Is it a vampire?
Mom, what are you doing here?
I brought you a snack.
I thought it was about time
for me to come out and watch. You know, the slaying.
You know, the slaying is kind of an alone thing.
But it's such a big part of your life,
and I'd like to understand it.
It's some... you know, something we could share.
Actually, it's pretty dull, you know.
It's bam boom stick... poof.
[Grunting And Snarling]
Good, honey! Kill him!
Buffy, he's over here!
Oh, my God!
It's Mr. Sanderson from the bank.
And he's getting away!
Stay!
Oh, God.
They said we can go home now.
They were little kids.
Did you see them?
They're so tiny.
I saw.
Who could do something like this?
I just...
I'm so sorry that you had to see this.
But I promise, everything's going to be OK.
How?
Because I'm going to find whatever did it.
I guess.
It's just you can't...
you can't make it right.
I know.
[Crying]
I'm sorry.
But I'll take care of everything.
I promise.
Just try and calm down.
Don't tell me to calm down.
I... I... I only meant...
They were kids, Giles. Little kids.
You don't know what it was like to see them there.
My mom can't even talk.
I'm sorry. I... I just want to help.
I know.
Do we know how? I mean...
it wasn't the vampire?
No. There were no marks.
Wait.
I mean, there... there was a mark,
um, a... a symbol.
Oh, uh, 12th century,
Papal Encyclical.
Try this.
It was on their hands.
The cops are keeping it quiet,
but I got a good look at it.
There.
Find me the thing that uses the symbol
and point me at it.
Hmm.
Hmm. What?
Giles, speak.
Oh, sorry.
Um, no, it...
I just wonder if we're looking for a thing.
The use of a symbol on a victim like this,
it suggests a... a ritual murder,
an occult sacrifice by a group.
A group of... human beings.
Someone with a soul did this?
Yes, I'm afraid so.
OK.
Then while you're looking for the meaning that symbol thingy,
could you also find a loophole
in that "slayers don't kill people" rule?
Buffy...
this is a dreadful crime, I know,
and you have every right to be upset, but...
I wonder if you're not letting yourself
get a shade, uh, more personal
because of your mother's involvement.
Oh, it's completely personal.
Giles, find me the people that did this.
Please.
Hey.
So, a burrito.
This is a burrito.
Damn straight.
Hi, Oz.
Hey.
Xander. Hi.
Hey, Amy.
Hi, guys.
Xander: Hey, Amy. I like your new hair.
I haven't see you all day. Where you been?
Not with me. No, sir. Ask anyone.
No.
So, Buffy's birthday's next week.
Ooh! Yeah.
Good.
I've been pondering gift options.
Shh.
Oh, come on, we just got a topic here.
Hi, Buffy.
Buffy. What's up?
You guys didn't hear?
Hear what?
A murder.
Somebody killed 2 little kids.
Oh, no.
They were, like, 7 or 8 years old.
My mom found the bodies during patrol last night.
Oh, my God.
Kids?
Why was your mom there?
More bad. She picked last night, of all nights,
for a surprise bonding visit.
God, your mom would actually take the time to do that with you?
That really wasn't the point of the story, was it?
No. The point is, she's completely wigging.
Who's wigging?
Um...
everyone.
You know, 'cause of what happened.
Oh, it's so awful.
I had bad dreams about it all night.
Hi, Mrs. Summers.
Oh, hi, everybody.
Hi.
Hi, Mrs. Summers.
Buffy, have you talked to Mr. Giles yet
about who could have done this?
Yeah. He, uh...
he thinks it might be something ritual.
Occult. But he's still looking.
In the meantime, we're gonna add to my patrol
and... and keep an eye out.
Occult.
Like witches.
[Coughing]
Sorry. Phlegm. Too much dairy.
I... I know you kids think that stuff s cool.
Buffy told me you dabble.
Right. Absolutely. That's me.
I'm a... a dabbler.
But anybody who could do this isn't cool.
Anybody who could do this has to be a monster.
You know what? Uh, would you guys excuse us for a little bit?
Uh, nice to see you.
What a burn.
I mean, Buff s mom was just starting to accept the whole slayer thing,
and now she's going to be double freaked.
