| Subject: Episode 2.7: Fairytales |
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sLaP
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Date Posted: 01:15:52 05/16/03 Fri
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Episode 2.7: Fairytales
Once Upon a time in a Land not so far away…
The delicate sound of a musical box twinkles through the air. Casey sits quietly in her room, staring at the box in amazement.
“Casey!” her dad yells as he slams the box shut and lifts her onto her bed.
“What’ve I told you about that box? You stay away!”
His voice is smothered in anger, fear and small self-awareness.
She looks scared and clutches the box close to her. He can see how scared she is and calms down.
“Casey, I’m sorry. You know it’s not…it’s not safe, you need to keep it closed can you do that for me?”
She nods, whimpering, and sniffing tears away.
He smiles and scruffs her hair before leaving her room.
Early morning, Faith is stood with Dawn in her living room staring down, smiling at Connor, Xander and Andrew lying unconscious on the chair.
The two girls smile at eachother before lunging forward and shifting the guys arms around. Minutes later they step back and admire the handy work as Dawn grabs a pot and spoon and begins to bang them together.
The boys wake up alarmed and more than the noise. Xander is in the middle with one arm under each of the others as Connors hand lays across his chest and Andrews leg is interlocked with his.
Connor steps up relatively casually, being the open minded person he is, gender, appearance and general species doesn’t seem to affect him too much.
Andrew on the other hand leaps into the air.
“Xander! I have a boyfriend!” he says, disgusted.
“Right Andrew, because I was so waiting to get you all alone”
“Yeah right! You so had your chance Alexander Lavelle!”
“Lavelle?” laughs Connor, no apparently not so open-minded
“Get a surname mullet boy” Xander puns back as Connor runs his hands through his hair self-consciously.
Back at Casey’s, her Father is asleep on in the living room. She peaks through from her room and spots her Fathers wallet on the side.
“Just one coin” she says to herself as she stares at the open musical box. There’s a selection of shiny objects inside, that’s she’s been collecting.
She creeps quietly across the floor and snatches the coin from his purse, dropping the musical box as she runs back to her room.
The crash not only awakens her father but releases a foggy green light.
The light fills the room and almost instantly clears. Casey is gone.
Her Father is fallen against the wall, wide eyed as a large, red demon approaches him roaring with rage. With one sweep he tears his throat.
The demon dissolves into smoke and folds back into the box as we see Tara looking from behind the mirror in horror. Blood splattered across it.
In Faiths apartment, Andrew backs into the bathroom laughing and begins to undo his trousers before stopping.
“Faith! There’s a small girl sat in your bathroom” Casey looks up at him.
~*~ROLL CREDITS~*~
Eliza Dushku
Michelle Trachtenberg
Tom Lenk
Lisa Roxanne
Ryder Strong
Special Guest Star
Vincent Karthieser
Guest Starring
Ted Danson, Megan Corletto, Shawn Ashmore, Amber Benson.
“She probably thinks it’s funny” Ryan moans as he and Connor approach Casey’s front door.
“What’s that?”
“Sending the two of us out together, she probably thinks it’ll lead to some common ground discovery and bonding over…”
“dead”
“Well, I was gonna go with guy stuff but…”
Connor looks at Ryan like he’s lost half his brain
“Her Father’s dead idiot. I can smell it”
“You can smell dead people?”
“I can smell blood and…I can only hear both our hearts beating”
“For the same person” Ryan says under his breath
“Did you not just take the hint that I have good hearing” he says as the two of them walks through the door and over to the body.
Connor leans over the body, checking the wound and sniffing the blood
“Within the hour” he says coldly
“Neat powers you got there Conran”
“It’s Con-ner”
“Right” Ryan says playing with the musical box, before opening it
Connor is wondering around the room looking for signs of a break in.
“Err…Cody you might wanna check this out”
“It’s CON-NER” he says before walking over.
He looks over Ryan’s shoulder and stares into the musical box, the mirror is full of a slowly leaking green light.
Connor slams it shut and grabs Ryan’s arm “Come on!”
Dawn is sat with a tired and upset Casey, trying to get sense from her
“Casey, I need you to tell me, what …did he hurt you?”
Casey shakes her head
“Where is he now?”
