Awareness, Chapter 3

A Buffy the Vampire Slayer fan fiction

"So, this time I'm not the one who ends up in the wrong reality," Vamp Willow said as she stared down at her human counterpart. "And I'm sure Little Miss Fluffy here has no idea what to do in the scary world of me," she uttered condescendingly. "How'd you get here?"

"I-I don't know," Willow answered. "I was actually kind of hoping maybe you could tell me."

"Like I know," Vamp Willow said with an eye roll. "Oh, the poor thing looks scared. Probably thinking about how there's no Slayer here to save her this time."

Without thinking it through, Willow turned around and took off running into the darkness. She didn't know which direction to go to end up at the door, but she figured she could try. Her sprint was ended quickly when a hard body stepped into her path and knocked her over.

Vamp Willow laughed once dryly. "The human thinks she can run away from me. Sorry, sweetie, not a chance."

The large male vampire whom Willow had run into yanked her up off the ground and walked her back into the light. At first, the redhead struggled, but she quickly realized that was pointless and stood still, trying to ignore the pain of the man's tight grasp around her arm.

"I appreciate your efforts, but we can't have you running off. No, that just isn't the way it works. So…" Vamp Willow snapped her fingers and light came up in another area of the warehouse, illuminating a wall. "Any day now, James," Vamp Willow muttered as she gestured the vampire holding Willow towards the wall.

James the vampire started dragging Willow towards the lit wall that was next to the stage, and as they got closer, Willow could see chains attached to it. Willow began to struggle again, but it was no use, and within seconds she was chained to the wall. The shackles were loose around her wrists, but it was still not a comfortable position to be in.

"Ah, much better," Vamp Willow said as she settled herself into her throne, throwing her legs over one of the arms and turning so she could face Willow.

"W-what's going on?" Willow asked tentatively, unable to keep herself from stuttering out of fear.

"Aren't you the smart one? The thinker? Why don't you tell me what you think is going on?" Vamp Willow retorted harshly.

Willow gulped and then took a deep breath, trying to make herself sound confident. "I really don't know. I have some theories, but they don't make sense. If you wanted to eat me, I'd be dead by now. If you wanted to torture me, these chains wouldn't be so loose. If I were a toy for one of your minions, they'd be out here playing with me. So I have no idea what you're up to."

Vamp Willow looked at Willow for a moment before swinging her legs to the front of her chair and standing up. She walked down the steps as she spoke. "All very good guesses. You are definitely the smart one. But as you've figured out, none of them are right." Vamp Willow stopped a few feet in front of Willow and started pacing back and forth. "I have you here because I'm going to teach you some things. Things that you, even being so smart, have no idea about."

"And what do you think you can teach me?" Willow inquired, bravado pouring into her voice. If this was to be some verbal game, she was sure she could talk her way out of it.

"Willow, I'm going to teach you about you," Vamp Willow said in a calm, reasonable voice unlike any of her previous speaking tones.

"How could you possibly know anything about me?" Willow asked incredulously.

Vamp Willow threw her head back and laughed. "You're kidding, right?" She looked at Willow, who stared back at her with genuine confusion in her eyes. "Oh, you're not. Can't believe I have to explain this," Vamp Willow groaned. She stopped pacing for a moment and turned to face the human redhead. Looking her square in the eye, she said in a saccharine voice, "I know everything about you because I am you."

"You are not me," Willow declared forcefully, scoffing at the very idea. "I mean, just look at you! You're all evil and skanky and leather-wearing! I am none of those things."

"First of all, I'm honored that you called me skanky," Vamp Willow said sweetly. "But that's not anything to do with my point. Some would argue that you are right. I, however, know the truth. I am you. I'm just all the parts of you that you tamp down and insist upon ignoring. If you ever let yourself be free for just a second, you would find me inside of you."

Willow stared at her vampire counterpart, and as much as she didn't want to, she had to admit that what the sexy vamp was saying made sense. But she refused to entertain the thought that these things might be true. "No," she said, putting on her resolve face. "This is who I am, a sensible, well-behaved young woman who eats her vegetables and gets good grades and generally makes her parents proud. Not some nasty tramp."

"Oh really?" Vamp Willow asked slyly. "So if you tune out all of the voices that tell you what you should be or what you're supposed to be, there's not a little part of you that wants to be bad? You're telling me that you never feel like being naughty or messing around? Breaking the rules and having some goddamn fun for once?"

Willow looked down at the ground and said, "That's right. Never," but even she could hear the lie and the weakness in her voice.

Vamp Willow threw her hands up in the air. "And you see, right there is our first problem. Lying to your friends or your family is one thing, but the fact that you just lied here, when you're with only a bunch of people who don't care about you, ultimately means that you're lying to yourself. You're so deep in denial and you have no earthly idea! You're a denier! You can't just say…" Vamp Willow caught herself mid-rant and shook her head to clear it, a move Willow recognized as something she did all the time. "You know what, I have a much better way to prove my point than blabbering on here. James, come here," the vampire beckoned.

Willow looked up and watched as the vampire who had chained her to the wall walked up to Vamp Willow. She leaned in and whispered into his ear, and then with a nod, he walked back into the darkness.

"Everyone else, get out of here!" Vamp Willow commanded, and although Willow saw or heard no movement, Vamp Willow waited for a moment and then looked out into the darkness before continuing.

"You see, I'm keeping you here to teach you, or rather show you, the things about yourself that you insist on denying," Vamp Willow stated in a remarkably matter-of-fact tone. "It's really not fair for you to be so good all the time. And it's not healthy either. Everyone needs some release. And, contrary to what your fluffy pink sweaters and long loose skirts say, there is so much sexual frustration coursing through you that the best release for you would be a sexual one."

"Hey, I've done some sexy stuff," Willow retorted with a pout.

"Yes, you've had a couple silly boy toys," Vamp Willow said with a wave of her hand. "But there's our other problem. You won't admit that the reason you've felt no release is because all your fooling around has been with the wrong people."

Vamp Willow took a few steps towards Willow until they were only about a foot apart. The two redheads stared at each other for a moment, the human with an expression of confusion and the vampire with one of superiority.

"As bizarre as it sounds and is, I for some reason want to help you," Vamp Willow said as she stepped back. "And that is what I intend to do. Anne, come out here."

Willow followed the vampire's gaze to the stage, and her jaw dropped as the vampire Vamp Willow had called Anne entered into the light.