Buffy, Willow and I were in Psych class. 

"So, this is what is it," Walsh told us. "Talking about communication. Talking about language. Not the same thing. It's about inspiration, not the idea, but the moment before the idea, when it's total." I saw a passing figure outside the classroom door, confused. "When it blossoms in your mind and connects to everything." I slowly stood, walking down the seat aisles toward the door. "It's about the thoughts and experiences that we don't have a word for."

I walked out of class, into the hallway, slowly walking down the corridor, looking for the figure I had seen.

The corridor darkened as the sun went down from outside.

I looked around in confusion, looking at the time, seeing it speed up smoothly to atone for the sudden change to night.

A little girl was humming from somewhere nearby. I followed the sound in confusion. "Can't even shout / Can't even cry / The gentlemen are coming by." I rounded a corner to see the little girl holding a small ornate wooden box in her hands. "Looking in windows / Knocking on doors / They need to take seven / And they might take yours / Can't call to mom / Can't say a word / You're gonna die screaming but you won't be heard."

I felt a hand grab my shoulder, turning to face a demon with bluish-gray skin, a face like a vampire, thin and frail, in a dark suit.

  ••••   

I woke up in Psych class.

"So, I'll see you all on Monday for a final review session," Walsh told us.

"Man, that was an exciting class, huh?" Buffy asked sarcastically.

I nodded. "Oh, yeah. Wow."

"And the last 20 minutes, it was a revelation," Willow told me. "Just laid out everything we need to know for the final. I'd hate to have missed that."

"Just tell me I didn't snore," I told them.

We gathered our things, standing.

"Very discreet," Buffy told me. "Minimal drool."

"Oh, yay," I told them.

We walked toward the door.

"So, were you dreaming?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah," I answered. "And it was kind of intense."

Riley was waiting for us outside the door in the corridor. "Intense? Really? 'Cause you seemed so peaceful."

"Of course, it was only for a moment," I told them.

Riley nodded. "Right. Hey, you guys headed over toward Judd?"

"Uh, student center," Buffy answered.

"You know, you two go," Willow told them. "Me and Zo are gonna do the thing. So, we'll see you after the thing."

"Okay," Riley told us.

"Bye," Buffy told us.

Buffy and Riley walked away one way.

Willow and I walked away the other.

  ••••   

I had called Giles, and he thought it could be a prophetic dream.

Buffy, Willow and I walked down the hallway toward our dorm room.

Willow was telling us about wicca group.

"So, not stellar, huh?" I asked.

"Talk," Willow told us. "All talk. Blah, blah, Gaia. Blah, blah, moon. Menstrual life force power thingy. You know, after a couple sessions, I was hoping we would get into something real, but..."

"No actual witches in your witch group?" Buffy asked.

Willow shook her head. "No. Bunch of wanna blessed bes. You know, nowadays, every girl with a Henna tattoo and a spice rack thinks she's a sister of the dark ones."

We walked into the dorm room.

"I'm sorry it was a bust," Buffy told her, closing the door behind us. "I know you were looking to go further in that department."

"I'd just like to float something bigger than a pencil someday," Willow told us.

I looked at Buffy. "Hey, how's with you and Riley?" Buffy took three sodas out of the mini fridge, walking toward us. "You two seemed pretty snugly after class."

Willow and I sat down on my bed.

"See above re: talk," Buffy told us, sitting down next to us. "All talk."

I took two sodas from Buffy, handing one to Willow, giving Buffy a look. "Do I have to tie you two together?"

We opened our sodas.

Buffy took a drink. "We almost, but..."

Willow took a drink.

"Well, get with it," I told her. "We need our vicarious smoochies."

I took a drink.

"I don't know," Buffy told us. "I get nervous and I start babbling and he starts babbling, and it's a babble fest. Plus, every time we talk, I have to lie. The Slayer thing comes up one way or another. I wish I could just come clean."

  ••••   

The next morning, I woke up in bed to find that Willow and Buffy were already awake.

Buffy couldn't say the words she mouthed. 'Good morning.'

I couldn't say the word I wanted to say. 'Hi.'

Buffy held her throat in confusion, trying to clear it, but no sound came. 'Good morning. Good... good...' She started to panic, shaking her head. 'Where's my voice? Can you hear me?'

Willow shook her head. 'No.' She held her hands to her ears in panic. 'I've gone deaf.'

I shook my head. 'No. I don't think so. We can't speak.'

We tried to speak or yell or anything that would make noise.

I walked out into the hall.

Students were out there in the hallway, silently mouthing. Not a voice was heard.

  ••••   

The phone started to ring.

Buffy picked up the phone, trying to answer. 'Hello?'

Buffy tried to sigh, but no sound came.

  ••••   

Buffy, Willow and I walked down the main street in Sunnydale.

Everything was quiet. Everybody was sad and confused.

The only sound came from traffic and barking dogs.

A man was sitting in the middle of the street, his head on his briefcase.