Makes me grateful that my mom's not interested
in my extracurricular activities.
Or my curricular activities.
Are your friends going to help with the investigation, too?
Mom, I really think maybe this isn't the best place
to talk about this.
Are you embarrassed to be hanging out with your mother?
I didn't hug you.
No. It's just...
this hall is about school,
and you're about home.
Mix them, my world dissolves.
It's just, I keep thinking about who could have done such a thing.
I have to help.
Well, Giles can always use help in the library.
I called everybody I know in town.
I told them about the dead children.
They're all just as upset as I am.
You called everybody that you know?
And they called all their friends.
And guess what. We're setting up a vigil, for tonight, for city hall.
The mayor is even going to be there.
Now we are going to get some action.
Uh-huh.
That's great. Uh...
but you know what?
A lot of times when we're working on stuff like this,
we like to keep the number of people that know about it
kind of... small.
Oh. Right.
Well, I'm sure there won't be all that many people.
This is great.
Maybe we could all go patrolling together later.
At least your mom's making an effort. My mom's probably...
Standing right in front of me right this second.
Mom?
Willow, I didn't know you were going to be here.
Oh, hi, Bunny.
Hi.
Mom, what are you doing here?
Oh, well, I read about it in the paper,
and what with your dad out of town...
Willow, you cut off your hair.
Ha. That's a new look.
Yeah, it's just a sudden whim I had...
In August.
I like it.
Hello, Joyce.
Sheila, I'm glad you could come.
There you are. I almost didn't find you in this crush.
Oh, uh, Mrs., uh...
Joyce.
Quite a turnout you have here.
Well, it's... it's not just me, but thank you.
Well, it's, uh, it's been a while.
Right.
Not since, um,
not since...
not for a while.
There's a rumor going around, Mr. Giles.
R-Rumor, about us?
A-A-About what?
About witches.
People calling themselves witches
are responsible for this brutal crime.
Indeed?
How strange.
Ha-ha. Yes. Strange.
Witches.
Well, actually, not that strange.
I recently co-authored a paper
about the rise of mysticism among adolescents,
and I was shocked at the statistical...
Oh. Oh, are we starting?
[Mayor Clears Throat And Sniffles]
Mayor: Hello, everybody.
He'll do something about this. You'll see.
Um...
I want to thank you all for coming
in the aftermath of such a tragic crime.
Seeing you all here proves
what a caring community Sunnydale is.
Sure, we've had our share of misfortunes,
but we're a good town
with good people,
and I know that none of us will rest easy
until this horrible murder is solved.
With that in mind...
I make these words my pledge to you.
Never again.
Now I ask you to give your attention
to the woman who brought us all here tonight,
Joyce Summers.
Thank you.
Mr. Mayor...
you're dead wrong.
This is not a good town.
How many of us have... have lost someone
who... who just disappeared?
Or... Or got skinned?
Or suffered neck rupture?
And how many of us have been too afraid to speak out?
I was supposed to lead us in a moment of silence, but...
silence is this town's disease.
For too long we've been plagued by
unnatural evils.
This isn't our town anymore.
It belongs to the monsters and the witches
and the slayers.
I say it's time for the grownups to take Sunnydale back.
I say we start by finding the people who did this
and making them pay.
[Applause]
[Bubbling And Hissing]
Watch it.
Oh, sorry.
Did I make you smudge your eyeliner?
You gonna put a spell on me?
Hey, what is your problem?
Everyone knows he's into that voodoo witchcraft.
I heard about those kids.
People like him...
gotta learn a lesson.
And what about people like me?
You get in my face and you'll find out.
No problem here.
We're walking.
You guys OK?
Yeah.
We're fine.
Thanks, Buffy.
You're going to be one busy little slayer, baby-sitting them.
I doubt they'll have any more trouble.
I doubt your doubt.
Everyone knows that witches killed those kids,
and Amy is a witch.
And Michael is whatever the boy of witch is,
plus being the poster child for yuck.
If you're going to hang with them,
expect badness.
'Cause that's what you get when you hang with freaks and losers.
Believe me, I know.
That was a pointed comment about me hanging with you guys.
Yeah, I got that one.
Besides, witches didn't do it.
