"No, wait!" Before Xander could walk away, Willow stepped in front of him. But instead of stopping him as she intended, an incredible thing happened.

She felt Xander pass right through her.

Pass right through and step out from her other side.

Willow gazed down at herself in disbelief. She was trembling from the contact, a rush of pure physical pleasure enveloping her from head to toe.

"Ooh," she breathed.

Xander, on the other hand, freaked out. Spinning around, he raised his gun and pointed it at her again.

"What are you?" he demanded.

"Xander." Willow raised both of her hands where he could see them. "Listen to me. I'm on your side, I swear. Something crazy is happening. I was dressed as a ghost for Halloween, and now Iam a ghost.

You were supposed to be a soldier, and now, I guess, you're a real soldier-"

"And you expect me to believe that?" Xander snapped.

Before Willow could answer, a little vampire emerged from the bushes, growling at them. Immediately Xander took aim.

"No!" Willow yelled. "No guns. That's still a little kid in there."

"But-"

"No guns. That's an order. Let's just get-" She broke off, spotting something down the street. "Buffy!"

Buffy was indeed coming toward them, stumbling along the sidewalk in her gown. At once Willow ran to meet her, leaving Xander to grudgingly follow.

"Buffy, are you okay?"

As Willow approached her, she heard another menacing growl from the bushes-only louder this time-more like a roar. Behind them, the little vampire had been joined by a very large demon, and the two of them were heading this way.

Buffy stood between Willow and Xander, several paces behind.

The three of them watched as the monsters got closer.

Xander scowled. "This could be a situation."

"Buffy, what do we do?" Willow asked desperately.

Buffy's eyes grew wide.

And then she fainted.

CHAPTER 9.

Without a word or a single sound, Buffy just dropped to the sidewalk and lay there.

Willow stared down in disbelief.

Xander hoisted his gun and fired above the demons' heads. As the monsters took off, he turned back to Willow, who was kneeling beside Buffy and coaxing her back to consciousness.

"Buffy! Are you all right?"

"What?" Buffy whispered.

"Are you hurt?" Xander asked.

"Buffy, are you hurt?" Willow echoed.

Buffy gazed up at them. Her face was blank. "Buffy?"

"She's not Buffy," Willow said to Xander.

Xander frowned. "Who's Buffy?"

"Oh, this is fun," Willow sighed. And then to Buffy, "What year is this?"

Buffy thought a moment. "Seventeen-seventy-five, I believe. I don't understand. Who are you?"

Xander helped her up. Willow gave her a reassuring smile.

"We're friends," Willow said.

"Friends of whom?" Buffy was in obvious distress. "Your dress is . . . everything is strange." As her panic rose, she cried, "How did I come to be here?"

Willow tried to soothe her. "Okay, breathe, okay? You're gonna faint again." She paused to glance at Xander. "How are we supposed to get through this without the Slayer?"

Xander stared. "What's a Slayer?"

Without warning a demon jumped Buffy from behind. Where the old Buffy would have pulverized it with one punch, this new Buffy simply screamed and batted at it with her fingers. Instead of helping, Willow could only watch in utter amazement. The demon pulled at Buffy's wig, but it had become her real hair now, coming loose in the struggle, cascading down around her bare shoulders. It was Xander who finally stepped in, butting the demon with his rifle until it gave up and ran off.

Xander turned solemnly to Willow. "I suggest we get inside before we run into any other-"

"Demon!" Buffy shrieked. "A demon!"

Willow and Xander whirled to defend themselves. Bewildered, they saw only a car driving toward them along the street. Buffy promptly dived into Xander's arms, shrinking against him and hiding her face.

"It's not a demon," Willow tried to explain. "It's a car."

"What does it want?" Buffy whimpered.

Xander fixed Willow with a level stare. "Is this woman insane?"

"She's never seen a car," Willow said.

"She's never seen a car."

"She's from the past," Willow said.

"And you're a ghost."

"Yes. Now let's get inside."

Xander stood for a moment, considering. And then he finally looked over at Willow.

"I just want you to know I'm taking a lot on faith here," he informed her. "Where do we go?"

"Where's the closest . . ." Willow shook her head, trying to think. "Uh, we can go to a friend's house."

A short time later the three of them piled through the back door into Buffy's kitchen. Safe for the time being, Xander locked up the house, then stood at the window to keep guard. Buffy's eyes wandered over the countertops and appliances, totally overwhelmed by the mysterious objects around her.

"I think we're clear," Xander announced.

"Hello!" Willow called. "Mrs. Summers?" And then, when no one answered, "Good. She's gone."

"Where are we?" Buffy asked.

"Your place," Willow told her. "Now we just need to-"

There was a violent pounding on the front door. Startled, they froze for an instant, then began moving through the house, Xander in the lead, Willow close behind, Buffy trailing. In the dining room, Buffy stayed behind, while Xander and Willow bravely continued on.

"Don't open it!" Willow warned him.

Xander hesitated. "It could be a civilian."

"Or a mini-demon."

The pounding stopped.

They stopped, too, and waited.

At last Xander crossed to a window to look out. In the dining room Buffy saw something sitting on the mantel and walked over to examine it.

It was a picture.

A picture of a young woman who looked amazingly like her.

Buffy picked it up, deeply puzzled, as Willow approached her.

"This," Buffy whispered, "this could be me."

"It is you," Willow insisted. "Buffy, can't you remember at all?"

"No, I . . . I don't understand any of this, and I . . ." Buffy hesitated, studying the photograph once more. "This is some other girl, I would never wear this . . ."

She was whining now, and rambling, dangerously close to tears. Willow stared at her in disbelief.

"This low apparel," Buffy pouted, "and I don't like this place, and I don't like you, and I just want to go home!"

"Youare home!" Willow told her.

Buffy began to cry. The pounding started again. Terrified, Buffy shrieked.

Even Willow was beginning to feel the strain of Buffy's helplessness. "You couldn't have dressed up like Xena," she grumbled, hurrying back to Xander.

She was just in time to see a demonic hand smash through the window beside Xander's head. The thing grabbed at him, but Xander managed to jump back just in time.

"Not a civilian," Willow observed.

Xander gave a curt nod. "Affirmative."

He stuck his gun out the window.

"Hey!" Willow reminded him sharply. "What'd we say?"

Xander ignored her. There was a short burst of gunfire, then they both heard the demon scampering away.

Xander's look was self-righteous. "Big noise scare monster. Remember?"

"Got it," Willow conceded.

But what they heard now was a terrified scream. It came from somewhere outside, and as Xander peered out the window again, his muscles tensed for action.

"Hey-!"

Before Willow could stop him, he raced out the front door. Buffy came up behind Willow, her voice bordering on hysteria.

"Surely he'll not desert us?" Buffy fretted.

Willow had had enough. She gave Buffy a look, shrugged her shoulders and walked away. "Whatever .

Out in the darkness, Xander had located the source of the screaming. Cordelia was running frantically down the street, her costume torn, her hair a disheveled mess. There were scratches on her face. Several yards behind her a huge hairy creature was relentlessly catching up.

Xander headed toward her. Cars had been abandoned in the streets, and shadowy figures were still running in the distance, some of them on the prowl, others fleeing for their lives. As Xander reached her, Cordelia screamed and tried to fight him off, before suddenly realizing who he was.

"Xander?"

"Come inside," Xander ordered her. He didn't have the slightest idea who she was.