There was a Bible gathering nearby. Men, women and children were standing in front of a priest, reading the Bible. A woman stood next to the priest, holding a blackboard reading: Revelations 15:1.

There was a man standing on the sidewalk with a sign next to him.

Message Boards 

$10.00

Underneath the sign, there were dry erase boards and magnetic markers.

Buffy, Willow and I exchanged a look, trying to sigh.

  ••••   

Buffy, Willow and I walked into Giles' apartment with the message boards hanging around our necks.

Anya and Xander were sitting on the couch.

Giles' friend Olivia was sitting in a chair nearby.

Giles was sitting at his desk. 

Giles and Xander stood, walking toward us. 

I waved to them.

Xander waved to us.

Giles smiled reassuringly.

I looked from the books on Giles' desk to Giles. 'Anything?'

Giles looked down, shaking his head.

Willow, Buffy and I took the message boards off our necks.

Willow wrote down on her board, turning it to face Giles:

Hi, Giles

Giles smiled a small smile, embracing Willow with one arm.

I picked up Giles' notebook.

Gentlemen

7 ??

Can't even shout

Can't even cry

The gentlemen are coming by

I turned the journal to face Giles, pointing at the 7 and the two question marks.

Giles shook his head, frustrated with the lack of leads.

Xander snapped his fingers repeatedly to get our attention, walking toward the TV, turning the volume up.

Olivia poured herself a drink.

The TV was on a news station. "Breaking news item for Sunnydale, California. Apparently, the entire town has been quarantined due to an epidemic of--as strange as this may sound--laryngitis. It seems the town has been rendered unable to speak. There's no word yet what might have caused this, or what other effects might be seen from this epidemic. Local authorities have issued a statement--a written statement, I should say--blaming recent flu vaccinations. A few skeptic call it a citywide hoax. In the meanwhile, Sunnydale has effectively shut down. All schools and businesses will be closed for the time being. And residents are advised to stay home and rest up." Buffy started to write on her message board. Olivia took a drink. "The Centers for Disease Control have ordered the entire town quarantined. No one can go in or out until the syndrome is identified or the symptoms disappear. We'll bring you more on that as it develops."

Xander gestured impatiently. 'What the hell?'

Buffy showed us what she had written:

Keep researching. We should be in town tonight.

Giles shook his head in confusion. 'Why?'

Because there would be chaos.

  ••••   

After dark, out on the town, I walked down the main street of Sunnydale, seeing a car had crashed into a fire hydrant, and that water was fountaining everywhere.

I saw two men starting to fight.

Man 1 picked up a pipe, attempting to attack Man 2 with it.

I caught Man 1's wrist, casually twisting it hard, making his hand break and him drop the pipe, and him collapse in pain. I gave Man 2 a look, raising my eyebrows slightly in challenge.

Man 2 held up his hands harmlessly, walking away in the opposite direction, leaving.

I looked over the panic of Sunnydale, knowing it was going to be like this for a few nights, at least until we got our voices back.

  ••••   

The next day in the dorm hallway, a man in a green jacket was blocking students from getting into Room 118.

I walked closer, sneaking past the man, into the room.

A male student was lying on the bed, dead. His heart had been cut out of his chest.

  ••••   

Buffy, Willow, Xander, Anya, Giles and I met up in the abandoned Psych class.

Xander, Anya, Buffy, Willow and I sat down in the seats.

Giles was presenting a slideshow using the projector screen, playing classical music to provide noise to the deafening quiet.

Giles put a sheet on the projector, but the words were backwards.

Xander tried to read it.

Buffy, Willow and I pointed at the screen.

Anya made a circling motion with her finger to indicate turning it around.

Giles looked at the screen, noticing what we had, turning the sheet over, putting it back on the projector.

Who are the gentlemen?

Giles pulled the first sheet off, putting another one on.

Sheet one had a lax drawing of a gentlemen.

They are fairy tale monsters.

Giles pulled the second sheet off, putting a third one on.

What do they want? 

Willow raised her hand, pointing at her chest.

Xander was confused, gesturing to his chest. 'Boobies?'

Giles rolled his eyes, pulling the third sheet off, putting a fourth one on.

Willow gave Xander a look, pointing at the screen.

Giles nodded to Willow in approval, gesturing to the screen.

There were three cookie-cutter shaped hearts drawn onto the sheet, shown on the screen.

Hearts

Xander nodded in understanding. 'Oh.'

Giles pulled the fourth sheet off, putting a fifth one on.

There were two gentlemen drawn, looking toward two houses.

They come to a town

Giles pulled the fifth one off, putting a sixth one on.

There were two gentlemen drawn, looking toward four people. Lines were drawn, coming out of the people's mouths, flowing toward a box in one of the gentlemen's hands.

They steal all the voices so no one can scream

Giles pulled the sixth one off, putting a seventh one on.

The seventh one had a gentleman drawn.

THEN

Giles held up a finger, pausing for dramatic effect. He pulled the seventh one off, putting an eighth one on.

The eighth one had a gentleman drawn over a victim's bed, showing him viciously cutting out their heart, blood all over.

