It was like someone pushed the reset button and they all got to start over again.  Except for Lorne�s music box that had been playing nothing anyone wanted to hear except Lorne. That music box was most sincerely dead, with a screwdriver through the heart (thank you Lorin, wherever you may be, mate).  But someone else, one of the magical types, maybe it was Willow, or Kat, or maybe Isabelle, created music for everyone.  Personalized music.  Everyone heard the sort of music they wanted to hear.  For Spike it was the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. For Lorne it must have been the Pointer Sisters, Donna Summers, and god knows what other disco/dance music horrors.  For Kat, it was Evanescence.  Who knows what the others heard, but everyone was happy for once about the selection of tunes. 

And there was good food, plenty to drink, excellent conversation, and best of all, nothing seriously evil for the rest of the evening.  Of course, that didn�t mean there wasn�t fun.  And fun can involve a little mischief.  Nothin wrong with that.  Plus there was the opening of Kat and Spike�s anniversary gifts.  Among the many fun and outrageous gifts was a hot tub on the roof of the Hyperion (plus a potted palm up there for good measure), a waterbed in room 217 of the hotel (neither Spike nor Kat were great fans of waterbeds, but they�d certainly give it a try), and a box of sexual aids that shall remain undescribed in this post.  Not that Kat or Spike needed aids in the bedroom, or any other room for that matter, but again, they�d have fun trying them out.

The party continued strong into the wee hours of the morning, when Spike and Kat claimed one of the two bedrooms, locking the door to ward themselves against entry by inebriated or just curious party goers.  When they stumbled out mid-morning, people were sleeping on the sofas, in chairs, and on the floor.  A couple who will remain unnamed, had claimed the other bedroom, and there were a few other couples snuggled up together here and there.  Again they shall remain unnamed.  All the guests departed the island by 2:00 pm, but not before they�d helped clean up the party aftermath.  That left Spike and Kat at the cabin all by themselves.  At long last.  And they enjoyed the next three days just passing the time with each other, talking about everything and nothing at all until late into the night, relishing their own company and the peacefulness and beauteous isolation of the cabin.  They would return to L.A. refreshed and ready once again to take on whatever creepy, evil things deserved to die, and to even save the world (again) if the need arose.

*****THE END*****

Willow shrank under the bombardment of Wesley�s stinging accusations.  Yes, she�d messed up.  She should have been much more careful with the Dragon�s blood potion.  �I�m sorry Wes!  I�m sorry everyone!  I should have wrapped it in triple bubble wrap. Treated it like nitroglycerin.�  She watched in horror as Lorin�s hand and arm first turned into that of a toad, the skin warty and the fingers blunt and short.  Then they became that of a treefrog � the skin smooth and sleek, but slimy, and his fingers were now long � ET like � with adhesive pads on the ends.  And then his hand became that of an Ichthyostega, an amphibian from the upper Devonian Period, 370 million years ago.  She knew the effects would spread to Lorin�s entire body, and then to probably everyone and everything in the room, in one form or another.  Yes, Wesley was right, something had to be done quickly or they were all at terrible risk.

�Fiddlesticks!  You guys should know that reversing the effects of Dragon�s blood potion is a long and grueling process.�  She glanced at the green dude, �Sorry Lorin!  The good news is that I have this wiccan friend who has some experience with this sort of thing and she owes me a favor.�  Will didn�t want to get too close to Lorin, for fear of catching his amphibian disease, so she magically pinned a note to his collar.  The note explained the predicament.  �I just need to teleport you, Lorin, to that friend. She lives in Turkmenistan, which I hear is quite nice this time of year.�  Actually it was cold and awful, but there wasn�t much Will could do about the weather.  The green man began to complain, but not before Will had teleported him half way across the world.

Immediately the light came back into the room, it was warmer, Wesley�s Ouija Board planchette stopped jittering and jagging across the Quija Board, and the real ghosts faded away. 

As one green guy left them for an overseas vacation, another came wandering back to the party (Lorne) talking of a Carnival of Souls ballroom on the second story. But of course there was no second story to this cabin.  Didn�t matter, though, because the party could start anew again, this time without all the bad mojo!  

     Flying monkeys from the Wizard of Oz (who were now perched in the rafters), Spike clearly talking to ghosts, other ghosts peering in through the windows, and yet another spirit had taken control of Wesley�s Ouija board planchette.  What was happening was more than just fun magic of a sort that Willow might conjure for an anniversary or Halloween party.  The real spirits were especially disconcerting.  And the room was growing darker and colder.  Yet the fire in the fireplace was roaring.  It�s just that its yellow glow wasn�t extending as far into the room as it should.  As well, the corners of the room were darker, shadowy, and within those inky shadows, Wesley believed he could see things beginning to stir, things that were not quite indistinguishable from the darkness.  But he feared they soon would be.

