Stranger In My House
by Shyfox
On the Wild Side
[reviews]
Chapter three: On the wild side
Well, we all have a face that we hide away forever.
And we take them out and show ourselves when everyone has gone.
Some are satin, some are steel.
Some are silk and some are leather.
They're the faces of a stranger but we love to try them on.
Well, we all fall in love but we disregard the danger.
Though we share so many secrets, there are some we never tell.
Why were you so surprised that you never saw the stranger?
Did you ever let your lover see the stranger in yourself.
We may never understand how the stranger is inspired.
But he isn't always evil, and he is not always wrong.
Though you drown in good intentions, you will never quench the fire.
You'll give into your desire when the stranger comes along.
-- Billy Joel
*Thump*
*silence*
*Thump*
*silence*
*Thump*
The noise assaulted her with a steady beat. It was the only thing she could make out in this dank, dismal corridor, so she followed the direction of the sound, knowing when she was getting closer by the steadily louder thumps. She was soon able to make out a series of grunts intermingled with the other sounds, and her curiosity about what was causing them increased. The hallway widened into a small room, lit by a single torch, which contained a sturdy looking steel cage, and a rather intimidating looking creature.
The mere sight of this dirty, rather feral looking creature was enough to increase her heart rate and make her want to back out of the room, but the look in it's eyes intrigued her enough that her feet, rather without her permission, propelled her forward to get a better look.
It snarled at her in a predatory rage, teeth showing white around the corners of it's mouth, as blue fire blazed beneath furry eyebrows. It's hands were clenched in fists around the bars of the cage, and although the beating had stopped, Buffy's heart still hammered wildly in her chest, as if to make up for the absense of it in the air. She inched closer, looking up into the creature's wild face, surprised to see images of her own face peering back at her.
She closed her eyes, afraid she was either going crazy or dreaming. "I'm dreaming." She whispered, hoping she'd wake up any moment, but the other still stood there glaring at her, even after she'd reopened her eyes.
After a moments careful guard, she relaxed again, inching even closer to the cage that contained the beast. "What are you?" She asked at last, unable to contain her curiosity any longer.
The other grunted at her, then looked past her, sniffing the air as if she expected to find someone else behind the perplexed blonde. Buffy looked back, wondering if she'd find anyone else sneaking up behind her, but she only saw the darkened hallway she had emerged from.
"Who are you looking for?" This question seemed to regain the creature's attention, but Buffy suddenly wished it hadn't because she found herself under the heated gaze of the other again.
She felt like she was under the heated lamp of a microscope as her more primitive half examined her from head to toe, seemingly unimpressed with what she saw, for she sneered in her direction, hatred seemingly burning from the bright blue eyes. "You stupid." The creature declared finally, causing Buffy to blink for she didn't think her more primitive half was capable of speech. It started moving around it's small cage, glancing down the long corridor every few seconds, and growing more agitated with every turn of the small space as the one she was seeking failed to make an appearance. Buffy watched the movement with a growing sense of apprehension, and felt like stepping back a pace or two when it turned menacing eyes on her.
"Buffy want." The creature declared, suddenly and slapped the plastered wall at the back of the cage with a closed fist, causing a reverberation of noise to echo throughout the small room, and Buffy to jump out of her skin.
"What does Buffy want?" The clearly confused woman asked, feeling the pure rage radiating off her more primitive half.
"Buffy WANT!" The growled words were followed by another loud thump against the wall, bringing Buffy's attention to it's surface. She was expecting to see plaster crumbling amidst the closed fist, but was surprised to see a picture she hadn't noticed before painted on the crudely made wall.
Buffy didn't even want to imagine what this creature would use for paint as she examined the stick figure representation of a person, that was only distinguishable by the shock of red hair that sat haphazardly on what appeared to be the figure's head. She was shocked by the flutter of sensation that shuddered down her spine at the sight of the drawing, and even more so by the way the creature reacted to it.
The creature had it's nose pressed gently against the painting, sniffling at it, as if it gave off an odor only she could detect, while she stroked it with a gentleness Buffy hadn't even suspected she was capable. "Buffy want...Buffy want..." The creature continued to mumble, while Buffy stared at the scene transfixed, wondering why seeing her more primitive half like this caused a twinge of regret in her own heart.
