Buffy is out on patrol and is doing a sweep of the playground when she spots a vampire. She starts to fight it only to have her mother show up. Joyce wants to get more actively involved woth her daughter's Slaying and seeing what she does will be a good start. While Buffy is fighting and dusting the vampire, Joyce finds the bodies of two young children lying by the roundabout dead. They have strange symbols inscribed on their hands. Joyce is very shocked as is Buffy. They call the police, who turn up shortly afterwards and after questioning they are allowed to go home. Joyce is taking their deaths very hard.

Buffy goes to see Giles the next day and tell him about the bodies in the park. She wants whoever or whatever did it punished, hard. She tells Giles about the symbols on the kids hands and draws them for Giles. He studies them and tells her that they are occult symbols. Buffy is horrifed at the possibility that a human did this.

At lunchtime, Amy and Willow are joined By Xander and Oz. The two boys have a difficult conversation and end up ignoring each other for the rest of the time. Buffy joins them and tells them about the bodies in the park. She is interrupted by the arrival of her mother. Joyce promises not to embarass her, she's only here to tell everyone that there is going to be vigil at City Hall that evening for the two children.

That evening there is a large turnout at the City Hall. It seems that there are a lot of worried parents in Sunnydale. Anogst them is Willow's mother, Sheila. Shelia notices that Willow has had hr hair cut. Willow tells her that she did it four months ago, before school started. Mayor Wilkins steps up to make a short speech before handing over to Joyce who gives a more impassioned speech about how the parents should be helping to keep Sunnydale a safe place, safe from all the monsters, evil things - and Slayers. Buffy is not impressed.

Later that evening Willow, Amy and Michael are performing a ritual. In the middle of the cirle they have marked out is the symbol that was on the kids hands.

The next day at School, another student throws Micheal up against the lockers and threatens both him and Amy, Buffy steps in to break it up with nothing more than a smile and a meaningful look and the student and his friends beat a hasty retreat, they know not to mess with the Buffster. Cordelia passing, saw the whole thing and makes a snide comment about Buffy being friends with losers. Buffy asks the two witches (well, witch and warlock) if they know where Willow is and point her in the direction of the student lounge. There she finds Xander. She asks him if he knows where Willow is and he gets all uptight about it, (because of the whole Xander/Willow Willow getting back with Xander thing). He tells her that Willow went to the bathroom. The reason Buffy is looking for Willow is that Willow has a book that Giles needs on occult symbols.

Buffy goes over to Willow's things, to see if she has the book and discovers the symbol on one of Willow's books. Willow shows up and before she can explain herself Snyder calls a search of all the students lockers.

Snyder is looking for anything witchcraft related. Willow quickly explains that the Wiccan symbol is harmless, she was just making a spell for Buffy's birthday. Xander worries about them finding Playboys in his locker. Snyder searches Willow's locker and finds some witchcraft related stuff and along with Amy (and Oz tagging along for moral support) is sent to Snyder's office for questioning.

Buffy goes to the library and finds Giles fighting with the authorities who are taking away all his Watcher (non-curricular) books, Snyder is taking great pleasure in upsetting Giles. Buffy asked Snyder who decided this and Snyder tells her of the group MOO - Mothers Opposed to the Occult - and that her own mother is the founder.

Buffy storms home to confront Joyce who is busy organising a campaign. She admitts that it was her who authorised the locker searches and the removal of Giles books. Buffy points out that one of those books could hold the key to stopping whichever nasty comes into town next. Joyce ignores her, telling her that she can't be friends with Willow anymore. Then Joyce goes one step further by telling Buffy that she isn't doing any good being the Slayer, people are still dying. Buffy storms out and goes on partol, just to get away from her.

After Buffy leaves, the spirits of the two children appear to Joyce and tell her that she has to hurt the 'bad people'.

When Willow gets home after being questioned her mother grounds her and tells her that she can't be friends with that 'Bunny Summers'. She seems to have got it in her head that Buffy is leading Willow astray and Willow throws a flid, because she can't believe that her mother won't understand that she is a witch and calls for the 'big naughty evil' to do its will.

Buffy goes back to the park where she meets Angel. He tells her to keep fighting and not to give up. He also brings up the fact that they don't know anything about the two kids.

Buffy goes back to the library to find Giles hurling abuse at a computer. Xander and Oz turn up at the same time, unable to get any of Giles' books back from City Hall. Oz gets on the computer and emails Willow and gets her to go online with them to try and get some information on the kids. They discover that every fifty years for hundreds of years two children have died in mysterious circumstances. They find a photo from a turn of the century newspaper and it is the two children Joyce found in the park. More research reveals that they pop up every half century to persuade a town to kill all the 'bad people' (witches)

Xander mentions that it's like a fairytale and Giles agrees, it's a fairytale come true, in this case Hansel and Gretel.

Willow's mother walks in while Willow's on the net and takes her computer off her, Willow tries to get it back, but her mother chloroforms her and drags her off.

Buffy and Giles go back to the Summer's residence where Joyce - possessed by the kids - knocks them out. Buffy, Willow and Amy are taken to City Hall and are tied to big wooden stakes. Around their feet are Giles's books. When Buffy comes around, Joyce lights the books, they're going to be burned to death in true Salem style. Amy, however, threatens the use of magic and casts her rat spell (From Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered) to turn herself to a rat and get away.

Cordelia turns up at Buffy's house and finds Giles unconcious. She brings him round to complain that her mother had thrown out all her black clothes and taken her scented candles away. They head off to City Hall to save the day.

Xander and Oz are over at Willow's. They find her tidy room all messed up and signs of a struggle. They realise that Willow's been taken to City Hall and go off to save her.

Giles and Cordelia drive to City Hall in Giles's clapped out car. Giles is practicing an incantation while Cordy is preparing the ingredients to make the demon reveal its true self. Oz and Xander get to City Hall and use the air conditioning ducts to get to the room where they are holding Willow and Buffy.

Giles and Cordelia take the more conventional route woth Giles smashing the door down to get in. Giles books are burning closer and closer to the two girls, everyone else is watching impassively. Cordelia uses a fire hose to put the blaze out and Giles performs the incantation and reveals the demon's true - ugly - visage. The demon tries to attack Buffy, but she breaks the stake she is tied to and impales him on it, killing it.

Xander and Oz fall through the ceiling, a little too late to save the day.

The next day the parents don't really remember much of what was going on. Sunnydale's selective memroy at work again. Willow and Buffy are in Willow's room trying to change Amy back into a human again, but it doesn't work, promting Buffy to sugest that they get her one of those 'wheel thingies'.