'Help' Story Code '7ABB04' by Rebecca Rand Kirshner

After the staff of a Sunnydale funeral home close up for the night, two of the coffins suddenly open… and Xander and Buffy climb out; however, they have to help Dawn, who is locked inside hers. Buffy then stakes the vampire that they are there to kill. The next day sees Buffy begin her new job at the high school - and over the course of the next three days she has a lot of students to help. Xander takes Willow to Tara’s grave. A girl named Cassie is sent to see Buffy for not doing her homework; when Buffy presses her to talk, Cassie calmly remarks that she is going to die on Friday, saying that there will be some “weird coins” involved, Buffy will try to help, and it will be somewhere dark underground. Cassie tells Buffy that she cannot help her, and then predicts that Buffy will stain her blouse - which she does a few minutes later by spilling coffee on herself. Buffy enlists her sister’s help, and so Dawn introduces herself to Cassie and her friend Mike; Mike heads off after Cassie predicts that he will get a B on his test, leaving Cassie and Dawn get to know each other. That evening, at the Summers house, Buffy, Xander and Willow are researching into Cassie, but her medical records reveal nothing; Willow finds Cassie’s website is dedicated to poetry about death. Dawn arrives and tells them she thinks that Mike could be Cassie’s killer, but they then learn that police records indicate that the girl’s father is violent and a heavy drinker. Buffy And Xander pay him a visit, but find that he is just bitter and upset from only being allowed to see his daughter once a month; on hearing that Cassie will not be there that Friday they leave, and then meet Cassie outside. Once more she insists that nothing Buffy does can help - nothing can stop her death from happening. Meanwhile, in the High School library, red-hooded figures are chanting around a circle of coins with a picture of Cassie in the centre. The following day, Dawn continues to hang out with Cassie and Mike, while the rest of the Scoobies continue to research Cassie. Buffy goes to the basement to see if Spike can help, but he knows nothing about Cassie. When a school locker search is begun Buffy sees some coins fall from one of them; she finds the boy who owns them, but he can only tell her that some guys want to mess with her, and have a plan that involves her. Later, as Dawn and Cassie leave school, Dawn is distracted; turning back, she finds that Cassie has disappeared. In the library, the hooded figures now have Cassie bound and gagged; she is to be their sacrifice to Avilas, a demon whom they believe will make them rich. As the ceremony begins, one of the figures pulls down its hood to reveal the familiar face of Buffy; she starts to berate their leader, Peter, but it is too late, and the demon appears behind her. As the two fight Spike arrives to help; he protects Cassie from Peter, enabling Buffy to defeat the demon, which promptly explodes. As Spike frees Cassie she tells him “Someday she’ll tell you…” Buffy comes to help Cassie, but when they reach the door Buffy inadvertently sets off a booby trap; luckily she is able to catch the arrow before it can pierce Cassie’s heart. Buffy tells Cassie that sometimes it is possible to make a difference; Cassie replies that Buffy will - and then falls to the floor, dead. Later, at the Summers house, Buffy explains to her friends that Cassie had a heart problem: it was inevitable that Cassie was going to die.

Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), James Marsters (Spike), Emma Caulfield (Anya), Michelle Trachtenberg (Dawn), Azura Skye (Cassie Newton), Zachery Bryan (Peter), Glenn Morshower (Mr. Newton), Rick Gonzalez (Thomas), Kevin Christy (Josh), Sarah Hagan (Amanda), Beth Skipp (Unknown), Anthony Harrell (Unknown), Jarrett Lennon (Student w/ Coins), D.B. Woodside (Principal Wood), J. Barton (Mike Helgenburg), Daniel Dehring (Red Robed #1), A.J. Wedding (Red Robed #2), Marcie Lynn Ross (Dead Woman)
Directed by Rick Rosenthal

TX (US): 15th October 2002

Notes:
*Featuring Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya and Dawn