"Why does Buffy want?" She found herself emulating the creature's speech pattern, completely captured by the intensity of it's bright blue eyes. She was overwhelmed by the amount of sadness that reflected from them, and even more so by the words she enunciated so clearly.
"Life mate."
"Life mate?" She echoed, surprised that this primitive being could even have such a partner.
Her confusion seemed to rekindle the anger in those blue eyes for the creature started pounding the wall again, growing more loud with every swing. "Bring her back. Bring her back!"
The fury hit her just as if the creature had picked up a nearby boulder and thrown it at her. She knew in that moment that if she didn't find some way to bring back whatever it was she was missing, the creature would take matters into her own hands and do the job for her.
*****
Buffy woke up clutching the picture she had fallen asleep with, it's hard frame pressed against her chest, as if she had been afraid to let it go. She studied it again, like she had nearly a thousand times before, thinking about how strange her dream had been, and wondering yet again why she was so drawn to this person whom she could hardly even remember and felt like she had just met.
What was it about her that stroked and inflamed her curiosity and imagination so much that she'd end up having such bizarre dreams? What kind of past did the two of them share? She knew that they were friends, that much was evident by how relaxed and happy they both looked in the picture. But what else?
The questions nagged at her like a sore tooth, burdening her mind with idle possiblilities, and more theories than could ever be possible. "Well, whoever you are, Willow Rosenberg. I intend to find out. Today, if possible."
*****
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Giles asked, rather fretfully, as Willow continued to place items into her already overburdened backpack.
"Of course I'm sure. Buffy loves Yatzee." Willow replied, nonchalantly, struggling to squeeze the last remaining items in. "She's going to need help in order to keep up with her classes. Besides, it's not like I can avoid her forever. She's going to start to wonder why, and I'm not sure I can come up with a reasonable explanation, can you?" Willow asked, eyebrows raised, pointedly at the Watcher.
"I just think that if you just give it more time..." Giles said gently, noticing sad green eyes pick up from their examination of her idle work to look at him.
"It's been a week. I miss my wife...and I want to see her." She explained, looking away as she finished fastening her backpack.
"But..."
"I won't give anything away. I promise. I'll let her remember everything on her own. It's just...it's too hard to stay away from her. In the beginning I thought it was harder to be in the same room with her, but now...I just miss her so much I can barely stand it. At least, this way, I'll be able to talk with her, and play games, and help her with her homework. Just like I used to do." There was a faint glimmer of hope in the far reaches of the deep green now, and Giles thought he saw a flash of life reemerging from the sheltered waters Willow had been protecting herself in. But still, he felt the need to caution her from revealing anything before Buffy was ready to hear it.
"Look...I know it's difficult..."
Willow saw the warning coming from his sincere eyes and for some reason felt like fending it off. "No...you don't know. You don't know what it's like to have the person you love most in the entire world wake up one day and not have a clue who you are. You don't know what it's like to wonder if she's ever going to remember you, or if you're ever going to hold her in your arms again and tell her how much you love her." She felt the steam running out of her engine as soon as she noticed the shuttered look coming over his face. "You don't know." She finished quietly, studying his eyes with her own, hoping he understood.
A rap on the door broke the silence and she turned to look at it unsteadily. "They're here." She said, referring to Xander and Oz, who would be joining her in her visit. "I'm sorry I yelled at you, Giles. I didn't mean...it's just that it's been building inside of me for so long that I just..." Green eyes pleaded with hazel, as the older man looked back at her sympathetically.
"I understand. And things will work out, it'll just take some time. I really believe that. And I'll be here for you both if you need me. I want you to know you're not alone in all of this. You have friends who'll love and support you and see you through." Willow could see how much this conversation had gotten to the normally reticent Britain, and deliberately and purposefully gave him a great big bear hug. He stiffened at first, not expecting the move, then put both arms around her and hugged her back.