Actually, I think they may have.
My research keeps bringing me back
to European Wiccan covens.
You found the meaning of the symbol?
I'm pretty sure, yes.
There's a piece of information I need
that's in a book that Willow borrowed.
Can you find it?
Buffy, hi.
Hey. Is Willow around?
How can I convince you people that it's over?
You assume because I'm here, she's here,
that I somehow mysteriously know where she is.
Those her books?
Yeah. She's in the bathroom.
But the fact that I know that doesn't change
that I have a genuine complaint here.
Look. I'm getting sick of the judgment,
the innuendoes.
Is a man not innocent until proven guilty?
You are guilty.
You got illicit smoochies,
gonna have to pay the price.
But I'm talking about the future guilt.
Look, everyone expects me to mess up again.
Like Oz. I see how he is around me.
You know, that steely gaze...
that pointed silence.
'Cause he's usually such a chatterbox.
No, but it's different now.
It's more a verbal nonverbal.
He speaks volumes with his eyes.
Hey, Buff. What you looking for?
You want to borrow something?
What is this?
A doodle. I do doodle.
You, too. You do doodle, too.
This is a witch symbol.
OK, yeah, it is.
Willow.
What?
That symbol was on the murdered children.
[Lockers Slamming Shut]
Police Officer: Step away from the lockers. This is police business.
Wanna give me those, please... the books.
[Chattering]
Aw, man, it's Nazi Germany
and I've got Playboys in my locker.
This is a glorious day for principals everywhere.
No pathetic whining about students' rights.
Just a long row of lockers and a man with a key.
They just took 3 kids away.
What are they looking for?
Witch stuff.
What?
They got my spells. I'm supposed to report to Snyder's office.
Oh, my God.
Move back, please.
Okay, Amy, you'll have to come with me.
- Willow, be careful. - Get away from the locker.
I have stuff in my locker.
Henbane, hellebore, mandrake root.
Excuse me. Playboys.
Can we turn the sympathy this way?
Hey! Get your grubby custodial hands off that.
That hair spray costs $45, and it's imported.
My locker's next. Buffy, I didn't do anything wrong.
The... The symbol is harmless.
I used it to make a protection spell for you,
for your birthday. With Michael and Amy.
Only, now it's broken,
Because you know about it, so Happy Birthday.
And please, you have to believe me.
Ms. Rosenberg. My office.
Police Officer: Back up. Comin' through.
Giles.
They're confiscating my books.
Giles, we need those books.
Believe me, I tried to tell that
to the nice man with the big gun.
No. There's something about the symbol that we're missing.
Willow said she used it in a protection spell. It's harmless.
Not a big bad.
So then why would it turn up in a ritual sacrifice?
I don't know. Ordinarily, I would say let's widen our research.
Using what? A dictionary and My Friend Flicka?
This is intolerable.
Snyder has interfered before,
but I won't take this from that twisted little homunculus.
I love the smell of desperate librarian in the morning.
You get out...
and take your marauders with you.
Oh, my. So fierce.
I suppose I should hear you out.
Just how is, um...
"Blood Rites and Sacrifices"
appropriate material for a public school library?
Chess club branching out?
This is not over.
Oh, I should say it's just beginning.
Fight it if you want.
Just remember, lift a finger against me,
and you'll have to answer to MOO.
Answer to MOO?
Did that sentence just make some sense that I'm not in on?
Mothers Opposed to the Occult.
A powerful new group.
And who came up with that lame name?
That would be the founder.
I believe you call her Mom.
Oh, sit down, honey.
Principal Snyder talk to you?
Yes. He's quite concerned.
Mom, I know what this looks like, and I can totally...
You don't have to explain, honey.
This isn't exactly a surprise.
Why not?
Oh, well, identification with mythical icons
is perfectly typical of your age group.
It's a classic adolescent response
to the pressures of incipient adulthood.
Oh. Is that what it is?
Of course, I wish you could have identified
with something a little less icky,
but developmentally speaking...
Mom, I'm not an age group.
I'm me. Willow group.
Oh, honey...
I understand.
No, you don't.
Mom, this may be hard for you to accept,
but I can do stuff.
Nothing bad or dangerous,
but I can do spells.