Casey doesn’t answer
“Okay, I’ll let you rest” she says
“Dawnie” she calls back
“I don’t want to go to sleep”
“What’s the matter?”
“The man…when I sleep he sings to me”
“What man?”
“The Music Man”
“Casey, you’ve told me this before. Who is the music man?”
“He comes from the musical box and he hurts my daddy…”
“What’s the musical box?”
“It’s where the Lady lives”
“Which Lady?” she asks concerned
“The Pretty Lady” she replies, innocently indicating a photograph of Tara on the nightstand.
“She has a pretty voice”
Within seconds Dawn rushes into the living room
“I think the First Evil is back”
“I have lipstick on my face” says Andrew looking in the mirror
“What makes you say think Dawn?” Garrison asks “Oh and who?”
“The First can take the form of any dead person it wants”
“Who you been seeing?” Faith asks
“Tara, like, a lot!”
“So did I and…I never knew the girl, why would he or more P.C it, try and scare me with her?”
“I don’t know but he…it is singing to Casey”
“The First is singing to Casey? In the form of Tara? Dawn…are you still drunk?”
“Faith I’m serious!”
“Well, I’m not! Come on Dawn, think about it!”
“Well, something is using Tara!”
“Hi!” Garrison interrupts “I never knew this Tara girl, but, did you ever think that maybe it’s her?”
“She’s dead”
“So? I mean…not so like ‘so what?’ but … it doesn’t really make a difference here does it? If this First guy…” he receives a dagger look from Faith “or girl scares people by being dead people…wouldn’t it be Lissy, Travis…Fred…your Mom…s?”
“I guess but…”
“If it wanted to do damage, wouldn’t it be Faith?”
Everyone looks at him in shock, as if he is some new information fountain.
“Just a theory”
“At least it’s not bunnies” says Dawn confusing everyone
“Do all my jokes have a bad reaction? Where’s Xander?”
“In the hall talking to Anya on his cell”
In New York
“Xander, Harmony is bugging me now will you please come home, pick us up so we can meet whoever the hell else and then get Faith, which seems totally stupid, and then go to Cordeliasses and get ready for this stupid reunion?”
“Let me speak!” Harmony moans as she pops over her shoulder
“Harmony wants to speak to you! Hurry up!” Anya throws the phone down
“Hi Harmony! Tell Anya I’m leaving now! Bye” he hangs up and pops his head through the door.
“Am I needed?” No reaction “Faith, I’ll catch you soon” he says before leaving
“I’ve got to find her” Dawn continues, magic props out within seconds.
“Who?”
“Tara”
Dawn sets up what she needs for the spell. A candle, all sorts of mystical inklings and of course, a spell book.
“Dawn, is this a locator spell? Cause…carpet” Andrew says
“It’s not…its sort of looking through the plains, to see if an entity still exists”
“We don’t have a plane…never mind” Andrew says realising.
“Shh, I need to concentrate”
“Kid, you sure this is safe?”
“I hope so, just…don’ t let me stay out for more than minute”
With that Dawn begins chanting as a thick yellow lights floods the room, causing all to shield their eyes as a look of astonishment crashes Dawns face.
She falls back to the ground.
Dawn is looking around an empty space, she hears Tara singing.
Several small children approach Dawn, pulling at her clothes.
“He ruined the city, the city is ruined” they chant repeatedly
Dawn sees a repeated flash of Tara in the form of Dark!Willow, causing destruction amongst a city of ruins.
Her life suddenly begins flashing before her at a great speed as she falls, dizzy from the spinning.
She wakes in Faith’s apartment. Everyone watches her in bemusement.
As the light fades out, Connor and Ryan rush through the door.
“Dead” says Connor casually
“Who dead?”
“Dad dead, dad. Casey’s dead dad”
“Huh?”
Connor stands and interupts
“Casey’s dad – cut open…a lot and it’s got something to do with this”
Connor tosses the musical box to Faith, she opens it and Dawn instantly recognises the setting
“I just got back from there” she says of the tiny detailed city.
“Did it always look like that?” asks Faith
Connor looks inside at the destroyed city within
“Not when we picked it up”
END OF PART ONE
Garrison goes to Thalia’s room to see if she’s up for the pending action, she’s not there. She has apparently had a Gin breakfast and left the house before 10a.m.