Xander chose that moment to burst into the apartment, having grown tired of waiting outside. "Hey Will, come on. What's keeping you? I'm looking forward to seeing the look on Buffy's face when you give her all of that homework. Whoops..." He stopped, noticing the scene that was playing out in the living room.
Giles and Willow looked over to where he was standing, jaw gaping, eyes wide open as he took them in. Willow raised a questioning brow in his direction, and he closed it quickly. "You know I could go out and come back in." He said, pointing his thumb behind him in the direction of the door. "You know, if you two wanted another few moments alone."
"Xander!" Willow broke away from Giles and swatted her best friend on the arm. "You and your sick, depraved, dirty little..." She continued hitting him, letting him pick up her backpack as they continued walking toward the door. Giles grinned as the sounds of Xander's grunts and 'ow's', mixed in with a good 'Hey...Willow...cut that out!' floated back to him on the breeze, just before his apartment door slammed shut.
*****
"Go ahead, Will. Ring the bell. It's not going to bite." Xander whispered in Sotto voce, as he stood staring at a Willow that had suddenly gone very white.
On her part, she really hadn't felt nervous about seeing Buffy today until she had found herself standing on this familiar porch, after walking up that familiar driveway, and reached out to ring a bell for the first time in what seemed like forever to a house that she used to live in.
The strangeness of the situation seemed to hit her all at once, and she felt herself freezing on the spot, unable to move an inch, not even her finger the half an inch it would take to press the button.
"Uh oh. I think she's frozen." Oz commented from the other side of her, exchanging an amused glance with Xander.
"Wonder how long we'll be standing out here before someone finally notices." Xander whispered back, knowing that their teasing would get to her eventually.
"Okay, okay. You two can stop. I'm ringing the bell. See?" Willow said, pressing her finger to the button for a long moment before she could change her mind. She winced internally as she waited to see just who would be answering the door. In her mind, she could clearly picture Buffy opening the door, taking one look at her, sweeping her up in her arms and carrying her away, just like in a fairy tale.
Reality proved just as interesting though.
*****
"Buffy...somebody's at the door. Would you mind getting it? My hands are full." Joyce called from the kitchen, smiling secretively. She knew exactly who it was, having received a call from Willow and Giles earlier to set it up. She hadn't told Buffy, wanting to surprise her with the visit. It was about time the two of them were in the same room again, she just hoped that the visit went well.
"Sure, mom." Buffy hopped up from the sofa, where she had been watching old home movies, and trying to reconcile herself with the girl she saw running around across the big screen TV. Finding out they hadn't always lived in Sunnydale had nearly blown her mind, and seeing pictures of her old schools, especially her old high school had brought back feelings of...something. She couldn't really put her finger on how it had made her feel, just that there was something there, nagging at the back of her mind. It was an annoying feeling to say the least. Especially since it happened more often than not these days.
Upon opening the door, she found herself standing face to face with the woman who had haunted her thoughts and dreams for days now. Her breath caught in her throat as she stood, staring awkwardly at her, at least until her common sense stood up and kicked her in the butt. "Uh...hi...guys...come on in." She smiled, backing up so they could come in.
She watched as they settled themselves in the living room, feeling a little uncertain as to what to do now. "Uh...would anyone care for a drink?" Buffy asked, trying to break the ice.
"Sure." Willow commented, glancing up briefly from where she was unpacking her bookbag. Buffy had to raise her eyebrows at the amount of books, games and other paraphernalia that had been piled into the not so big bag. "Uh...just don't make lemonade, okay?" She asked, with a smile on her face, even as she shuddered with a not so distant memory.
**How much sugar did you put in this? Willow asked, her mouth puckering and watering wildly with the all too sour taste.
Sugar? I was supposed to put sugar in there? Buffy asked, in a near panic, thinking she'd single handedly ruined parent/teacher night in one fell swoop.
Don't worry...I'll get the sugar. You...uh...just stay calm.**
"Buffy? Are you okay?" Willow asked, noticing the strange, distant look on her face as she lost herself in the memory.
Buffy blinked, noticing the concern richly painted on the red-head's face. "Uh...yeah. Just thinking. No lemonade. Gotcha."