You think you can,
and that's what concerns me.
The delusions.
Mom, how would you know what I can do?
I mean, the last time we had a conversation over 3 minutes,
it was about the patriarchal bias of The Mr. Rogers Show.
Well, with King Friday lording it over all the lesser puppets.
Mom, you're not paying attention.
And this is your way of trying to get it.
Now, I have consulted with some of my colleagues,
and they agree that this is a cry for discipline.
You're grounded.
Grounded?
This is the first time ever...
I've done something you don't like, and I'm grounded?
I'm supposed to mess up. I'm a teenager, remember?
You're upset. I hear you.
No, Ma, hear this.
I'm a rebel.
I'm having a rebellion.
Willow, honey, you don't need to act out like this
to prove your specialness.
Mom, I'm not acting out. I'm a witch.
I can make pencils float.
And I can summon the 4 elements.
OK, 2, but 4 soon.
And I'm dating a musician.
Oh, Willow!
I worship Beelzebub.
I do his biddings.
Do you see any goats around? No, because I sacrificed them.
All bow before Satan!
I'm not listening to this.
Prince of Night, I summon you.
Come fill me with your black, naughty evil.
That's enough! Is that clear?
Now, you will go to your room
and stay there until I say otherwise.
And we're going to make some changes.
I don't want you hanging out with those friends of yours.
It's clear where this little obsession came from.
You will not speak to Bunny Summers again.
I don't want you seeing that Willow anymore.
I've spoken with her mother.
I had no idea her forays into the occult had gone so far.
You're the one who ordered the raid on the school today.
Honey, they opened a few lockers.
Lockers. First syllable, lock.
They're supposed to be private.
And they took all of Giles' books away.
He'll get most of them back.
MOO just wants to weed out the offensive material.
Everything else will be returned to Mr. Giles soon.
If we're going to solve this, we need those books now.
Sweetie, those books have no place in a public school library.
Especially now.
Any student can waltz in there and get all sorts of ideas.
Do you understand how that terrifies me?
Mom, I hate that these people scared you so much.
And I know that you're just trying to help,
but you have to let me handle this.
It's what I do.
But is it really?
I mean, you patrol, you slay.
Evil pops up, you undo it. And that's great.
But is Sunnydale getting any better?
Are they running out of vampires?
I don't think that you run out of...
It's not your fault.
You don't have a plan. You just react to things.
It's bound to be kind of fruitless.
OK, maybe I don't have a plan.
Lord knows I don't have lapel buttons.
Buffy.
And maybe next time that the world is getting sucked into hell,
I won't be able to stop it because the anti-hell-sucking book
isn't on the approved reading list.
I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put down...
Yeah, well, you did.
It doesn't matter.
I have to go.
I have to go on one of my pointless patrols
and react to some vampires.
If that's all right with MOO.
And nice acronym, Mom.
Just trying to make things better.
You are.
There's bad people out there.
And we can't sleep.
Not until you hurt them.
The way they hurt us.
Hey.
Hi.
How are you?
I'm all right.
I think I'm better than you right now.
I heard about this.
People are talking.
People are even talking to me.
It's strange.
People die in Sunnydale all the time...
and I've never seen anything like this.
They were children.
Innocent.
It makes a difference.
And Mr. Sanderson from the bank had it coming?
[Sighs]
My mom... said some things to me
about being the slayer.
That it's fruitless.
No fruit for buffy.
She's wrong.
Is she?
Is Sunnydale any better than when I first came here?
OK, so I battle evil.
But I don't really win.
The bad keeps coming back and getting stronger.
I'm like that kid in the story,
the boy that stuck his finger in the duck.
Dike.
It's another word for dam.
Oh.
OK, that story makes a lot more sense now.
Buffy, you know, I'm still figuring things out.
There's a lot I don't understand.
But I do know it's important to keep fighting.
I learned that from you.
But we never...
We never win.
Not completely.
We never will.
That's not why we fight.
We do it 'cause there's things worth fighting for.
Those kids. Their parents.
Their parents.
Look, I know it's not much.
No. No, it's a lot.
Session interrupted?
Who said you could interrupt,
you stupid, useless fad!
No, I said fad.