Andrew is stood talking to Dolly whilst he awaits his order.
“You know, this is so not fair!”
“What’s that sweet cakes?”
“Like I am way tougher than Dawn and I always get stuck with library duty”
“Well, Faith’s kind of not allowed in”
“Right, but Dawn and all her boyfriends are”
Dolly pinches his cheek
“Information is the most vital part” she winks at him
He smiles back slightly enthused and skips off.
Over at the library he is falling asleep over the large pile of books that have no interest or relevance to anything he is supposed to be looking for.
Garrison continues his search for Thalia, checking all of her usual haunts and even the college, where he bumps into a group of her friends.
“Hey Jodie right?”
“Who’s asking?” she replies flirtaciously
“I’m a friend of Thalia’s”
“Oh” her face drops “a ‘friend’ she’s got a lot of those lately”
“She’s got potential” he smiles
“Yeah. So, what did you want?”
“To find her”
“Sorry, but I don’t think she’d be interested. She’s kinda a use ‘em and lose ‘em”
“I’m gay”
“Girls obviously losing her touch, perhaps I could convince you otherwise”
“I have a boyfriend, now, do you know where she is?”
“Have you tried the clubs? The…I dunno, dark allies and liquor stores”
Garrison frowns at the girl, unsure whether she’s talking in concern or bitterness.
“Thanks”
“You’re Welcome” she calls out as he walks off. She’s unsure what just happened
Following an exhaustive search, it’s now nearly 2p.m and Garrison finally makes it into G-Spot, out of hours (apparently violence gets you everywhere)
He walks through the dark, hearing a loud cheering. He walks through the backstage area as he hears a woman’s voice singing on stage.
He continues through and finds a changing room with Thalia’s name on it.
He knocks a few times but there’s no answer, so he enters carefully. Before he’s even through the door he can see a half-empty bottle on the side of her dresser.
“She’s a Karaoke drunk?” he asks himself before making his way to the curtain of the stage.
He looks out onto the stage to see the speakers, which are letting out the pre-recorded woman’s voice.
Looking further out into the audience he sees Thalia performing a somewhat private show for a large group of drunken businessmen.
Within minutes they are getting a little to hands on for Both Thalia and Garrison’s liking.
“Hey look but don’t touch” Thalia smiles, clearly uncomfortable
The men begin to lair at Thalia, who attempts to walk away until she is grabbed by the wrist.
Garrison leaps from backstage and immediately breaks the mans nose causing somewhat of an uproar.
Garrison., no longer in possession of his demonic strength, is well into the one-on-one as Thalia is knocked aside, humiliated. It’s when the other men begin to join in that things get out of hand.
He is out numbered and being seriously black and blued all over the place. Bundled on the floor.
In her rage and frustration Thalia sends sparks out everywhere, literally attacking the men with third degree burns. She helps Garrison up and lifts him outside into the alley.
“What the hell were you thinking?” she says slapping him
“What was I thinking? Thalia you’ve been drinking all day, sleeping around and now you’re stripping? What’s gotten into you?”
“Nothing has got into me, this is just me! Deal!”
“No! No I won’t deal because I know you and this isn’t you”
“How the hell do you know?” she says as she punches him with short effortless jabs in the arms and chest.
“You don’t me! Nobody knows me!” she begins to shout, punching him harder and faster
“I don’t even…” she begins to cry in frustration, slowly falling into his arms. He holds her closely as it begins to rain over them.
She can barely get a word out but Garrison can piece together “I let her die”
“You’re not going back” Faith says as Dawn sets the spell up again.
“I have to, someone has to get Tara out of there”
“Dawn, I wont let you”
“I don’t need you to ‘let’ me do anything Faith. This is my fight. Back off”
Faith looks angry and hurt as Dawn begins the spell again, only as the light floods the room. Casey emerges from the other room and stands at Faiths side.
Dawn is thrown off by her sudden arrival and within seconds both Casey & Faith are gone.
“That wasn’t supposed to happen?” asks Ryan
“Ya think” Connor adds
Faith is stood, Casey holding onto her tightly. They are surrounded by predominant darkness as small, grey looking, desperate children, snatch at them.
