Giles was always there.  Timmer was, too.  They had some drinks and they were listening to music.

“I think we may get killed at some point.”

“So what if we did?  We’re heroes.”  The light of souls was blazing.  “She’s trying to tell you something.”

The Angel of Candlelight Orange had a couple of things to say.  She was glowing beautifully bright as she emerged from another dimension it seemed almost as though she had simply stepped out of the back hall.

“‘Chicks With Sticks’ is a cool name.” she said.

“Okay, you can call yourselves Chicks with Sticks.”

“Thanks, daddy,” lisped Amy.

“Now we have issues to deal with.  We have some kind of mission, right?  The power is coming down.”

“You have more decisions to make,” said Kara.  “You can go anywhere and do anything with this.”

“Well we have to understand Buffy.  Buffy is a clue to the big mystery.”

“I don’t mind watching Buffy for the rest of the year,” said Beth.  “But you’re going to have to get a handle on your own dreams.  You can’t keep wandering around like that.”

It was a hot night.  The windows were open, the radio was playing.    “It’s his memory,” said Giles.  “His dreams have been bleeding into the world and now we have to bring them into focus.”

“Did I forget everything?” he asked.  “Is it all pain?”

“How long have we been friends?” asked Amy.  “Seriously?”

“About five minutes in another dimension, or something.”  Then there was a dark pressure again.  “I have to go, I’m sorry.” he put his hand to his head and got up to go.  He passed down the long hall and out into the night.  Through the window, he could hear the radio in the library playing “Texas Radio”.

The zombies were on the sidewalk that led into the woods behind the school.  “God damn it, not zombies again!” he groaned.

He leapt forward and kicked one in the chest, it fell back with a groan and the other tried to grab him.  The angel appeared in a pillar of fire, bearing his sword.  Taking lithely he spun and decapitated the one that was coming behind him.  The next he stabbed in the throat so that it staggered into the trees.  The first still lay on the ground struggling to get up; he kicked it down and stepped on its head.

“Jason, I’m sorry!” it was Beth calling from behind him.  “I’m sorry this is all happening to you.  I just think you should know that.”  Crying, she came forward from the shadows and into his arms, he held her.  “I’m sorry it has to go on like this.”

“I’ll be okay, I guess.” he said.  “At least I’ll be able to figure out where I’m going.   Thank you.”

“Your perceptions will expand.” said the Angel.  “It’s best to try to sleep now.  Thank you Beth.”  Beth kissed his cheek and went back into the school.  He continued along the path, out into the night.  He thought about watching “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” on his phone.

“Okay, so I’ve got the music playing.”

I don’t know if this is going to work right away.

It was the usual Sunday afternoon at Graham Crackers Comics.  There was that sense that if he could just follow the thread a little further it would fill him up somehow.  It hurt, there just under the surface of his imagination was something real, something he had never shared with anyone.  It was like a memory of a happier life he could have had, and there were lots of fantasies of his horrible grandmother.  Childhood brutality, paranoid conspiracies.  And then the magic.  Also gyro sandwiches from the restaurant around the corner by the Bryn Mawr station.  It was something he needed to grasp, and there was also an angel there.  On some days he had amazing experiences of other worlds.  He did that when he shopped a lot.  Perhaps it was Mercury and Splendor.

There had been that day at Quake toys when he felt really cool, like he was at an awesome rock show or something.  And then that signing by Alex Ross when he felt a shining light within, and there was Alex Ross.  Suddenly he flashed on Austin Osman Spare.

What I don’t know, said the Angel, is whether you can write and listen to music at the same time or not.

But it didn’t matter he knew, because the sharper vision was coming through.

And he knew they were watching him, causing ripples in his mind.  He knew they were preparing things for him, and there was something for him to do.  Soon the barriers would fall and he would be able to talk to the ones he wanted to talk to.  There was some kind of energy around him growing stronger every day.

Buffy was so cute.  He wondered what to do next.  “We are all together,” said Giles.  “We didn’t get it this time, but we’ll try again.  And that never happens anyway.”

“I don’t want this to happen again,” said Temilyn.  “I keep working on this and it keeps fucking me up.  I’m just not going to let it happen.”

“No, you’re quite right,” said Timmer.  “We could all just lighten up a bit.”

“It is magic, you know,” said Veronica.  “It’s a little silly.  It’s actually ridiculous, but we have to deal with it.  And let me tell you I don’t mind killing everyone.”

Adrial laughed.  “All right, let there be blood,” she said.  The men were climbing in the trees.  “We have to make this work.”

Zack stabbed him in the head.  “I love that song,” he said.  And we are going to get 500 words out of you tonight.  We are channeling you know.

“Well, I’m the Messiah he said.  Obviously, why would god grant me this.”

“God didn’t grant you this, I did.”

“Well, I guess we’re going to be doing something now.”

Meanwhile, the owner was crouched in his goofy cave, praying to his statue as everything died.  “No, we have to get it a little better than this. You see it takes something to fill this up.”

“We have to get to the killing.  It’s not that hard once you get started.”

There was magic and such beauty between them. It always makes me feel so safe, coming to the library … she was saying.  “Zack, you’re so fucking spectacular you kill people. We have to do something about this.”

“They’re talking about me in another room, and I can’t remember any god damn thing!”

“Zack, you have to work with me.” he could hear her thoughts in his mind.

“Well, here we are now, and we have to do something.” said Giles.

Beth was there too.  “Of course I’m imaginary.  But at least we’re doing something.”

“How did you want people to feel, anyway?” asked Giles.

“I don’t know, but I’m doing it again.  How do I make people feel like this, Timmer.”

“Do you want to make people feel like this?”

“Are we going around in circles again?  Something has to exist here.  We have to move forward with it.”

The angel came down with a golden light, and a sharpness, cutting away the physical plane.  “Now we are in a space, what do you see?”

“On the surface, it’s golden, but then it turns reddish.”

“Remember, Captain Scarlet is indestructible.  Do not try to imitate him.”

“But then where do we go?” asked Willow.  “It was the love we shared.”

“Something bad happened, Jason.  You have to try to remember.”

“You can’t take the last bit of someone and get away with it.”

“How do I get Buffyness into this?  It probably takes years of practice.”

“No, it doesn’t take years of practice, it takes some ass-kicking angels.  So here we are, and deal with it.  Welcome to the Hellmouth.”

The library was all dark wood and old.  The books were leather.  “Do we really need a library?  The information comes so fast.”

“Everything echoes across the world.”

“We need something that we’re doing.  Peter Murphy or Buffy the Vampire Slayer?”

Amy reminded them, “We need to work on death scenes, killing various people.”

“We are going to bring the magic.”  Well anyway let’s move forward.  We are assembling the mind of all.  It’s just like “Highlander”, and we’re going to get that word count.

“What’s beautiful?  What’s free?” asked Marc.  “I have no idea.  I just want to die fighting for the right thing.”

“Well, I’m just bloody exhausted,” said Giles.  “I have to get some sleep.”

She couldn’t control herself.  She ran after him and made a pass at him.  “Oh, dear.  No, darling, I can’t do that.”

“Anyway, let’s go crazy.”  It gets so that’s all they care about.  Okay, we’re almost ready and it’s fine.  Now what.  Arrangements.  I don’t care.  That’s how World War I started.  Nevermind, we brought the magic anyway and by the way your little experiment has worked.  So now what?

“That’s it boys, over the hill.” And the war started.