And I'll say it again.
At that point, I will become frightened.
Take heart. We found your books.
You can put the heart back. We can't get them.
They're locked up in City Hall.
"Frisky Watcher's Chat Room." Why, Giles. Oh!
Buffy, Oz and I found out...
What do we know about these kids?
What?
Facts. Details.
Well, they were, uh, found in the park.
No. Where did they go to school?
Who were their parents? What are their names?
We know everything about their deaths,
but we don't even know their names.
Well, sure we do. Um, it's on the tip of my tongue.
That never came up. Ever.
And if no one knows who they are,
where did these pictures come from?
I just assumed someone had the details.
I never really...
Well, that is strange.
We need to get some information.
Yeah, well, somebody else do it.
This thing's locked me out.
Well, if you wouldn't yell at it.
I can look around,
but Willow would really know the sites we need.
That's great. She can't even come to the phone.
The wrath of MOO.
Well, we don't need a phone.
[Computer Chimes]
All right, we're linked.
If anybody's I.D. 'd the kids,
she'll pull it up and feed it here.
All right, "2 children found dead. Mysterious mark..."
No. No. These children were found near Omaha in 1949.
Yeah, they ain't ours. Keep going.
Wait.
Those are...
The same kids.
50 years ago.
"1899. Utah... Two children...
Rural community torn apart by suspicion."
100 years ago. I mean, how is this possible?
There's no mention of who they were.
They've never been seen alive, just dead.
A lot.
Ah. There were more articles.
Every 50 years. All the same.
From as far back as 1649.
Can I see that?
Written by a cleric from a village near the Black Forest.
He found the bodies himself.
Two children...
Greta Strauss, age 6.
[Typing]
Hans Strauss, 8.
So they have names. That's new.
Willow.
I thought I made myself clear.
You're not minding me.
Mom...
I see what you're doing. You're challenging me.
But I will not have you communicating
with your cyber-coven or what have you.
Coven? What happened to me being delusional and acting out?
Well, that was before I talked in depth
with Ms. Summers and her associates.
It seems I've been rather close-minded.
So, you believe me?
I believe you, dear.
Now all I can do is let you go with love.
Let me go?
What does that mean?
[Door Locked]
Mom?
Giles: Uh, wait a minute.
Uh... uh...
There is a fringe theory held by a few folklorists
that some regional stories have actual, um...
very literal antecedents.
And in some language that's English?
Fairy tales are real?
Hans and Gre...
Hansel and Gretel?
Wait. Hansel and Gretel?
Breadcrumbs, ovens, gingerbread house?
Of course.
Well, it makes sense now.
Yeah, it's all falling into place.
Of course, that place is nowhere near this place.
Some demons thrive
by fostering hatred and, uh, persecution
amongst the mortal animals.
Not by... Not by destroying men,
but by watching men destroy each other.
They feed us our darkest fear
and turn peaceful communities into vigilantes.
Hansel and Gretel run home to tell everyone
about the mean old witch.
And then she and probably dozens of others
are persecuted by a righteous mob.
It's happened all throughout history.
It happened in Salem, not surprisingly.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm still spinning
on this whole "fairy tales are real" thing.
So what do we do?
I don't know about you, but I'm going to go trade my cow in
for some beans.
No one else is seeing the funny here.
Giles, we need to talk to Mom.
If she knows the truth, she can defuse the whole thing.
What happened?
I was attacked.
Officially not funny.
By whom?
My dad. His friends.
They're taking people out of their homes.
They're talking about a trial down at City Hall.
They got Amy.
Michael, stay here and hide.
Giles, we'll go find my mom.
Tell Willow to get out of her house.
Stay in my office.
[Door Unlocks]
Mom, we really have to talk...
It's time to go.
Oh, and get your coat. It's chilly out.
Go? Go where?
I said get your coat, witch!
Did you speak to the families?
Great.
Buffy. Mr. Giles.
Did something happen?
Mom, we need to talk to you. Now.
Well, of course, honey.
Um, go on without me.
No, we need to talk alone.
Look, there's more to this than...
You were right.
It was easy.
I told you.
It gets even easier.
But I'm still scared of the bad girls.
You have to stop them.
You have to make them go away...
forever.