Buffy, Willow and I exchanged disturbed looks.

Anya shrugged, eating popcorn.

Xander started to write on his message board.

Giles put a ninth sheet on the projector.

They need seven

There were seven hearts drawn.

They have at least two

Xander snapped his fingers to get our attention, holding up his message board.

Ho do we kill them?!

Buffy took her fist, pumping it toward herself.

Xander, Willow and I gave Buffy weird looks.

Giles even had to contain a poker face.

Buffy took a stake from her bag, pumping toward herself.

Xander understood that she meant stake them.

Giles looked relieved.

Willow and I pretended nothing was wrong.

Buffy put her stake away.

Giles put a tenth sheet onto the projector.

In the tales

There was a picture of a gentlemen stabbed with three swords.

No sword can kill them

Giles took the tenth off, putting an eleventh one on.

But the princess screamed once...

There was a picture of a girl screaming, and two gentlemen dying.

And they all died

Willow held up a CD, holding her hands over her ears, pantomiming dying. She smiled

Giles held up a finger, taking the eleventh off, putting on a twelveth. 

There was a picture of a gentleman dancing to a record player.

Only a real human voice

Giles pointed to his throat.

Willow put the CD away, pouting.

I wrote on my message board, holding up a finger, turning it to face Giles.

How do we get our voices back??

Giles raised his arms in a shrug.

I lowered my board, disappointed.

Giles put on a thirteenth sheet.

There was a picture of two girls standing back to back. The one with the longer hair had a sword (Buffy). The one with the shorter hair had a stake (me.)

Buffy and Zoey will patrol tonight

Buffy and I held our hands at our sides, silently telling him he made the girls in the picture too fat.

Giles gave us a look, mouthing wordlessly. He pointed from us to the picture to tell us to patrol tonight. He pointed from Xander to Anya, to Buffy, to me, to Willow, making a dismissed hand gesture.

We stood, walking closer.

I picked up one of the sheets, looking at the picture of the gentleman.

  ••••   

Buffy and I were walking along campus with our boards hanging around our necks.

Buffy took hers off, writing down a message, turning it to face me.

Had a dream last night about the bad guys. I saw more of what you were talking about.

I nodded for her to go on.

Buffy erased the first message, showing me another.

Demons with pinkish bandaged heads. Straitjackets, but arms not tied. Like cavemen. Swing arms at their sides. They don't stand up straight.

I nodded in confusion, but letting her know that I got it.

Buffy nodded, erasing the board.

I wrote a message, showing her.

So, what? We both get prophecy dreams?

Buffy shrugged.

I erased the message, writing another, showing her.

I hate prophecy dreams!

Buffy nodded in agreement.

I saw a gentleman on the other side of the street, pulling Buffy into hiding behind a bush. We watched the gentleman for a moment, looking around for any others.

One of the guys that Buffy had just explained about jumped out from behind the other side of the bush, pushing me into a nearby tree.

•••• 

I kicked the first lackey away from me, hitting him in the head twice, making him fall to the ground.

Lackey 2 ran toward Buffy. Buffy kicked him in the leg, backhand punching him in the face. Lackey 2 ran away toward the clock tower.

Buffy hesitated, looking at me.

I gestured after Lackey 2. 'Go!'

Buffy nodded, running off, toward the clock tower.

I kicked Lackey 1 in the chest. He tried to punch me. I ducked, punching him in the stomach, kicking him in the leg, making him fall to his knees, slamming his head against the tree, snapping his neck, letting him fall.

  ••••   

I ran into the clock tower to find Buffy and Riley fighting four of the lackeys.

Riley was wearing what the commando guys wore, without the mask, obviously.

Buffy noticed me, gesturing upstairs as she and Riley fought off the Lackeys.

I ran upstairs, looking toward a table to see seven jars. Two were empty. Five were filled with hearts.

Three gentlemen levitated toward me.

I turned to see the three remaining gentlemen on the ground below. 

The lackeys were restraining Buffy and Riley. The gentlemen were trying to cut out their hearts for the last two jars.

I grabbed a rope from above me, climbing up a wall, turning around, swinging down above the gentlemen toward the table on the other side, landing on the table smoothly. I saw the ornate box from my dream, knowing that was where the voices were. I stomped down on the box. A mist was released from the box, separating into streams of light, soaring out of the clock tower all over town.

A stream of light-like mist flowed into my mouth.

I knew it was my voice, screaming loudly and for as long as I could.

The gentlemen and the lackeys held their head in pain, having to let Buffy and Riley go, writhing in pain, lowering their hands to their sides. Their heads exploded into green goo. Their bodies fell to the floor.

I breathed heavily in relief, that they were dead, that Buffy and Riley were okay, and that everyone had their voice back. I stepped along the dining-hall-like table to look over the balcony below.

Riley and Buffy were starting to stand, looking at each other in confusion.

Riley was one of the commando guys, obviously.

So, that meant that Buffy could tell him that she was the Slayer.