“Not the fun of the fayre then?” says Faith
“I want to go home” Casey says as Faith lifts her up.
A small tinkling music begins to fill the air, almost hypnotic in sound.
“That’s the song. He’s coming”
“Who’s coming?”
“The Musical man”
A puff of pink smokes as he appears before them.
“ShowTime” speaks a smooth voice as Faith looks up at the well-fitted royal blue suit.
“Sweets the name, Music’s the game” he continues
Everyone looks on in fear as Faith has a serious look on her face and starts laughing.
“You’re the music man? You’re the “Walk through the fire” guy? Man, I just had to be in prison for that one. Can she sing?”
“Not so much. The platinum night walker…no there’s a voice you can make love to”
“Cool”
“It is quite isn’t it”
“So, what’s the deal?”
“Nothing to apocalyptic. You see, you have something of mine and I’d like it”
“What is it?”
“The little girl that clings onto you so desperately”
“Why does everybody want Dawn?”
Sweet coughs and laughs
“Ahh, sweet Miss Summers, such a shame the wedding never went through, I bet she’s ripe for the tasting by now”
“Three things, she’s been tasted? Wedding? And gross much!”
“yes well…”
“So, which girl?”
He looks at her like she’s retarded then points to her leg, from behind which, Casey is peering.
“Oh, forgot…and No! Dawn is too young but that…jailbait”
END OF PART TWO
“What do you mean she’s gone?” asks Garrison, returning with Thalia
“Like poof!” Dawn replies in a relatively childish disbelief
“It was like ‘Beam me up Scotty! Or more ‘beam me up evil musical box’” Andrew follows awkwardly slurping on his capri-sun.
“Okay well just undo it then” Garrison tags on
“I can’t I’m all fluffy brained. I don’t know what I’m doing”
“Well, perhaps you should’ve thought about that in the first place” Connor stabs.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means what it is. You’re an amateur Dawn, you don’t know what you’re doing and now you’ve lost two people”
“Half” Andrew adds in “A person and a half”
“Andrew, did you actually find any information?”
“No…oh wait” he reaches into his pocket “Yeah I did”
Everyone gives him ‘the look’
“What? Sorry I forgot, it’s not like Sweets even a big threat”
“Who?”
“Sweet the all singing all dancing really cool guy that came to Sunnydale once when I skipped town for a stupid convention and missed all the stupid songs!”
“It was bitter sweet Andrew” adds Dawn
“Are you sure he’s back? I haven’t sang for days, except the little Spice Girls outburst yesterday but that was alcohol” she adds
“What d’ya mean?”
“well, I was like nine when the song came out and I was all nostalgic”
“I mean about Sweet” Garrison says through his teeth
“Well, if you danced too long, you…well, you burst into flames”
“What the hell kinda lame ass demon is that” Thalia pipes up with his first words since returning.
“The kind Dawn nearly married” replies Andrew giggling.
“Did not! Xander was hit butt monkey!”
Andrew looks incredibly pissed at this comment.
“Ladies and…Ladies! When you’re ready” Ryan jumps in
“Right, what the loser said” adds Connor under his breath.
“Can we focus!” Garrison yells at the top of his voice, face going slightly red with frustration.
Everyone is startled and looks at him like he was the scary teacher from Junior High.
“This is not a game! We don’t have time for Beavis and Buttheads stupid little quarrels or Dawn & Andrews wacky Sunnydale private jokes! Faith can hold her own, where ever she is…there is a small child with her! Pull yourselves together and help or get the hell out and I’ll do it myself!”
“Right” Dawn says calmly flicking back her hair and setting up the spell again.
Back in the musical world
“Have you been here before?” Faith asks as Casey leads her by the hand
“Everynight”
“Are we dreaming?”
“No”
“You are gonna grow to be one hell of a Sunnydale kid”
“I’m gonna be just like you”
“That’s what I’m afraid of”
“Isn’t she pretty?” Casey says as they stop at a large pink curtain, a vale.
“Who?”
“The girl that’s singing”
“I don’t hear anything”
“Yes you do”
“No I…” Faith stops as the music begins to fade into her ears
“That voice” she continues “Who’s singing?”
“She’s the Mother”
“You’re Mom?”
“The Mother of the Earth”
“Oh…huh?”