Willow!
Hold still. Be a good girl.
No! Why are you doing this to me? Mom?
There's no cure but the fire.
Buffy!
Wake up!
This is crazy, Mom.
Buffy!
Cordelia: Wake up!
Cordelia?
Took you long enough to wake up.
My hand hurts.
Pity.
Oh. Why are you here?
Things are way out of control, Giles.
First the thing at school,
and then my mom confiscates
all of my black clothes and scented candles.
I came over here to tell Buffy to stop this craziness
and found you all unconscious... again.
How many times have you been knocked out, anyway?
I swear, one of these times,
you're going to wake up in a coma.
Wake up in a... Oh, never mind.
We need to save Buffy from Hansel and Gretel.
Now, let's be clear.
The brain damage happened before I hit you.
What's with the grim?
We're here to join you guys.
Really. Why should you guys have all the fun?
We want to be part of the hate.
Just so we're clear,
you guys know you're nuts, right?
[Shouting]
Buffy!
Good morning, sleepyhead.
Mom, you don't want this.
Since when does it matter what I want?
I wanted a normal, happy daughter.
Instead I got a slayer.
Torch.
Thanks.
This has been so trying.
You've been such a champ.
Oh, you, too, Joyce.
We should stay close, have lunch.
Oh, I'd like that. How nice.
Oh, you can't be serious.
Mom, don't!
All right. You want to fry a witch?
I'll give you a witch.
Goddess Hecate, work thy will.
Uh-oh.
Before thee let the unclean thing crawl.
[Shivering]
[Women Scream]
She couldn't do us first?
You've seen what we can do.
Another step and you will all feel my power.
What are you going to do, float a pencil at them?
It's a really big power.
Yes! You will all be turned into vermin.
And some of you will be fish.
Yeah, you in the back will be fish.
Maybe we should go.
But you promised.
You have to kill the bad girls.
Cordelia: I can't believe you had this stuff in your apartment.
It smells foul.
Shred the wolfsbane. That's the leafy stuff.
And then you can crush the satyrion root.
Luften sie den something.
Schlumer? Schluter?
What are you muttering about?
It's a part of an incantation.
It's in German, and without my books...
What does it mean?
It's about lifting a veil.
It should make the demons appear in their true form,
which with any luck, will negate their influence.
And, uh, drop a toadstone into the mixture.
This?
It doesn't look like a toad.
No reason it should.
It's from inside the toad.
I hate you.
We got to get inside.
Willow: No! Oh, God, help!
Wil?
It sounds like she's right above us?
Little Girl: They hurt us.
Little Boy: Burn them.
Mom, dead people are talking to you. Do the math.
I'm sorry, Buffy.
Mom, look at me!
You love me.
You're not going to be able to live with yourself if you do this.
You earned this.
You toyed with unnatural forces.
What kind of a mother would I be
if I didn't punish you?
Ouch! You got hair with that.
God, you really were the little youthful offender, weren't you?
You must just look back on that and cringe.
Shh!
Buffy, I can't take it. It's too hot.
I'm sorry, Wil. If it wasn't for me,
none of this would have happened.
It wouldn't be...
Stop them!
[Giles Reciting Incantation In German]
Do you like that? Huh?
Buffy, I'm on fire!
Cordelia, put out the fire!
Oh, right.
Ruft euch an.
Verbergt euch nicht hinter falschen gesichtern.
OK, I think I liked the two little ones
more than the one big one.
Oh, my God!
Protect us.
Kill the bad girls.
You know what? Not as convincing in that outfit.
Grr!
Did I get it?
Aah!
We're here to save you.
Your mom doesn't mind us doing this in the house?
She doesn't know.
Business as usual?
Sort of. She's doing that selective memory thing
your mom used to be so good at.
She forgot everything?
No. She remembered the part where I said I was dating a musician.
Oz has to come for dinner next week.
So, that's sort of like taking an interest.
OK, should we try this again?
Let's do it. I think we got the mix of herbs right this time.
OK. Ready?
Willow: Diana, Hecate,
I hereby license thee to depart.
Goddess of creatures great and small,
I conjure thee to withdraw.
Maybe we should get her one of those wheel thingies.