Deep Wounds

Three Weeks Ago...

Pepper dragged herself through the sewers. Her giant spider body oozing blood and bile from the deep cuts she received at the hands of the Buffy from the alternate universe (Buffy Falconer). She dare not shape shift back into her two legged form. She couldn't bare to see what the beating might have done to her.

What scared her more than the wounding however was what the long term consequences could be. This was twice now that she had been humiliated - once by the fiery breath of Redy the small dragon and now by one of the Buffys. Her mother, the demon lord Kailyn, was a conduit for the Senior Partners. What would they think about this failure?

What would they do to her?
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[Doctor Siamendes, Xander, Redy, Buffy and Oz]

Now...

Internal Memorandum to the Sunnydale Chamber of Commerce

Concerned about the level of violence and delusional acting out among the youth of Sunnydale, the town elders have begun to sponsor the "Sunnydale Syndrome" Support Group. The activities of this group will be a combination of individual and group counselling along with organized recreational activities designed to encourage self esteem and sensible thinking, and to provide the young with the structures needed to develop into happy, healthy, well-adjusted adults.

The first meeting was held earlier this month. Seated on comfortable pillows on the second floor of the hospital, the attendees made their introduction and shared a little bit about themselves.

The support group is hosted by Dr. Pepper Siamendes. The doctor will soon become a familiar face to our community working both in the Sunnydale Hospital and Blood Bank and at the city morgue.

Dr. Siamendes reports, "Our streets and parks are full of young people crying out for needed attention. Delusional thinking is common. Such absurdities as the belief in the existence of vampires or that most people in Sunnydale have duplicate copies of themselves running around town points to the fragmented emotional condition of today's youth.

"Nevertheless, the young people who have attended our session have all taken the first step towards normalcy. If we can continue to reach out to these young people, and those like them, we can make a difference here in Sunnydale."