     The ridiculous green man had broken one of the gifts meant for Kat and Spike.  Ignoring the planchette that was moving about the board on its own at an increasingly frenetic pace, Wesley arose in his undertaker�s outfit and swept across the room to where Lorin was standing.  A blue substance had been released from the package.  Where it spilled on Lorin�s skin, it glowed a deep indigo blue. Wesley believed he recognized that unique color. 

     �Lorin, hold that up for me, please.�  The small vial had been loosed from its wrapping, and Wesley could see precisely what it was.  A small gift card had fallen to the floor.  Wesley read the inscription � From Willow to Kat and Spike with Love.  Wesley turned to the red witch, Willow Rosenberg, who he had watched mature and blossom from an introspective, afraid young girl to a blazingly intelligent and bewitchingly powerful woman. 

Willow had gotten her anger under control, but stopped short of apologizing to Sam Winchester.  She�d apologize if she�d turned him into a rat or a frog or something.  But not otherwise.  She�d been able to conjure another gargoyle that was pretty much indistinguishable from the original.  She just hoped that the Duke of Argyll wouldn�t notice it was a copy.  But she didn�t think he would.  Her magical duplicating abilities were pretty danged awesome.

So she returned to the party.  Wesley had arrived, and he�d brought a Ouija board!  Ouija boards were used for fun in households around the country, but few people knew or suspected that they actually channeled real magic, even the cheap ones made by Parker Brothers with plastic planchettes.  Not that Wesley�s board was cheap.  It looked very authentic.  So Will wasn�t surprised when the planchette began moving on its own.  She could feel spirits in the room, spirits that were real and not conjured. Not like the ones that were peering in through the windows.  Willow had made those for fun, but there were others here, too.  At least two of them, although Willow could not see them and didn�t know precisely where they were.

Lorin finished up his guitar set with a rousing version of the 1962 �Monster Mash�, a song made famous by Bobby Boris Pickett.  A one hit wonder for sure, but still a classic Halloween tune.  His first priority was to visit the bar where he poured himself a generous glass of Jack Daniels over ice. Lorin then surveyed the room to see what might pique his interest.  Sure he saw the ghost girl.  Even knew her name � Joanne Harvelle.  She was cute, but oh so dead.  And yeah, he could see that Wesley was having a little interaction with another deadster.  An honest to godster dead person.  But the dead were� just so much dead.  Not very interesting and about as relevant as Hillary Clinton.  No, what really piqued his curiosity was the growing collection of gifts for the anniversary couple, Kat and Spike.  So he sashayed over that way to inspect the gift pile more closely.  Lorin liked gifts.  Especially gifts for himself, although no one had gifted him in a very long time.  He wasn�t a giftable sort of guy, which was something he regretted deeply.  But that didn�t stop him from pawing through the packages intended for Spike and Kat.

He went right for the biggest package first.  It was wrapped with really shiny red paper and fluorescent pink ribbons.  He shook it, but it just made a clunking noise.  There was no telling what it was.  But he read the card.  It was from Willow, and the card said, �For those long, winter nights at the Hyperion.�  Then Will had drawn a portrait of herself winking and smiling.  Oh boy, Lorin wanted to just rip the paper off right here and now and see what it was.  But he restrained himself and set the package back down. 

Jo had given up trying to get the weregirl�s attention.  But then someone else drifted into range.  She wasn�t a ghost, but she wasn�t corporeal either.  �Of course I can see you.  And I guess you can see me too.�  Jo smiled broadly and stuck out her hand, �Nice to meetcha!  I�m Jo Harvelle.  I used to hang out with the Winchester clan.  Used to be a hunter.  I don�t know what I am now, except dead.  Well, technically twice dead.�

She glanced over at the guy with the Ouija board. A ghostly figure dressed in a filmy white dress was playing with the planchette.  �Check out the woman in white.  I assume you can see her?  She�s a real live ghost, like me.�  Jo decided not to correct herself on the �real live� descriptor.  �And there are others here, too.�  She pointed at a man in a dark corner wearing a lumberman�s plaid shirt and jeans.  He ominously held an axe in one hand.  And then something much less substantial or definable was drifting like fog along the ceiling.  �I think that one is really old and in some sort of state of decay.  There are other ghostly things at the windows but I don�t think they�re real.  Sort of like Halloween party favors.  Somebody made them.�

Isabelle had led the angel out into the forest. She then returned to the party invisible to watch the fun. Things were beginning to get out of hand. The transformations were not part of her plans. Her magic had merged with Willow�s spells, but this should not have been the end result. There were other elements at play here.

