the stuff she dreams about, we must find her." " It might be faster if we split up to find her." " Good idea." "Faster, but... ..not really safer." " Billy!" " I'm sorry." "I can't help it." " Who is he?" " He's the ugly man." "He's too strong." "I can't fight him." "My friends can help us." " We have to hide." " No, he'll find us!" "But we have to hide." "That's how it happens." "We hide and then he comes." "No!" "What are you doin'?" "No!" "You don't understand!" "I don't wanna go!" "I'm not even on the chess team!" "I swear I'm not!" " Willow!" " No!" "Willow!" "Buffy?" "Hello?" "Buffy?" "I'm not afraid." "You'd think I'd be afraid, but I'm not." "All right!" "Someone else's loss is my chocolatey goodness." "This is my lucky day!" "I was sure this led to the library." "They're just playing." "What is it?" "What's bothering you?" "Baseball." "When you lose, it's bad." "Did you lose your game last week?" "It was my fault." "Why was it your fault?" "I missed a ball when I should've caught it." "You missed one ball and the whole game was your fault?" "What, you were the only one playing?" "There wasn't eight other people on your team?" "He said it was my fault." "Who said?" " Did he hurt you after the game?" " Can we go and find your friends?" "Sure." "OK." "OK." "We can go round the cafeteria." "Bad idea." "This way!" "Come on!" "What just happened?" " Is this where your friends are?" " No, it's not." "Man, I thought you weren't gonna show!" "Aldo is beside himself." "Ladies and gentlemen, may we present two of the world's greatest singers!" "I hope you're warmed up." "It's an ugly crowd tonight." "All the reviewers showed up." "All the way from Firenze, Italy, the one and only Aldo Gianfranco!" "And all the way from Sunnydale, California, the world's finest soprano," "Willow Rosenberg!" "But I..." "I didn't learn the words." "My turn?" "I love these bars!" "A Chocolate Hurricane is the best!" "I haven't had one of these since my... ..sixth..." "..birthday." "I don't see the ugly man." "I also don't know where the sun and rest of the world went." "Look at this." "I guess they're gonna bury somebody." "I wonder who died." "Nobody died!" "What's the fun of burying someone if they're already dead?" " You." " So, this is the Slayer." "You're prettier than the last one." "This isn't real." "You can't be free." "You still don't understand, do you?" "I am free because you fear it." "Because you fear it, the world is crumbling." "Your nightmares are made flesh." "You have little Billy to thank for that." " This is a dream." " A dream is a wish your heart makes." "This is real life." "Come on, Slayer." "What are you afraid of?" " No!" " How about being buried alive?" "Please, no!" "Don't!" "Please, no!" "Don't!" "Don't!" "Somebody help me!" "Please, no!" "Please, no!" "Help me!" "Don't!" "Help me!" " Did you find Buffy?" " I had to sing." "Very bad." "To sing." "Come on." "Let's find the others." " What happened to you?" " Remember my sixth birthday party?" "Oh, yeah." "When the clown chased you and you got so scared that you..." "Oh..." "No sign of Buffy?" "You were a lousy clown!" "You made pathetic balloon animals." "Anyone can make a giraffe." "I feel good." "I feel liberated." "You seem to be the only one." "Things are getting worse." "Reality will soon be in the realm of nightmares." " What do we do?" " We could try and wake Billy." " We can't leave without Buffy." " Agreed, but who knows where she went?" "Excuse me." "When did they put a cemetery in across the street?" "And when did they make it night over there?" "Whose nightmare is this?" "It's mine." "I failed... ..in my duty to protect you." "I should have been more... cautious." "Taken more time to train you." "But you were so gifted." "And the evil was so great." "I'm sorry." "Buffy?" " I thought I was dead!" " Buffy, your face!" "Oh, God." " Buffy..." " Don't look at me!" "You never told me you dreamt of becoming a vampire." "This isn't a dream." "No, it's not." "But there's a chance that we can make it go away." "This all comes from Billy." "If we can only wake him up," "I believe that the nightmares will stop and reality will return, but we must do it now." "I need you to hold together long enough to help us." "Can you do that?" "Yeah." "I think I can." "Thank you." "Well, we'd better hurry..." "cos I'm getting hungry." "That is, uh... ajoke, right?" " You're sure it will go back once he's awake?" " Oh, half-positive." "Well, how do we wake Billy up?" "What if we can't?" "Willow, do shut up." "Doctor!" "Is the boy, Billy, still here?" "My hands..." "What now?" "Billy!" " Billy!" " That won't work." "Billy." "Uh..." "Billy, you have to wake up." "No." "I told her." "I have to hide." " Why?" "From what?" " From him." " Oh, man." "What do we do?" " I think I know." "Whatever it is, it better be soon." "Glad you showed up." "I'm having a really bad day." " Lucky 19!" " Scary!" "I'll tell you something, though." "There are a lot scarier things than you." "And I'm one of them." "Is he dead?" "Come here, Billy." " I..." "I don't..." " You have to do the rest." "What are they doing?" "I get it." "No more hiding." "Hey, he's waking up." "I had the strangest dream." "You were in it... and you." "Who are you people?" "Let's get a doctor." "Oh..." "Billy's got company." "I'm his Kitty League coach." "I come by here every day, just hoping against hope that he's gonna wake up soon." "He's, uh... my lucky 19." "So, um... how is he?" "He's awake." "What?" "You blamed him for losing the game." "So you caught up with him afterwards." " What are you talkin' about?" " You said it was my fault that we lost." "It wasn't my fault." "There's eight other players on the team." "You know that." "Nice going." "I can't believe a Kitty League coach would do that." "You obviously haven't played Kitty League." "I'm surprised it wasn't a parent." "I'm just glad he's behind bars where he belongs." "That was kind of heroic, Xander." "Grabbing him an' all." "I just did what anybody would have." "If you wanna label it heroic..." "Hi!" "Have a killer weekend, guys!" "Hi, sweetheart." "Oh, it's so good to see you!" " How was your day?" " Oh, you know." "Usual." " Personal question?" " Yeah, shoot." "When Buffy was a vampire, you weren't still attracted to her, were you?" "Willow, how can you..." "I mean, that's really bent!" "She was... ..grotesque." "Still dug her, huh?" "I'm sick." "I need help." "Don't I know it!"