“Look” Casey lifts the vale but there’s nothing there.
“I don’t…there’s nothing there”
Faith stops and tilts her head straight as her eyes widen. From nowhere as distressed looking Tara fades in as she plays her Harp, whilst sat on a large flower singing.
“Man, Alice in Wonderland was so not just a cartoon way of a trip demo”
“Shut up!” hisses Casey.
Faith looks down to see that she is no longer there. A small gremlin type thing is in her place.
“You shut up and listen to the music whore!” it yells before scratching her face and vanishing. Leaving the small girl where she was.
“Ow!”
“Isn’t the music pretty?”
Faith steps closer and reaches out her hand to touch Tara.
“Tara?”
“I don’t know you Faith, not in that skin” she sings
Faith looks inwardly then remembers the one time they met
She closes in on Tara before another of the Gremlins pops up “No touching!” it laughs before a group of them lunge at Faith and begin to scratch at her.
She is screaming defenceless and manages, somehow to boot them away as Sweet appears to her again.
He grabs her hand and clicks his finger, the surrounding are a 50’s dance hall. Tara is singing on the stage, a tall dark feather in her hair.
Faith is now dressed in a sleek, blood red dress. Curls relaxing down her back.
You gotta have Faith F Faith F Faith he sings before whispering something into her eye that clearly shakes her.
The two continue to dance to Tara’s voice as they dance, someone entranced with eachother.
“Is she real?” Faith asks regarding Tara
“Real as the sun and sky”
Faith looks up to see there is no sun and sky
“Real there, not here” she asks
“She’s real everywhere, she’s as real as you are dead”
“Why is she here?”
“She’s such a prize win! That time on the bridge…what a voice! I just had to claim her after death”
“Let her go!”
“Believe me, you have greater concerns my sweet”
Faith remembers Casey suddenly. She turns to see her being carried away by the gremlins.
Faith breaks away from Sweet and runs to the child, only, her actions aren’t as needed as she thought. A tear spreads through the air as Garrison, Connor & Thalia crashes through.
Connor snatches Casey from the gremlins as the other three fight them off. Faith takes the opportunity to snap Sweets neck and make a break for Tara.
She fails. The Flower begins to close around Tara as the rest of the city collapses around them.
“We’ve got to go back now!” Thalia calls, grabbing Faith by the arm. Connor still has hold of Casey as the five of them dive back through the portal landing in a pile in the living room as the music box slams itself shut.
END OF PART THREE
“What happened?” Dawn asks Garrison as they clear up whats left for the mess in the apartment.
“Sweet’s dead” he says
“Look, Garrison. I’m really sorry about the way me and Andrew were yesterday, it’s just, we’re so used to all this that it’s like…we spaz out when it happens”
“It’s cool Dawn. I was…I had a bit on my mind”
“Care to share?”
“No, it’s nothing” he adds as he slips the bottles of spirit he found on Thalia, into the bin.
Connor is stood outside holding a cigarette.
“Dirty habit” says Ryan as he calmly approaches him
“Don’t smoke”
“What’s with the cigarette?”
“Faith dropped it. I don’t like litter”
“So you picked it up”
“Right”
“That’s gross”
“So says you”
Awkward silence
“So, Connor…what’s your deal?”
“No Deal. Just real….kinda”
“Right, not much with the words?”
“It’s a family thing” he says as he flicks the cigarette but into the bush and walks back inside.
“Andrew have you see Faith?” Dawn asks as she hurries around the apartment
“Yeah, she’s kinda half way to Los Angeles or at least half way out of Boston by now”
“She’s gone already?”
“Yeah, Xander, Anya and some big talking blanket picked her up a while ago. She kinda got home, then left”
“Right. Okay so is it you who has my lipstick?”
Andrew looks offended then sneakily applies chapstick in a very effeminate way.
Dawn walks over to Thalia’s room and enters after just one knock
“Thalia have you seen my…” She stops in her tracks and rushes over in panic.
Thalia is lying on the bed, a half empty bottle of drink and pills scattered around the floor.
“Thalia!?” she repeats over and over, shaking her.
END
Co-starring
Nicholas Brendan, Emma Caulfield, Mercedes McNab
***INSPIRED BY AND DEDICATED TO GEMAROO***
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