She waltz undetected amongst the crowd eyeing each individual assessing the damage. The source of the mutation was unapparent. It appeared to be affecting everyone. The stronger then individual the worse the effects. This development bothered her. She attempted to become corporal. It didn�t work. No one could see her. She spoke, but the others could not hear her either. All the fun was going out of this game. It had turned on her.

There was a real ghost girl in the room. �You. You can see me?� She approached the blonde woman.  

The d�cor was coming to life. Willow appeared to have a strange transformation over taking her. Kat peered through the crowd. Isabelle was watching from the door way with a smirk on her porcelain features. It was her fault. Kat made her way across the cabin. Guest were constantly attempting to stop her and engage in conversation. Politely she attempted to deflect them in pursuit of the vampire.

Belle headed back into the kitchen. Katarina was close behind her pausing to observe the empty room. There weren�t any signs of witch craft. There was a cake iced with the words Happy Anniversary. A bowl of punch and snacks on the counter. She caught a glimpse of fabric flowing in the wind as a dark haired figure slipped out the door. �Isabelle,� she rushed after the woman.

The door closed behind her. The ghostly woman disappeared into the woods. Kat walked down the wooden steps towards the trees. Her costume began to morph. The cheerleading garb faded away to a blue knee length dress with a white apron. Her shoes a pair of Mary Janes. �Isabelle,� she searched through the trees. There were more than she remembered on the island. She should have reached the beach now. The vampire was gone.  A bunny with red eyes caused her to stop in her tracks. He turned twitching his nose then bolted through the thicket.

The trees appeared to be coming to life. The roots crept up from the ground wrapping around her legs. It drug her down pulling her towards the trunk. There was a wooden door embedding inside it. It opened to a dark abyss. Her eyes grew wide. She was not about to play apart in this game. She launched a fire ball at her wooden shackles. The oak tree cried out releasing her. Kat hurried to her feet and rushed back to the cabin.

She opened the door. Her apron was tattered. A few drops of blood adorned it from a cut on her arm. She looked more like Mcgees Alice in wonderland than a Disney fairy tale. Monkeys were flying about the ceiling. They had Sam Winchester in their grips. She snapped uttering a few words to stop them. Unfortunately the monkeys dropped him into a punch bowl.  

She rushed across the floor to her husband. �What is going on here? Did you see that? I don�t think this is right? I mean I look like evil Alice. And Will�and monkeys. Please tell me it is just too much alcohol. Like this isn�t real,� she took his hand hoping he could make sense of this mess for her. Wesley caught their attention. He placed the A Ouija board? It seemed like really bad timing. A squeak escaped her as the board came to life. 

     Dressed as an 18^th century undertaker from London, complete with black tweed suit and top hat, Wesley Wyndam-Price strolled up the path towards the party cabin. He had an antique Ouija board under one arm, and the worn wooden planchet in a pocket.  Manufactured in 1926, the Ouija had spent many years in the Carnivale Macabre, used by several different fortune tellers and mediums.  When the Carnivale closed down, Wesley acquired it through nefarious means. 

     A gargoyle perched over the door spoke to him, asking him a riddle. It said, �You have to solve a riddle before you can enter. A man is trapped in a room. The room has only two possible exits: two doors. Through the first door there is a room constructed from magnifying glass. The blazing hot sun instantly fries anything or anyone that enters. Through the second door there is a fire-breathing dragon. How does the man escape?�  Wesley quickly answered, �The answer is elementary.  The man must wait until after sundown and then he may safely pass through the room made of magnifying glass.�  The gargoyle said, �You may pass�, which he did. 

Lorne didn�t know that Lorin had sailed his cherished Pointer Sisters Greatest Hits to a graveyard in back of the fridge.  That CD was the first music he bought after arriving from Pylea.  He also didn�t know that Lorin had murdered his 600 hundred dollar Bose Wave Sound Touch IV music system with a screwdriver.  Because Lorne had gone to find the little boys room an hour ago and was now hopelessly lost.

He�d gone down a hall looking for a bathroom.  Didn�t find one, but there were stairs.  He hadn�t thought the cabin had a second story, but he went up them anyway. He emerged into a huge ballroom festooned with cobwebs, pictures on the walls of people dressed in 19^th century garb, and what appeared to be the discarded aftermath of a party that concluded a very long time ago � dusty party hats, confetti, those noise makers that you blow into and that expand out when you do, empty champagne bottles, and all sorts of other debris.  Lorne stooped to pick up one of the party hats.  On the front it said, Happy New Years, 1903.  �Zsu zsu�s petals, this can�t be good.� So he backtracked towards the door.  Except the door and the staircase weren�t there anymore.